NE10 releases All-Conference selections

By rbrown
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Updated: May 9, 2024

MANSFIELD, Mass. – Franklin Pierce’s Ian Battipaglia and Adelphi’s Joe Pellegrino have been selected as the Northeast and Southwest Division Players of the Year, respectively, as the Northeast-10 Conference released its All-Conference honors for baseball on Wednesday afternoon.

Franklin Pierce was one of three NE10 programs to earn multiple major awards, as Niklas Pavia earned Northeast Division Rookie Pitcher of the Year honors. Southern New Hampshire led all teams with three major award winners, including Austin Trumpour as Northeast Division Pitcher of the Year, Nater Wachter as Northeast Division Rookie Hitter of the Year and first-year head coach Chris Shank winning the Bob Bellizzi Coach of the Year honor.

In the Southwest Division, Pace grabbed a pair of awards with Dan Brown winning Pitcher of the Year and Dylan Koch earning Rookie Hitter of the Year. Southern Connecticut’s Braeden Sparaco was named Rookie Pitcher of the Year.

Overall, Pace led all NE10 teams with nine All-Conference selections, while Southern Connecticut was second with eight selections. SNHU had a league-high five players earn a spot on the All-Conference First Team.

For a complete list of All-Conference honorees, please see below.

Battipaglia becomes the first Franklin Pierce player to win Northeast Division Player of the Year since Dylan Jones in the 2021 season. Battipaglia led all NE10 players in batting average (.408), doubles (18) and triples (4), while ranking third in hits (64) and fourth in slugging percentage (.650) to help the Ravens to the No. 2 seed out of the Northeast Division in the NE10 Baseball Championship. He was the only player to hit above .400 in conference play (.402) and recorded 21 multi-hit games this season overall. Battipaglia is now a three-time First Team All-Conference selection at shortstop in his career.

Pellegrino is the second Adelphi player in the last three seasons to earn Southwest Division Player of the Year, joining Matt Alifano from the 2022 season. Pellegrino hit a scorching .381 at the plate this season, while accounting for nine home runs, 47 RBI and 56 hits for the Panthers – who earned the Southwest Division’s No. 3 seed in the NE10 Baseball Championship. He tallied 19 multi-hit games this season. Pellegrino is the only NE10 player to rank in the top four of all three Triple Crown categories (batting average, home runs, RBI). He was a First Team selection at first base.

Trumpour becomes the third SNHU player in four seasons (Jeffrey Praml in 2023, Nick Artymowicz in 2021) to earn Northeast Division Pitcher of the Year, as he helped lead the Penmen win an NE10 regular season championship and earn the top seed out of the Northeast Division in the NE10 Baseball Championship. He led all pitchers in the league with 76.0 innings pitched, going 8-2 in 15 appearances (12 starts) to go along with two saves. Trumpour ranked second overall in strikeouts (84) and was fifth among Northeast Division pitchers in ERA (3.55). He was a First Team All-Conference selection.

Brown is the second-straight Pace pitcher to earn Southwest Division Pitcher of the Year, following his current teammate Patrick Gleason who won the honor in the 2023 season. He went 4-1 in 10 starts for the Setters, allowing opposing hitters just a .148 batting average. His ERA of 2.22 across 52.2 innings of work is second-best among all NE10 pitchers. Brown was part of a dominant staff for Pace which helped lead the Setters to a Southwest Division title and the top seed in the NE10 Baseball Championship. Four other Pace pitchers, including Gleason, were joined Brown among All-Conference honorees.

SNHU’s Wachter, a First Team All-Conference outfielder, earned Northeast Division Rookie Hitter of the Year – becoming the second Penmen to win the award in the last three seasons (Anthony Poole in 2022). Wachter had a sensational freshman campaign, which saw him hit .303 with eight home runs and a league-high 56 RBI for the top-seeded Penmen. Pace’s Koch was named Southwest Division Rookie Hitter of the Year, making him the second Setter to win the award in three seasons (Nicholas Montagna in 2022). Koch hit .324 at the plate with three home runs and 20 RBI – while recording 36 hits in 34 games played.

Franklin Pierce’s Pavia, a First Team All-Conference selection, won Northeast Division Rookie Pitcher of the Year after an outstanding season where he went 4-1 in 12 appearances (four starts) to go with two saves. He tallied a league-best ERA of 1.47 in 43.0 innings on the mound – surrendering just seven earned runs all season. He tallied 53 strikeouts, on his way to ranking third among all NE10 pitchers in strikeouts per nine innings (11.09). He is the second-straight Ravens’ pitcher to win the honor (Drew DeLucia in 2023). SCSU’s Sparaco was a versatile option for the Owls all season, going 5-2 with five saves in 17 appearances. He logged 38.1 innings and a 2.11 ERA – while tallying an impressive 49-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio – on his way to Southwest Division Rookie Pitcher of the Year. He is the first Owl to win the award since Brandon White in 2019.

Shank continues a proud tradition of the SNHU program producing the Bob Bellizzi Coach of the Year award winner, as he was chosen by his peers to receive the honor. In his first year at the helm for the Penmen, Shank led them to a Northeast Division title with a 20-7 conference record (31-16 overall) and the top seed in the NE10 Baseball Championship. Scott Loiseau, the former head coach at SNHU, won the award three-consecutive times. Shank’s recognition makes it four-straight years that SNHU has had the Coach of the Year.

The NE10 Baseball Championship continues on Thursday with the start of Championship Weekend at Franklin Pierce. For all tournament information, click HERE. Weather-related changes will be announced @TheNortheast10 on X.

Northeast Division Player of the Year: Ian Battipaglia, Franklin Pierce
Northeast Division Pitcher of the Year: Austin Trumpour, SNHU
Northeast Division Rookie Hitter of the Year: Nater Wachter, SNHU
Northeast Division Rookie Pitcher of the Year: Niklas Pavia, Franklin Pierce

Southwest Division Player of the Year: Joe Pellegrino, Adelphi
Southwest Division Pitcher of the Year: Dan Brown, Pace
Southwest Division Rookie Hitter of the Year: Dylan Koch, Pace
Southwest Division Rookie Pitcher of the Year: Braeden Sparaco, SCSU

Bob Bellizzi Coach of the Year: Chris Shank, SNHU

FIRST TEAM
C: Billy Sullivan, SCSU
1B: Joe Pellegrino, Adelphi
2B: Jorge Burgos, SNHU
SS: Ian Battipaglia, Franklin Pierce
3B: Steve Rizzuto, Bentley
OF: Tim Zupkus, Bentley
OF: James Ward, Saint Rose
OF: Harry Vargas Segura, SNHU
OF: Nater Wachter, SNHU
DH: Cory Bright, Bentley
UT: Frankie DeMaro, SNHU
SP: Niklas Pavia, Franklin Pierce
SP: Dan Brown, Pace
SP: Austin Trumpour, SNHU
SP: Mike Szturma, SCSU
RP: Coleton Reitan, Adelphi

SECOND TEAM
C: Nolan Elmore, Saint Anselm
1B: Matt McIntire, New Haven
2B: Kiobel Lugo, Franklin Pierce
SS: Dyrenson Wouters, SNHU
3B: Jackson Haker, AIC
OF: Cody Smith, Assumption
OF: Eli Battipaglia, Franklin Pierce
OF: Matthew Rinaldi, Pace
OF: Izaiah Walker, SCSU
DH: Louis Gendron, Saint Rose
UT: Chad Fedeli, SCSU
SP: Kyle Keating, Assumption
SP: Kyle Roche, Franklin Pierce
SP: Liam Carroll, New Haven
SP: Vincent Civitella, Pace
RP: Sean Costello, Pace
RP: Braeden Sparaco, SCSU

THIRD TEAM
C: Alec Maag, Adelphi
C: Hunter Goldstein, Pace
1B: Nathan Toms, Saint Rose
2B: Mike Talavera, SCSU
SS: Mason Baronian, Pace
3B: Anthony Labita, Pace
OF: Brendan Sencaj, Bentley
OF: Shaun Callahan, New Haven
OF: Vince Venditti, Saint Rose
OF: Jake Gruttadauria, SCSU
DH: Tyler Wells, New Haven
UT: Tyler Gonzalez, Bentley
SP: Griffin O’Connor, Assumption
SP: Vincent Fusco, New Haven
SP: Patrick Gleason, Pace:
SP: Parker Lendrum, SNHU
RP: Matthew Minio, New Haven
RP: Marco Siracusa, Pace

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
C: Billy Sullivan, SCSU
1B: Jack Drewry, SCSU
2B: Kiobel Lugo, Franklin Pierce
SS: Ian Battipaglia, Franklin Pierce
3B: Anthony Labita, Pace
P: Parker Lendrum, SNHU
OF: Ryan Lavelle, AIC
OF: Cody Smith, Assumption
OF: Eli Battipaglia, Franklin Pierce
At-Large: Mason Baronian, Pace
At-Large: Andrew Lanthier, Saint Michael’s

ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Dawson Montesa, Adelphi
Anthony Rigogliosi, Adelphi
Cole Patterson, AIC
Cole Constantine, Assumption
Jamison Howland, Assumption
Brendan Sencaj, Bentley
Gabe White, Bentley
Jamie Legget, Franklin Pierce
Niklas Pavia, Franklin Pierce
Joseph Frazzetta, New Haven
Vincent Fusco, New Haven
Sean Costello, Pace
Dylan Koch, Pace
Mavrick Bourdeau, Saint Anselm
Cooper Hagen, Saint Anselm
Richard Gilboy, Saint Michael’s
Ethan Farina, Saint Rose
Jake Chacho, SCSU
Braeden Sparaco, SCSU
Zach Brassill, SNHU
Nater Wachter, SNHU

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