Six Baseball Players Earn All-Conference, Weldon Named Pitcher of the Year, Netkovick Tabbed Coach of the Year
Chris Kendrick (@CKendrick86)
ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Senior Tom Weldon (Springfield, Mass.) was named New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Pitcher of the Year, and Head Coach Scott Netkovick was voted as NECC Coach of the Year as the NECC announced their postseason awards Monday. Six members of the Elms College baseball team were voted to the 2016 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) All-Conference teams. Weldon claimed First Team honors, while senior Andrew Sadowski (Northampton, Mass.), juniors Jordan Zima (Berlin, Conn.) and Stephen Harrison (Southbury, Conn.) and sophomore Dan Brunetti (Enfield, Conn.) earned Second Team status, and junior Tim Gelzinis (North Dighton, Mass.) was elected to the Third Team.
Weldon takes home his first Pitcher of the Year award and second First Team All-Conference honor after leading the nation in victories with a 10-1 record, and ranking 10th in the country in strikeouts with 89. Weldon was named NECC Pitcher of the Week twice after leading the conference in wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched (84.1), while ranking third in earned run average with a 2.67 mark. Weldon becomes the second player in program history to be named Pitcher of the Year, joining Matt Wood in 2009, and owns the program record for career wins, career innings pitched, career shutout, career strikeouts, games started in a season, wins in a season, strikeouts in a season, innings pitched in a season, and strikeouts in a game.
Zima collected his second All-Conference selection to join with his First Team designation last season. Zima claimed NECC Player of the Week honors on March 7th. Jordan led the NECC in sacrifice flies (5), and ranked third in the NECC in RBIs with 29, and eighth in hits with 42. Zima led the Blazers in RBIs, batting average (.338), and slugging percentage (.408).
Sadowski earns his first All-Conference selection after registering a 7-3 record with a 1.96 earned run average. Andrew led the NECC in earned run average, while ranking second in wins, third in innings pitched (69) and complete games (5) and seventh in strikeouts (43). Sadowski ranks second in program history in wins (15), complete games (13) and innings pitched (191.2), and ranks third in strikeouts with 151.
Harrison receives his first All-Conference selection after .313 batting average with a tied-team high 46 hits, a tied team-high 31 runs and 25 RBIs. Stephen established career-highs in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits, runs, RBIs, and stolen bases (5). Harrison led the league in walks (30), while ranking seventh in hits and runs, and ninth RBIs.
In his first season with the Blazers, Brunetti posted a .287 batting average with 31 hits, 15 RBIS and 13 runs scored. Behind the plate, Dan caught 19 runners attempting to steal to lead the NECC, and maintained a runners caught stealing percentage of 38.8.
Gelzinis picks up his second career All-Conference selection after receiving a Second Team designation after his freshman season. Tim went .322 from the plate with a tied team-high 46 hits, 25 runs scored, and 21 RBIs. Gelzinis ranked fourth in the NECC in doubles with a career-high 10 doubles, and seventh in hits.
In his third season as Head Coach, Netkovick becomes the first coach in program history to be named NECC Coach of the Year. Netkovick guided the Blazers to a program-record 31-12 mark, and set a new bar in conference success with a 12-4 record. The 2016 Blazers set program records for earned run average (3.45) and saves (9).
Senior Derron Simpson (Hempstead, N.Y.) was named to the NECC All-Sportsmanship team.
Newbury senior Ryan Zahornasky has been named the 2016 NECC Baseball player of the year, as voted upon by league head coaches. Zahornasky finished the season leading the conference in overall batting average (.434), on base percentage (.516), slugging percentage (.690), doubles (14), and runs batted in (38).
NECC Rookie of the Year went to outfielder Josiah Shepherd. The Becker freshman had an outstanding start to his collegiate career, slugging .539 (3rd) throughout the season and .554 (4th) in conference play.
The three major award winners all earned All-NECC First Team accolades. For a complete list of the honorees, please see below.
NECC Champions, Mitchell College placed three on the All-NECC First team, led by seniors Al Jordan Johnson, Tyler Pina, and junior outfielderChandler Whitney. The reigning NECC Pitcher of the Year had another stellar season on the mound as Johnson finished with an earned run average of 2.51, seven wins, and 64 strikeouts. Pina finished in the top tier of the NECC offensive landing second in hits (53), runs (35), and fourth in batting average. Whitney finished atop the conference in sacrifice flies with five, while also landing second with an on base percentage of .493.
Joining Becker's Josiah Shepherd on the All-NECC First Team was junior Tj Sempkowski and sophomore Chris Testa. Shortstop Sempkowski had an impressive season from the plate finishing second with a slugging percentage of .595 and first with 6 homeruns overall. Second baseman Testa stole 20 bases this season to finish atop the conference, while taking nine bases in NECC action, which landed him second in the conference.
Rounding out the All-NECC First Team were two members from Lesley University, J.P. Agiorgousis, Jacob Cervantes, and Daniel Webster's Dakota Williams. Agiorgousis was perfect in conference play in the outfield in 35 total chances. Catcher Cervantes finished the season catching 10 runners stealing (2nd) and helping offensively with four sacrifice flies (4th). Junior first baseman Williams led the Eagles in all offensive categories and finished second in the conference in on base percentage (.485) and fifth in batting average (.393).
Player of the Year: Ryan Zahornasky, Newbury
Pitcher of the Year: Tom Weldon, Elms
Rookie of the Year: Josiah Shepherd, Becker
Coach of the Year: Scott Netkovick, Elms
First Team
1B - Dakota Williams, Daniel Webster (Jr., Hudson, N.H.)
2B – Chris Testa, Becker (So., Providence, R.I.)
3B – Ryan Zahornasky, Newbury (Sr., Shelton, Conn.)
SS – TJ Sempkowski, Becker (Jr. Oceanport, N.J)
C - Jacob Cervantes, Lesley (Fr., Oxnard, Calif.)
P- Tom Weldon, Elms (Sr. Springfield, Mass)
P - Al Jordan Johnson, Mitchell (Sr., Groton, Conn.)
OF - Josiah Shepherd, Becker (So., Providence, R.I)
OF - Chandler Whitney, Mitchell (Jr. Beaverton, Ore.)
OF - J.P. Agiorgousis, Lesley (Jr., Hanscom, Mass.)
DH - Tyler Pina, Mitchell (Jr., Plainville, Conn.)
Second Team
1B – Jordan Zima, Elms (Jr., Berlin, Conn.)
2B - Kyle Hartenstein, Mitchell (So., Meriden, Conn.)
3B - Mike Slaby, Lesley (Jr., Foxboro, Mass.)
SS - C.J. Ingraham, Newbury (Jr. Georgetown, Mass.)
C - Dan Brunetti, Elms (So., Enfield, Conn.)
P – Ethan Forrest, Newbury (Jr., P, East Bridgewater, Mass.)
P – Andrew Sadowski, Elms (Sr., P, Northampton, Mass.)
OF – Mike Pelletier, Daniel Webster (Fr., OF, Pelham, N.H.)
OF – Ian Hruniak, Newbury (Jr., OF, Lutz, Fla.)
DH- Stephen Harrison, Elms (Jr., Southbury, Conn)
Third Team
Dan Mason, Southern Vermont (Fr., C, Bloomingdale, N.J.)
Francis Prettitore, Mitchell (Jr., 1B, Bayville, N.Y.)
Axel DeJesus, Mitchell (Jr., P, Stratford, Conn.)
Ryan Pumphret, Lesley (Fr., DH, Shrewsbury, Mass.)
Tim Gelzinis, Elms (Jr., 3B, North Dighton, Mass.)
Costa Tingas, Daniel Webster (Sr., SS, Lowell, Mass.)
All-Sportsmanship Team
Nick Harriman, Becker (Jr., Harrisville, R.I)
Colby Gunter, Daniel Webster (Fr., Nashua, N.H.)
Derron Simpson, Elms (Sr., Hempstead, N.Y.)
Gustavo Polidor, Lesley (Sr., Caracas, Venezuela)
Evan Dickerson, Mitchell (Sr., North Plainfield, N.J.)
Craig Barnett, Newbury (Sr., Melbourne, Australia)
Joshua Hay, Southern Vermont (Jr., South Glens Falls, N.Y.)
Source: (NECC Athletics)
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