Posted: May 24, 2016

ABCA/Rawlings, NEIBA Tab Weldon as Pitcher of the Year

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College Tom Weldon (Springfield, Mass.) was named the 2016 New England-American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings and the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) Pitcher of the Year, announced in press releases Tuesday afternoon. Weldon becomes the first player in program history to claim Pitcher of the Year honors from ABCA/Rawling and NEIBA.

Along with Pitcher of the Year designations, Weldon was selected to the All-New England First Team for the ABCA/Rawlings and NEIBA.

Weldon wrapped his Blazers career as one of the top pitchers in program history. As a senior, Tom set the program mark for wins in a season with an 11-1 mark, ranking second in the nation in victories. Tom racked up 93 strikeouts, tenth-most in the country, in 93.1 innings of work with six complete games, en route to the NECC Pitcher of the Year award. Weldon 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.

ABCA/Rawlings All-Region first-team selections are nominated for ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors.

ABCA/Rawlings All-Americans and Gold Glove winners will be announced for NCAA Div. III on the evening of Thursday, May 26 and NCAA Div. II on Monday, May 30, 2016.

The ABCA All-America team was first recognized in 1949 and now includes nine divisions: NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA Divisions I, II and III, Pacific Association Division, and high school. ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove teams were first recognized in 2007.

The ABCA, founded in 1945, is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level. Its over 8,200 members represent all 50 states and 23 countries. Since its initial meeting of 27 college baseball coaches in June 1945, Association membership has broadened to include eight divisions: NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA, Pacific Association Division, High School and Youth. The 73rd annual ABCA Convention will be held Jan. 5-8, 2017 in Anaheim, California.

All NEIBA first-team selections are eligible for ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors. The Division III All-America and ABCA/Rawlings Golf Glove winners will be announced on the evening of Thursday, May 26.

NCAA Div. III New England All-Region First Team
Pos.	Player	Cl.	School	State
C	Nic Lops	Gr.	Saint Joseph's	ME
1B	Alex Venditti	Sr.	WPI	MA
2B	Richard Fecteau	Sr.	Salem State	MA
3B	Mike Kochiss	Jr.	Endicott	MA
SS	Sam Dexter	Sr.	Southern Maine	ME
SS	Austin Filiere	So.	MIT	MA
OF	Alex Zachary	Jr.	Eastern Connecticut State	CT
OF	Brady Chant	So.	Suffolk	MA
OF	Marco Baratta	Sr.	Wesleyan	CT
DH	Alex Parkos	Fr.	Eastern Connecticut State	CT
UT	Ryan Healy	Sr.	Brandeis	MA
P	*Tom Weldon*	*Sr.*	*Elms*	MA
P	Eric Dumas	Sr.	Wheaton	MA
P	Dan Southerland	So.	Wheaton	MA
P	Speros Varinos	Jr.	Tufts	MA

NCAA Div. III New England All-Region Second Team
Pos.	Player	Cl.	School	State
C	Logan Sullo	So.	Mass. Maritime	MA
1B	Alex Perry	So.	Salve Regina	RI
2B	Jake Frasca	Fr.	Suffolk	MA
3B	Ryan Zahornasky	Sr.	Newbury	MA
3B	Eduardo Colmenares	Sr.	Western New England	MA
SS	Nick Swim	Sr.	Castleton	VT
SS	Kyle Bonicki	So.	Clark	MA
OF	Alec Echevarria	Sr.	MIT	MA
OF	Mark Webber	So.	Babson	MA
OF	Mike Davis	Sr.	Salem State	MA
OF	Jimmy Smith	Sr.	Wheaton	MA
DH	Tristan Dacey	Fr.	Salve Regina	RI
UT	Nick Miceli	Jr.	Wesleyan	CT
P	Sean Buckland	Sr.	Salem State	MA
P	Al Jordan Johnson	Sr.	Mitchell	CT
P	JJ Branch	Sr.	Endicott	MA
P	Cody Dube	Sr.	Keene State	NH

NCAA Div. III New England All-Region Third Team
Pos.	Player	Cl.	School	State
C	Wes Hurty	Sr.	Lasell	MA
1B	Jack Halpin	Jr.	Babson	MA
1B	Sam Stauble	So.	Southern Maine	ME
2B	Vinny D'Ambrosio	Sr.	WPI	MA
2B	Ben Bavly	Fr.	Brandeis	MA
3B	Tom O'Hara	So.	Tufts	MA
3B	Drew Carter	Sr.	Suffolk	MA
SS	Kevin Marciano	Sr.	Western New England	MA
SS	David Murphy	Jr.	UMass Boston	MA
OF	Ryan Kelly	Sr.	Salve Regina	RI
OF	Liam O'Connor	Sr.	Brandeis	MA
OF	Harry Brown	Jr.	Tufts	MA
OF	Chris Callahan	Sr.	Western Connecticut State	CT
OF	John Mulready	Sr.	WPI	MA
DH	Tyler Pina	Jr.	Mitchell	CT
DH	Anthony Serina	Sr.	Endicott	MA
UT	Dan Mantoni	Jr.	UMass Boston	MA
P	Kevin Sinatra	Fr.	Suffolk	MA
P	David Cherry	Sr.	Western New England	MA
P	Bob Hamel	Fr.	Western New England	MA
P	Jackson Volle	Jr.	Amherst	MA
P	Sam Spencer	Sr.	Castleton	VT

New England Region Position Player of the Year: Alex Venditti, WPI
New England Region Pitcher of the Year: *Tom Weldon, Elms*

2016 NEIBA Division III All-New England Teams

Player of the Year: Alex Venditti, WPI

Pitcher of the Year: Tom Weldon, Elms

Coach of the Year: Eric Podbelski, Wheaton

*POS*	*FIRST TEAM*
P	*Tom Weldon, Elms, Sr.*
P	Eric Dumas, Wheaton, Sr.
P	Speros Varinos, Tufts, Jr.
P	Dan Southerland, Wheaton, So.
1B	Alex Venditti, WPI, Sr.
2B	Richard Fecteau, Salem State, Sr.
3B	Mike Kochiss, Endicott, Jr.
SS	Sam Dexter, Southern Maine, Sr.
SS	Austin Filiere, MIT, So.
OF	Marco Baratta, Wesleyan, Sr.
OF	Brady Chant, Suffolk, So.
OF	Alex Zachary, Eastern Connecticut, Jr.
DH	Alex Parkos, Eastern Connecticut, Fr.
UT	Ryan Healy, Brandeis, Sr.
C	Nic Lops, Saint Joseph's, Gr.

*POS*	*SECOND TEAM*
P	Al Jordan Johnson, Mitchell, Sr.
P	Sean Buckland, Salem State, Sr.
P	JJ Branch, Endicott, Sr.
P	Cody Dube, Keene State, Sr.
1B	Alex Perry, Salve Regina, So.
2B	Jake Frasca, Suffolk, Fr.
3B	Ryan Zahornsky, Newbury, Sr.
SS	Nick Swim, Castleton, Sr.
SS	Kyle Bonicki, Clark, So.
OF	Mike Davis, Salem State, Sr.
OF	Zack Smith, Salve Regina, Fr.
OF	Mark Webber, Babson, So.
OF	Alec Echevarria, MIT, Sr.
DH	Tristan Dacey, Salve Regina, Fr.
UT	Nick Miceli, Wesleyan, Jr.
C	Logan Sullo, Mass. Maritime, So.

*POS*	*THIRD TEAM*
P	Kevin Sinatra, Suffolk, Fr.
P	David Cherry, Western New England, Sr.
P	Jackson Volle, Amherst, Jr.
P	Sam Spencer, Castleton, Sr.
P	Bob Hamel, Western New England, Fr.
1B	Jack Halpin, Babson, Jr.
1B	Sam Stauble, Southern Maine, So.
2B	Ben Bavly, Brandeis, Fr.
2B	Vinny D'Ambrosio, WPI, Sr.
3B	Tom O'Hara, Tufts, So.
3B	Drew Carter, Suffolk, Sr.
SS	David Murphy, UMass Boston, Jr.
SS	Kevin Marciano, Western New England, Sr.
OF	Harry Brown, Tufts, Jr.
OF	Ryan Kelly, Salve Regina, Sr.
OF	Liam O'Connor, Brandeis, Sr.
OF	John Mulready, WPI, Sr.
DH	Anthony Serna, Endicott, Sr.
DH	Tyler Pina, Mitchell, Jr.
UT	Dan Mantoni, UMass Boston, Jr.
C	Wes Hurty, Lasell, Sr.