Owens, Banas, Berthiaume Earn All-NECC Recognition

ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Three Elms College baseball players earned postseason recognition from the New England Collegiate Conference on Monday as the league announced its all-conference teams and major award winners.

Junior pitcher Thomas Owens (Enfield, Conn.) earned first-team All-NECC honors while sophomore pitcher Kevin Banas (Hatfield, Mass.) and junior first baseman Josh Berthiaum (Pittsfield, Mass.) were both voted to the second team. Andrew Serio, meanwhile, was voted to the All-NECC Sportsmanship Team.

Owens posted a stellar 2.84 ERA over 63.1 innings pitched during the season, the third-best ERA in the NECC. He ranked second in the league in strikeouts after fanning 62 batters for the season. In conference games, Owens compiled a 1.26 ERA, with an impressive 9.34 strikeouts-per-nine and a 3-1 record.

Banas picked up second-team all-conference honors with a 1.42 ERA against NECC competition and 15 strikeouts with just two walks in 19.0 innings pitched. He threw the second no-hitter in program history and went 2-0 in three starts in NECC play.

Berthiaume was Elms’ best hitter during conference action, as he hit .342 within the NECC and had a .444 on-base percentage. Two of his 13 hits against NECC opponents went for doubles, and he also drew eight walks.

NECC Player of the Year: Kyle Hartenstein (Meriden, Conn.) – Mitchell
NECC Pitcher of the Year: Tom Muratore (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) – Lesley
NECC Rookie of the Year: Javi Martinez (Saugus, Mass.) – Newbury
NECC Coach of the Year: Billy Cather – Lesley

First Team All-NECC

P- Thomas Owens, Elms (Jr., Enfield, Conn.)
P- Tom Muratore, Lesley (Sr., Mamaroneck, N.Y.)
P- Jakari Pellegrini, Mitchell (So., New Britain, Conn.)
P- Eddie Santiago, Mitchell (Sr., New London, Conn.)
C- Jacob Cervantes, Lesley (Jr., Oxnard, Calif.)
1B- James Rangel, Mitchell (Sr., North Bergen, N.J.)
2B- Kyle Hartenstein, Mitchell (Sr., Meriden, Conn.)
3B- Javi Martinez, Newbury (So., Saugus, Mass.)
SS- Garet Griffin, Mitchell (Sr., Moosup, Conn.)
OF- Chris Testa, Becker (Sr., Providence, R.I.)
OF- Jack Finnegan, Mitchell (Sr., Old Saybrook, Conn.)
OF- Eric Marriott, Mitchell (Jr., Niagara Falls, Canada)
DH- Ryan Pumphret, Lesley (Jr., Shrewsbury, Mass.)

Second Team All-NECC 

P- Gaten Davis, Dean (Fr., Anchorage, Alaska)
P- Kevin Banas, Elms (So., Hatfield, Mass.)
P- Nick Iadevaio, Lesley (Sr., Mineola, N.Y.)
P- Bryton Ferris, Mitchell (Sr., Manchester, Conn.)
C- William Negron, Becker (Fr., Bronx, N.Y.)
1B- Josh Berthiaume, Elms (Jr., Pittsfield, Mass.)
2B- Will Rhone, Lesley (So., North Haven, Conn.)
3B- Steven Pagan, Mitchell (Jr., Oceanside, Calif.)
SS- John Arancio, Southern Vermont (Sr., Oradell, N.J.)
OF- Steven DePalma, Lesley (So., Albertson, N.Y.)
OF- David Center, Newbury (Jr., Medford, Mass.)
OF- Niko D’Agnese, Southern Vermont (Sr., Mahopac, N.Y.)
DH- Peter Abate, Mitchell (Jr., Wallingford, Conn.)

All-NECC Sportsmanship Team

Payton Musco, Becker (Fr., Litchfield, N.H.)
Jason Bottone, Dean (So., P, Derby, Conn.)
Andrew Serio, Elms (So., Northampton, Mass.)
Aaron Rhodes, Lesley (Sr., Chittenden, Vt.)
Sam Sabilia, Mitchell (Sr., C, New London, Conn.)
Jim McGrorry, Newbury (Sr., P/INF, Oakhurst, N.J.)
Monte Hogue, Southern Vermont (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.)