SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) announced its 2017 Baseball All-Conference Teams and major award winners Thursday afternoon. Eight of the nine CCC schools were represented on this year’s All-Conference list. CCC Regular-Season Champion, Salve Regina led the way with 11 honorees. 

Endicott claimed two of the major awards as Mike Kochiss (Fairfield, Conn.) was the CCC Player of the Year for the second straight season and his teammate Kevin Gould (Rollinsford, N.H.) was named Pitcher of the Year. Salve Regina pitcher Patrick Maybach (Saunderstown, R.I.) took home Rookie of the Year honors and Western New England’s Daniel Morin (Salem, N.H.) was named the Senior Scholar-Athlete. Seahawks head coach Eric Cirella was voted Coach of the Year and Gordon was given the Team Sportsmanship award.                                             

Voting for the All-CCC teams and each of the major awards was conducted by the conference’s nine baseball head coaches following the conclusion of the regular season.

Kochiss, Gould, and Morin were all All-CCC First-Team selections, with Kochiss earning the nod at shortstop, Gould being selected as a starting pitcher, and Morin being named the First-Team first baseman. Two other starting pitchers, Curry’s David Griffin (Hanover, Mass.) and Salve’s Cory Poplawski (Syracuse, N.Y.) were also recognized on the First Team. Poplawski’s teammate, Christian Vargas (Melbourne, Fla.) was picked as the First Team catcher. Joining Morin and Kochiss in the First Team infield are Nichols second baseman Cam Cook (Phoenixville, Pa.) and the Seahawks’ Colton Eremian (Boca Raton, Fla.) at third. Patrolling the First Team outfield were Gordon’s Dean Demers (Sandy Hook, Conn.), Nichols’s Nick Roy (Middletown, Conn.), and Western New England’s Ben LaCroix (Branford, Conn.). Tyler Weninger (Chandler, Ariz.) from Wentworth was the First Team DH and Will Bryant (Cumberland, Maine) from Endicott was selected at relief pitcher.

Maybach was one of three starting pitchers selected to the Second Team. Also earning Second Team honors were Maybach’s teammate Jimmy Fitzgerald (Canton, Mass.) and Western New England’s Bob Hamel (Southwick, Mass.). They would deal to Second Team catcher Chris Bosco (North Andover, Mass.) from Roger Williams. The Second Team infield was comprised of a pair of Seahawks in first baseman Alex Perry (North Attleboro, Mass.) and shortstop Hunter Sleeper (Arlington, Mass.), plus Endicott second baseman Michael DeDonato (Chelmsford, Mass.) and WNE third baseman Jared Rosenblatt (Avon, Conn.). Two more Seahawks were Second Team selections in the outfield as Dylan Ketch (Clinton, Conn.) and Zack Smith (New Canaan, Conn.) were both recognized. They were joined by Endicott’s Nick Berno (St. Albans, Vt.). The designated hitter on the Second Team was the Golden Bears’ Aaron Rios (Stratford, Conn.), while Nichols’s Kevin Kirley (Clinton, Mass.) was the relief pitcher.

There were 13 players named as Third Team All-CCC honorees. Three of them were starting pitchers with Danny Hayden (East Greenwich, R.I.) from Nichols, Ryan Obin (Plymouth, Mass.) from Wentworth, and Nick Quattro (Canton, Conn.) all being honored. The four-person infield was made up of first baseman Kyle Bouchard (Fall River, Mass.) from Nichols, second baseman John Militano (Miller Place, N.Y.) from Salve Regina, third baseman Jordan Burst (Jackson, N.J.) from Wentworth, and shortstop Alex Loparco (Riverside, Conn.) from Western New England. Nichols sophomore Andrew Doll (Plantation, Fla.) was the Third Team catcher. The three Third Team outfielders were Endicott’s Michael Casciano (Somers, Conn.), Salve Regina’s Brody Santilli (Lincoln, R.I.), and Roger Williams’s Justin Stone (Blackstone, Mass.). Endicott graduate student Anthony Serina (Portsmouth, R.I.) was named the Third Team designated hitter and WNE’s Jacques Boilard (Brimfield, Mass.) was the relief pitcher.

	PLAYER OF THE YEAR Mike Kochiss, Endicott Kochiss, a repeat Player of the Year winner, batted .398 this season with three home runs and 27 RBI. He led the league in doubles with 15 and also had a league best 26 walks helping him to a league-leading 77 total bases. He also ranked third in the league in runs (34), hits (51), and home runs. For his efforts this year, Kochiss was selected as CCC Player of the Week twice.
	PITCHER OF THE YEAR Kevin Gould, Endicott Gould made eight starts for the Gulls going 5-0 with a 1.60 ERA including two complete games. He held opponents to a .204 batting average and averaged 8.60 strikeouts per game, which ranked him sixth in the conference. Gould was especially effective at keeping men off the bases as he ranks ninth in all of NCAA Division III with a 0.87 WHIP.
	ROOKIE OF THE YEAR Patrick Maybach, Salve Regina  Maybach had an outstanding season for the Seahawks on the mound as the freshman southpaw finished the regular season with a 0.91 ERA, while going 6-0 with one save in seven appearances. Both his ERA and win total were the best in the conference. He also struck out 44 batters ranking him sixth in the CCC. Maybach also ranks in the top 10 nationally in ERA (0.91, fourth) and WHIP (0.83, seventh). In five of his appearances (three starts) the first-year hurler did not allow a run. He was CCC Rookie of the Week on two occasions and CCC Pitcher of the Week once. Maybach was also the National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Association (NCBWA) National Pitcher of the Week for the week ending March 12.
	SENIOR SCHOLAR-ATHLETE Daniel Morin, Western New England Morin is an electrical engineering major with a 3.79 GPA. He has garnered a number of accolades both in the classroom and on the ball field. He was a CCC Academic All-Conference Selection in both 2015 and 2016 and named CoSIDA Academic All-District in 2016.  The senior is also a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta, Chi Alpha, and National Technical Honor Societies. The three-time All-Conference selection has already taken steps to further his career as an intern at BAE systems and will attend UMass to pursue his Masters in Engineering.
	COACH OF THE YEAR Eric Cirella, Salve Regina  Cirella and the Seahawks not only dominated in Conference play this year, but were also strong regionally and nationally. He led his team to a 30-9 overall record, while going 14-2 in conference. In the most recent national polls, Salve ranked No. 15 in the Collegiate Baseball/ACBA Poll and No. 20 in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25. The team was at the top of conference leaderboards in a virtually every category including hits (390), runs (248), doubles (62), RBI (216), batting average (.314), on-base percentage (.401), slugging percentage (.394), ERA (3.47), and opponents’ batting average (.234). The Seahawks also ranked eighth nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (9.0) and eleventh in stolen bases (92).

2017 ALL-CCC BASEBALL TEAMS

FIRST TEAM ALL-CCC

SP - Kevin Gould, So., Endicott
SP - David Griffin, Jr., Curry
SP - Cory Poplawski, Sr., Salve Regina
C - Christian Vargas, Jr., Salve Regina
1B - Daniel Morin, Sr., Western New England
2B - Cam Cook, Jr., Nichols
3B - Colton Eremian, So., Salve Regina
SS - Mike Kochiss, Sr., Endicott
OF - Dean Demers, Sr., Gordon
OF - Ben LaCroix, So., Western New England
OF - Nick Roy, Jr., Nichols
DH - Tyler Weninger, Jr., Wentworth
RP - Will Bryant, So., Endicott

SECOND TEAM ALL-CCC

SP - Jimmy Fitzgerald, Jr., Salve Regina
SP - Bob Hamel, So., Western New England
SP - Patrick Maybach, Fr., Salve Regina
C - Chris Bosco, So., Roger Williams
1B - Alex Perry, Jr., Salve Regina
2B - Michael DeDonato, Jr., Endicott
3B - Jared Rosenblatt, Jr., Western New England
SS - Hunter Sleeper, Sr., Salve Regina
OF - Nick Berno, Jr., Endicott
OF - Dylan Ketch, Fr., Salve Regina
OF - Zack Smith, So., Salve Regina
DH - Aaron Rios, So., Western New England
RP - Kevin Kirley, Jr., Nichols

THIRD TEAM ALL-CCC

SP - Danny Hayden, So., Nichols
SP - Ryan Obin, So., Wentworth
SP - Nick Quattro, Gr., Endicott
C - Andrew Doll, So., Nichols
1B - Kyle Bouchard, Fr., Nichols
2B - John Militano, Jr., Salve Regina
3B - Jordan Burst, Sr., Wentworth
SS - Alex Loparco, So., Western New England
OF - Michael Casciano, Jr., Endicott
OF - Brody Santilli, So., Salve Regina
OF - Justin Stone, Fr., Roger Williams
DH - Anthony Serina, Gr., Endicott
RP - Jacques Boilard, Sr., Western New England

INDIVIDUAL/TEAM AWARDS

Player of the Year – Mike Kochiss, Endicott
Pitcher of the Year – Kevin Gould, Endicott
Rookie of the Year – Patrick Maybach, Salve Regina       
Senior-Scholar Athlete – Daniel Morin, Western New England
Coach of the Year – Eric Cirella, Salve Regina
Team Sportsmanship – Gordon

ABOUT THE COMMONWEALTH COAST CONFERENCE

The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), founded in 1984, is an NCAA Division III athletic conference comprised of ten full member and three associate member institutions throughout the New England region. Its membership aims to provide student-athletes with a positive experience in their pursuit of excellence through high academic standards, quality competition, and a meaningful student life. The conference currently administers championships in 16 intercollegiate sports with that number set to increase next year with the addition of football.

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