Baseball Collects A Total of 17 GNAC Postseason Awards

BOSTON - The Suffolk University Baseball team collected a total of 17 postseason awards by the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) for the 2016 season. A total of 10 players earned All-Conference recognition by the league, while Head Coach Anthony Del Prete was named Coach of the Year, sophomore Worth Walrod (Dedham, Mass.) was named Pitcher of the Year and freshman Jake Frasca (Darien, Conn.) was named Rookie of the Year.

Suffolk picked up a second consecutive conference championship on Sunday evening with a 5-4 victory over St. Joseph's College (Me.) in 10 innings. With the win Suffolk earns a second straight trip to the NCAA Championship and sixth overall in program history.  The latest conference championship trophy is the sixth time Suffolk has taken home the league crown as Del Prete has guided back-to-back title runs in two seasons as head coach since taking over the program prior to the start of last season.

Walrod was one of five players to earn first team All-Conference honors to along with his top pitcher award. The sophomore southpaw is 5-2 on the year in eight starts with victories over top league foes St. Joseph's and Johnson & Wales. He also posted victories against Wheaton College and UMass Boston earlier in the season.  In 49 2/3 innings pitched, Walrod punched out a total of 45 hitters while posting a 2.72 earned run average. He was named GNAC Pitcher of the Week on two occasions earlier on the season.

Sophomore Brady Chant (West Warwick, R.I.) took home a total of three awards. Chant was named as a first-team selection as an outfielder and also won a gold glove for the position. He also earned Tournament Most Valuable Player honors following a four game stretch hitting .588 (10-for-17) with eight runs scored, four doubles and also hit a go-ahead two run homer in Thursday's 7-4 win over Lasell College. Chant was 7-for-9 in Sunday's two championship games going 5-for-5 in game one with a pair of RBI and also two runs scored. He was 2-for-4 in the clincher with his third double of the day and scored three times in the win. Chant is currently second among all NCAA Division-III players with nine triples on the season. He leads Suffolk in both hits (65) and runs scored (48) while slugging at a .556 clip which includes 99 total bases on the season. His 21 stolen bases on the year are also a team-high.

Senior Jon Lapolla (Providence, R.I.) was named a first-team All-Conference selection as an infielder and also earned a gold glove at first base. The senior captain is currently hitting .345 (57-for-165) on the year to go along with 10 doubles, two triples and a homer. Lapolla has scored 36 runs on the year while also driving in a total of 36. He has also stolen 16 bases.

Both Lapolla and Chant were named GNAC All-Conference third team selections in 2015.

Senior Drew Carter (Newburyport, Mass.) was also a first-team All-Conference selection and earned a gold glove at third base. Carter leads the GNAC in on-base percentage at .512, which places him 37th nationally and seventh in New England. He is hitting .403 on the year with 56 hits in 139 at-bats to go along with three home runs and 12 doubles. Carter also has driven in 31 runs on the season.

Junior Kevin Belskie (Norristown, Pa.) rounded out the first-team selections as the designated hitter leads all conference players with a .457 average. Belskie has a total of 12 extra base hits on the season including a pair of home runs. He connected on his second home run of the season in game one yesterday a two-run shot to cap off a five-run first in Suffolk's 8-7 setback. Belskie tormented GNAC pitching hitting a .500 clip (12-for-24) in conference regular season action with nine RBI.

Frasca highlighted the second team list as he was one of three Suffolk players selected. He led the GNAC in several categories: home runs (7), doubles (14) and RBI (38). Frasca is hitting .304 on the season with 49 hits. He was selected to the second team as an infielder, despite making seven appearances out of the bullpen for a 2-0 record and two saves. Frasca closed out the championship on Sunday throwing three total innings recording a pair of strikeouts including one on the final out of the game. Frasca earned GNAC Rookie of the Week honors on two occasions during the season and was also named ECAC New England Rookie of the Week back on March 29.

Senior Rob Marks (Revere, Mass.) was second team selection in the outfield as he posted a .347 average over 38 games. Marks has collected 51 hits on the season scoring 33 runs while driving in 25 and stealing nine bags. It is the second time in his career he has earned second team All-Conference honors as he was also named to the 2014 team.

Freshman Kevin Sinatra (East Boston, Mass.) continued to pick up GNAC recognition as he was placed on the second team. Sinatra was named the GNAC Rookie of the Week on two occasions and also earned Pitcher of the Week honors earlier in the year. Sinatra is 7-0 on the season in eight starts. He was a perfect 4-0 in conference action. Sinatra's 1.26 earned run average stands for the 11th best among all NCAA Division-III hurlers and is the second best ERA in the New England region. Sinatra started Sunday's championship game throwing the first six and allowed just one run while striking out five in the no-decision. On the season he has punched out 29 hitters in 50 innings pitched allowing just eight runs on 38 hits.

Senior Kyle Turner (Nashua, N.H.) was a third-team selection and also earned All-Tournament honors. Turned hurled a complete game six hit shutout over St. Joseph's in Saturday's semifinals game to move to a 4-2 record on the year. He leads the GNAC with 59 strikeouts on the season and also logged league highs in innings pitched (69 1/3) and games started (10).  Turner made his only start in conference action on April 23 against Johnson & Wales University, a 5-1 complete game victory. He also earned wins against Clarkson University and Eastern Connecticut State University this season along with Saturday's win.

Sophomore Seth Coiley (Arlington, Mass.) rounded out the All-Conference selections for Suffolk placing on the third team in the outfield. Coiley has held down the middle of the lineup for the majority of the season for Suffolk drawing a total of 30 base on balls which stands as the 21st highest total currently in the nation. Coiley has connected on three home runs this season to along with eight doubles and pair of triples while driving in 25 runs.

Junior Luke Ronchi (Randolph, N.J.) was selected to the league's All Sportsmanship team. Ronchi has platooned in right field for the majority of the season and is hitting .257 in 70 at-bats on the year. He has scored 15 runs and stolen six bases.

Juniors Sean Cameron (Milford, Conn.) and Matt Brenner (Eliot, Me.) also earned All-Tournament honors for their performances over the weekend. Cameron played every inning of the four games at shortstop for Suffolk. His RBI double in the top of the third inning on Saturday kick started an offense that put together 10 runs in a shutout over St. Joe's. Brenner also played every inning of the four game stretch logging 37 innings behind the dish. Brenner's bases clearing double in the seventh on Thursday evening lifted Suffolk to their 7-4 victory over Lasell College to open the playoff run. He also added a pair of RBI in Saturday's victory.

Suffolk will be idle until Wednesday May 18 when the NCAA Regional Tournaments open up. The full 56-team field will be announced late Sunday May 15. The New England Regional this year will be held at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, Connecticut.

Suffolk will head to the NCAA's for the sixth time in program history as this upcoming trip marks the first time for a consecutive appearance.

Suffolk stands at a 33-11 overall record on the year. The 33 wins are the second most in school history trailing just the 2000 who finished with a 38-9 record that season.