The Sunrise Conference recently announced its postseason award winners for baseball at the conference tournament in Lynn, Mass.
Senior catcher Edwin Pena of Fisher College was named Player of the Year. SUNY Canton's Joe Carbone earned Coach of the Year Honors. Freshman pitcher and infielder Kyle Fifield of Vermont Technical College was named Rookie of the Year and Vermont Tech also took home the Team Sportsmanship Award.
Pena led the conference in doubles with 15 and was second in several other offensive categories including batting (.402), slugging percentage (.573), RBIs (38) and home runs (3). He also scored 20 runs and smacked two triples.
In his first year Carbone led the Roos to a third-place finish in the conference and had six of his players receive post-season honors.
Fifield tied for the lead in walks allowed in the conference with 12 and was second in earned-run average (4.20) and opponents batting average (.279). He recorded 22 strikeouts in 30 innings and was the only player in the conference to beat Fisher who won the regular season and tournament championships.
Joining Pena and Fifield on the all-conference team was freshman catcher Tom Darling of SUNY Canton, senior firstbaseman DJ Charette of the University of Maine at Presque Isle, junior secondbaseman Mike Oliveira of Fisher, senior third baseman Joe Clough of Vermont Tech, junior shortstop Jose Rodriguez of Fisher, extra infielder and senior Tyler Delaney of Presque Isle, junior designated hitter Reynaldo Nunez of Fisher and outfielders, sophomore Matthew Fallon of SUNY Canton, junior Corey Harding of Presque Isle, senior Jeff Savage of Vermont Tech and freshman David Ferreira of Fisher. The all-conference starting pitchers are Savage and Fifield and seniors Patrick Shanahan and Zack Thompson of Fisher. Senior Rob Mondello of Fisher is the all-conference relief pitcher.
Darling was tied for fourth in doubles with nine and he batted .281 with 17 runs and nine RBIs. Charette batted .283 and was eighth in doubles (5) and 12th in RBIs (15). Oliveira was tied for third in runs (28) and seventh in batting (.336) and drove in 13 runs. Clough was ninth in batting (.306) and added a double, five RBIs and five runs. Rodriguez led the conference in home runs (7), slugging percentage (.602), runs scored (45), and triples (4) and was sixth in batting (.342) and third in doubles (13). Delaney was fifth in batting (.346), second in triples (3) and fourth in RBIs (22). Nunez was third in batting (.373), slugging percentage (.571), RBIs (33), and runs (28) and tied for second in home runs with three.
Fallon batted .410 and was tied for sixth in doubles (7). He also had 12 RBIs, a triple and a home run. Harding batted .291 and was tied for sixth in doubles (7) and was seventh in runs (22) and eighth in RBIs (19). Savage led the conference with a .489 average and he was also fourth in slugging percentage (.556). Ferreira batted .303 and was tied for fourth in RBIs (22) and fifth in runs (27).
Shanahan led the conference earned-run average (3.40), opponents batting average (.220), strikeouts (77), and wins (6). He was also second in innings pitched (50.1) and eighth in walks allowed with 22. Savage allowed a league-low 12 walks and was second in earned-run average (3.71) and opponents batting average (.265), third in strikeouts (40) and tied for second in wins (3).
Mondello posted two saves with a 6.17 earned-run average and 30 strikeouts in 46.2 innings. He held opponents to a .308 average and walked just 14 batters.
The conference also handed out defensive Gold Glove awards and those went to Pena (catcher), Clough (third base), Fifield (shortstop), Savage (outfield), Thompson (pitcher), and Alfredo Torres from Fisher at first base, Bryan Duval of SUNY Canton at second base, Adam Levy at shortstop, and Michael Zelyez and Dylan Gronowski of SUNY Canton in the outfield.