West Babylon, N.Y. – A pair of freshman took home the top honors in the East Coast Conference Baseball All-Conference awards that were announced on Thursday afternoon. NYIT redshirt freshman, EJ Cumbo (East Meadow, N.Y.), was named the Player of the Year, while LIU Post's Joshua Loeschorn (Butler, N.J.) was named both the Pitcher and Rookie of the Year.
Cumbo has been one of the top hitters in the country, let alone the ECC this season. Heading into the ECC Championship, he has compiled a .460 batting average. That mark leads the ECC by 63 points and is second in all of Division II. Cumbo also leads the conference in the other two slash line categories with a .531 on-base percentage and a 677 slugging percentage. In addition, he ranks in the top-five in the loop with five homeruns, 35 RBI, and 19 stolen bases.
Loeschorn has been nearly unhittable in his collegiate debut. In 72.2 innings, he has compiled a 9-0 record with 58 strikeouts and a 1.50 earned run average. His win and ERA totals are tops in the ECC. He also leads the conference with two shutouts and ranks in the top-10 in saves, complete games (4), strikeouts, and batting average against (.164). Some of those numbers rank among the national leaders, as well. He ranks sixth in ERA, eighth in wins, fifth in hits allowed per nine innings (5.2), 16th in walks allowed per nine innings (1.24), and leads the country in WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) at 0.72.
LIU Post's Mike Gaffney has been named the ECC's Coach of the Year honor by his peers. Gaffney led the Pioneers to a 33-14 (24-4 ECC) mark to win the program's first Regular Season Championship since 2010.
Joining Cumbo and Loeschorn as All-Conference First Team selections are Anthony Vaglica (Sr., C, LIU Post), Zach Fritz (Jr., 1B, LIU Post), Matt Gutleber (Jr., 2B, Queens), Andrew Jemison (Fr., 3B, St. Thomas Aquinas), John Mooradian (Jr., SS, Mercy), John LaRocca (Jr., OF, NYIT), Jon Strauss (Fr., OF, Queens), Michael Manzione (Sr., DH, LIU Post), Sean Hogan (Jr., U, Molloy), Noah Lorenzo (Jr., SP, LIU Post), DJ Masuck (Jr., SP, NYIT), James Varela (Sr., SP, LIU Post), and Andrew Hernandez (Jr., RP, Mercy).
Second Team All-Conference selections include Ryan Kuskowski (Jr., C, NYIT), Jake Lebel (Sr., 1B, NYIT), Ryan Donnelly (Fr., 2B, Bridgeport), Joseph Sadallah (Sr., 3B, Mercy), Ben McNeill (Jr., SS, NYIT), Christopher Wasson (So., SS, LIU Post), Dave Brehm (Sr., OF, LIU Post), Kashif Hill (So., OF, Lincoln (Pa.)), Michael Morgan (Sr., OF, St. Thomas Aquinas), Joe O'Rourke (Jr., DH, Queens), Louis Antos (So., U, Queens), Luis Grullart (Jr., U, Mercy), Dennis Buckstein (Sr., SP, Queens), Chris Cepeda (Sr., SP, St. Thomas Aquinas), Joseph Murphy (Jr., SP, NYIT), Timothy Panetta (Jr., SP, Molloy), and Ariel Taveras (Sr., RP, NYIT).
2019 ECC Baseball All-Conference
First Team
C - Anthony Vaglica, LIU Post
1B - Zach Fritz, LIU Post
2B - Matt Gutleber, Queens
3B - Andrew Jemison, St. Thomas Aquinas
SS - John Mooradian, Mercy
OF - EJ Cumbo, NYIT
OF - John LaRocca, NYIT
OF - Jon Strauss, Queens
DH - Michael Manzione, LIU Post
U - Sean Hogan, Molloy
SP - Joshua Loeschorn, LIU Post
SP - Noah Lorenzo, LIU Post
SP - DJ Masuck, NYIT
SP - James Varela, LIU Post
RP - Andrew Hernandez, Mercy
Second Team
C - Ryan Kuskowski, NYIT
1B - Jake Lebel, NYIT
2B - Ryan Donnelly, Bridgeport
3B - Joseph Sadallah, Mercy
SS - Ben McNeill, NYIT
SS - Christopher Wasson, LIU Post
OF - Dave Brehm, LIU Post
OF - Kashif Hill, Lincoln (Pa.)
OF - Michael Morgan, St. Thomas Aquinas
DH - Joe O'Rourke, Queens
U - Louis Antos, Queens
U - Luis Grullart, Mercy
SP - Dennis Buckstein, Queens
SP - Chris Cepeda, St. Thomas Aquinas
SP - Joseph Murphy, NYIT
SP - Timothy Panetta, Molloy
RP - Ariel Tavera, NYIT
Player of the Year: EJ Cumbo, R-Fr., OF, NYIT
Pitcher and Rookie of the Year: Joshua Loeschorn, Fr., LIU Post
Coach of the Year: Mike Gaffney, LIU Post
* - There are two SS and U on the Second Team due to ties in the voting