Central Islip, N.Y. – Senior Tom Tolan
(Malverne, N.Y.) of LIU Post has been named the 2014 ECC
Baseball Player of the Year, while senior Tyler Badamo (Mt. Sinai,
N.Y.) of Dowling College repeats as ECC Pitcher of the Year as
voted on by the conference’s coaches. Freshman third baseman,
Kevin Podell (Wantagh, N.Y.) of Molloy College takes home the
Rookie of the Year honor and Dowling head coach, Tom Caputo, wraps
up the major awards as the Coach of the Year.
Tolan, a third baseman, bounced back from only playing in two
games in 2013 to earn the conference's top honor this season. In 33
games, Tolan smacked 44 hits in 122 at-bats to finish second in the
ECC with .361 batting average. He also compiled three doubles, two
triples, and 16 RBI on the season. In addition, Tolan ranked among
the top-10 in the ECC in runs (26), hit by pitch (9), stolen bases
(15), and on-base percentage (.435). He excelled defensively at the
hot corner as well, making only four errors for a .955 fielding
percentage.
For the second straight season, Dowling's Badamo has been named
the conference Pitcher of the Year. He has been lights out this
season on the mound, recording a streak of 72.2 innings without
allowing an earned run and allowing only five extra-base hits all
season. On top of that, he ranks among the conference's leaders in
nearly every category. The four-time ECC Pitcher of the Week
currently leads the conference with 90.2 innings pitched, 111
strikeouts, and a 0.89 earned run average. He also comes into
post-season play as the ECC runner-up in wins (7), complete games
(4), and shutouts (1). Badamo is among the national leaders as
well, ranking third in all of Division II in both ERA and
strikeouts.
Molloy's Podell receives the billing as the conference's top
rookie after compiling a .304 batting average to go along with
seven doubles, two triples, 20 RBI and 22 runs scored. The third
baseman ranked among the conference leaders with 49 hits and 15
walks as well. In conference games, Podell was even better, ranking
seventh in the league with 31 hits to finish with a .333 batting
average.
Dowling head coach Tom Caputo was named the Coach of the Year by
his peers after guiding the Golden Lions to an East Coast
Conference Regular Season title for the first time since the 2008
season. Dowling is also ranked No. 4 in the latest East
Region poll under Caputo's leadership.
Joining Tolan and Badamo as All-Conference First Team selections
are Tim Bickford (Jr. , C, Bridgeport), Kenny Kirshner (Sr., 1B,
St. Thomas Aquinas), Andrew Abreu (Sr., 2B, Dowling), Stanley
Susana (Jr., SS, St. Thomas Aquinas), Rich Baerga (Jr., OF, St.
Thomas Aquinas), John Cruz (Jr., OF, Dowling), Nick D'Angelo (Sr.,
OF, St. Thomas Aquinas), Derek Hirsch (Jr., DH, St. Thomas
Aquinas), JC Brandmaier (Sr., UTL, Dowling), Tom Bammann (Sr., SP,
Dowling), Brian O'Keefe (Jr., SP, Bridgeport), and C.J. Ferrigi
(Sr., RP, St. Thomas Aquinas).
Second Team honorees include Stephen Sunday (Sr., C, St. Thomas
Aquinas), Ian Schneider (Sr., 1B, Dowling), Mike Apreda (Sr., 2B,
St. Thomas Aquinas), Mike Perry (Jr., 3B, Bridgeport), RJ Going
(So., SS, Dowling), Lebro Burnette (So., OF, Queens), Carlos Guzman
(Sr., OF, Molloy), Jesse Solar (Sr., OF, Bridgeport), Ronald Bauer
(Fr., DH, Molloy), Nicholas Gargan (So., UTL, St. Thomas Aquinas),
Mike Eckerle (Jr.,SP, LIU Post), Robert Frank (Sr., SP, St. Thomas
Aquinas), Max Schonfeld (Sr., SP, Molloy), Anthony Eichhorn (Sr.,
RP, Molloy) and Dan Jagiello (Fr., RP, LIU Post).
St. Thomas Aquinas led the way with 10 selections. Dowling was
next with seven selections and Bridgeport and Molloy added
four.
2014 ECC
Baseball All-Conference
First Team
C - Tim Bickford, Bridgeport
1B - Kenny Kirshner, St. Thomas Aquinas
2B - Andrew Abreu, Dowling
3B - Tom Tolan, LIU Post
SS - Stanley Susana, St. Thomas Aquinas
OF - Rich Baerga, St. Thomas Aquinas
OF - John Cruz, Dowling
OF - Nick D'Angelo, St. Thomas Aquinas
DH - Derek Hirsch, St. Thomas Aquinas
UTL - JC Brandmaier, Dowling
SP - Tyler Badamo, Dowling
SP - Tom Bammann, Dowling
SP - Brian O'Keefe, Bridgeport
RP - CJ Ferriggi, St. Thomas Aquinas
Second Team
C - Stephen Sunday, St. Thomas Aquinas
1B - Ian Schneider, Dowling
2B - Mike Apreda, St. Thomas Aquinas
3B - Mike Perry, Bridgeport
SS - RJ Going, Dowling
OF - Carlos Guzman, Molloy
OF - Jesse Solar, Bridgeport
OF - Lebro Burnette, Queens
DH - Ronald Bauer, Molloy
UTL - Nicholas Gargan, St. Thomas Aquinas
SP - Mike Eckerle, LIU Post
SP - Robert Frank, St. Thomas Aquinas
SP - Max Schonfeld, Molloy
RP - Anthony Eichhorn, Molloy
RP - Dan Jagiello, LIU Post
Player of the Year: Tom Tolan, Sr., 3B, LIU
Post
Pitcher of the Year: Tyler Badamo, Sr., P,
Dowling
Rookie of the Year: Kevin Podell, Fr., 3B,
Molloy
Coach of the Year: Tom Caputo, Dowling
