Central Islip, N.Y. – Stanley Susana (Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic), a senior third baseman for St. Thomas Aquinas, has been voted the East Coast Conference Baseball Player of the Year by the league's head coaches. LIU Post sophomore right hander, Jake DeCarli (Higganum, Conn.) takes home the Pitcher of the Year honor, while Susana's teammate, Giovanni Dingcong (Brooklyn, N.Y.), earns the Rookie of the Year award. Bridgeport head coach, Joe Tonelli, wraps up the major awards as the Coach of the Year.
Susana wraps up his decorated career at St. Thomas Aquinas with his first Player of the Year honor. Now a four-time All-Conference First Team selection, Susana's name can be found near the top of the ECC leader board in numerous offensive categories. In 40 games, he has hit .325, good for 10th in the conference. In addition, he ranks in the top-10 in the ECC after accumulating 50 hits (7th), two triples (9th), two homeruns (3rd), 68 total bases (6th), and a .442 slugging percentage (7th). Susana also leads the ECC with 36 runs batted in, as well.
DeCarli was dominant on the hill for LIU Post this season. In nine starts and appearances that span 62.0 innings pitched, he has put together a 5-1 record to go along with a miniscule 0.87 earned run average. His ERA leads the ECC and ranks sixth nationally in Division II, while his win total is good for fourth in the conference. DeCarli was even better in ECC play, finishing with an unblemished 4-0 mark and a 0.79 ERA. On the year, he added 53 strikeouts and held hitters to a stingy .146 batting average against. DeCarli also ranked in the top-10 in Division II with 4.35 hits allowed per nine innings and a 0.82 WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched).
Dingcong teamed with Susana to form a potent middle of the lineup for the Spartans. The freshman outfielder finished the regular season ranked second in the ECC with a .364 batting average. He topped the conference in numerous categories including hits (56), homeruns (6), total bases (91), and slugging percentage (.591). Dingcong was also the conference's runner-up with 13 doubles and 32 RBI.
Bridgeport head coach Joe Tonelli was named the Coach of the Year by his peers after guiding the Purple Knights to a share of the East Coast Conference Regular Season title for the first time in program history. Under Tonelli's leadership, the Purple Knights have compiled a 23-22 overall, 15-9 ECC record on the season and are currently ranked No. 9 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) East Region poll.
Joining Susana, DeCarli, and Dingcong as All-Conference First Team selections are Daniel Parisi (Sr., C, Dowling); David Groeneveld (Jr., 1B, LIU Post); Joseph Pena (Fr., 2B, St. Thomas Aquinas); John Ascenzia (Sr., SS, Bridgeport); John Cruz (Sr., OF, Dowling); Nicholas Gargan (Jr., OF, St. Thomas Aquinas); Tim Bickford (Sr., DH, Bridgeport); RJ Going (Jr., UTL, Dowling); Rob Anderson (Jr., SP, Bridgeport); Shea Spitzbarth (Jr., SP, Molloy); and PJ Martino (Fr., RP, Bridgeport).
Second Team honorees include Sal Palumbo (Sr., C, Mercy), Michael Richter (Jr., 1B, Dowling), Jose Negron (Fr., 2B, Bridgeport), Kevin Podell (So., 3B, Molloy), Brandon Fischer (Jr., SS, St. Thomas Aquinas), John Galanoudis (Sr., OF, Molloy), Scott Hagan (Jr., OF, Mercy), Vinny Iacono (Gr., OF, LIU Post), Bryan Greig (Sr., UTL, Mercy), Anthony Alicki (So., SP, Bridgeport), Alex Brosnan (Sr., SP, Molloy), Matt Kostalos (Jr., SP, St. Thomas Aquinas), and Nicholas Persad (Sr., RP, Dowling).
Bridgeport and St. Thomas Aquinas tied for the most selections with six each. Dowling was next with five.
2015 ECC Baseball All-Conference
First Team
C - Daniel Parisi, Dowling
1B - David Groeneveld, LIU Post
2B - Joseph Pena, St. Thomas Aquinas
3B - Stanley Susana, St. Thomas Aquinas
SS - John Ascenzia, Bridgeport
OF - John Cruz, Dowling
OF - Giovanni Dingcong, St. Thomas Aquinas
OF - Nicholas Gargan, St. Thomas Aquinas
DH - Tim Bickford, Bridgeport
UTL - RJ Going, Dowling
SP - Rob Anderson, Bridgeport
SP - Jake DeCarli, LIU Post
SP - Shea Spitzbarth, Molloy
RP - PJ Martino, Bridgeport
Second Team
C - Sal Palumbo, Mercy
1B - Michael Richter, Dowling
2B - Jose Negron, Bridgeport
3B - Kevin Podell, Molloy
SS - Brandon Fischer, St. Thomas Aquinas
OF - John Galanoudis, Molloy
OF - Scott Hagan, Mercy
OF - Vinny Iacono, LIU Post
UTL - Bryan Greig, Mercy
SP - Anthony Alicki, Bridgeport
SP - Alex Brosnan, Molloy
SP - Matt Kostalos, St. Thomas Aquinas
RP - Nicholas Persad, Dowling
Player of the Year: Stanley Susana, Sr., 3B, St. Thomas Aquinas
Pitcher of the Year: Jake DeCarli, So., LIU Post
Rookie of the Year: Giovanni Dingcong, Fr., OF, St. Thomas Aquinas
Coach of the Year: Joe Tonelli, Bridgeport
