Baseball Nabs Top NECC Honors & Seven All-Conference Spots
MANSFIELD, Mass. – Mitchell College won two major awards and had a total of seven players named to the all-conference team by the New England Collegiate Conference on Tuesday morning as the league announced its annual baseball honors.
Senior Dougie DelaCruz (Uncasville, Conn.) was named NECC Player of the Year, becoming the first player in the history of Mitchell College and the New England Collegiate Conference to earn the conference's top honor three times (2019, 2021, 2023). Head coach Travis Beausoleil collected a major award as well, earning NECC Coach of the Year honors for the fourth time in his tenure with the Mariners (2015, 2019, 2021, 2023).
DelaCruz, an outfielder, was also one of 17 players and five outfielders to earn a spot on the All-NECC team. Joining him were seniors Matt Falk (Enfield, Conn.) Lelo Martinez (New London, Conn.), and Ryan Solimine (Danbury, Conn.), along with juniors Angel Galindez (Carolina, PR), and Owen Robbins (East Lyme, Conn.), as well as sophomore Bo Yaworski (Brooklyn, Conn.). All awards were determined by a vote of the league's head coaches.
DelaCruz, who has started and played in all 36 of Mitchell's games this season, led the conference with a .448 batting average, while his .828 slugging percentage and .521 on-base percentage were tops in the NECC. He also led the conference with 60 hits, 21 doubles, and six triples, and was second in the NECC with six home runs and 52 RBI. DelaCruz earned NECC Player of the Week honors once (3/19/23) and became the program's all-time leader in home runs during the season (23).
Beausoleil, now in his 12th season at Mitchell, led the Mariners (28-8 overall) to a first-place finish in the conference with an 11-1 record. Under his guidance, Mitchell led the league with a .325 batting average, a .457 on-base percentage, and a .487 slugging percentage. The Mariners also led the league in doubles (77), triples (20), home runs (23), and RBI (316). His pitching staff led the league with a 4.01 ERA, which lowered to 1.93 in conference play. He also received Coach of the Year honors in 2015, 2019, and 2021.
Matt Falk, a senior, played in all 36 games behind the plate for the Mariners, slashing .351/.484/.649, while adding a conference best eight home runs and 54 RBI. His 38 runs scored were also top five in the NECC, and his 87 total bases were second best in the league. He was twice named NECC Player of the Week (3/27/23, 4/3/23), and also earned a spot on the d3baseball.com Team of the Week once (3/22/23).
Fellow senior Lelo Martinez, continued to establish himself as the premier third baseman in the NECC, slashing .358/.475/.545 in 36 games for the Mariners. He finished the regular season top five in the conference in RBI (47), runs scored (37), doubles (11), hits (44), extra base hits (16), and total bases (67).
Right handed starting pitcher Ryan Solimine made a team-high 11 appearances for the Mariners, eight of them starts, and logged 53 innings, also a team-high figure. He finished with a 6-2 record and a 2.38 ERA. His six wins and his ERA were both second in the NECC. In conference play he made six starts, posting a 4-1 record with a 2.57 ERA with 34 strikeouts and just four walks in 35 innings of work. Solimine was named NECC Pitcher of the Week once this spring (April 3, 2023).
Junior shortstop Angel Galindez earned his first spot on the all-conference team, batting .323 out of the leadoff spot, with a conference best 60 runs scored. He was also top five in on base percentage (.477), walks (27), and stolel bases (20).
Earning one of the outfield spots was Owen Robbins, who played all 36 games for the Mariners in right field. The junior slashed .352/.471/.484, while driving in 32 runs, scoring 27 times, and collecting nine doubles. Robbins finished the regular season top 10 in the conference in batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, doubles, RBI, and hits (43).
Rounding out the Mitchell All-NECC selections was reigning NECC Rookie of the Year, Bo Yaworski. The sophomore first baseman put together another stellar campaign, slashing .359//.459/.592, while finishing second on the Mariners with six home runs, third in RBI with 50, and third in runs scored with 48. He was top five in the conference in batting average, slugging percentage, home runs, RBI, runs scored, doubles (11), hits (51), and total bases (84). Yaworski also only committed one error in 273 total chances at first base.
Senior Kenny Heon (Uncasville, Conn.) also represented Mitchell as one of four players selected to the Del Malloy Sportsmanship Team.
The top-seeded Mariners are set to host the upcoming New England Collegiate Conference championship tournament, which is slated to begin Friday, May 5, in New London, Conn.
NECC Player of the Year – Dougie DelaCruz, Mitchell (Sr., Uncasville, Conn.)
NECC Pitcher of the Year – Francis Ferguson, Eastern Nazarene (Jr., Jefferson, Mass.)
NECC Rookie of the Year – Elvis Rojas, Eastern Nazarene (Fr., Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
Coach of the Year – Travis Beausoleil, Mitchell
All-NECC
P- Spencer Boynton, Eastern Nazarene (So., Tampa, Fla.)
P- Francis Ferguson, Eastern Nazarene (Jr., Jefferson, Mass.)
P- Dylan Langston, Lesley (Sr., Chesapeake, Va.)
P- Ryan Solimine, Mitchell (Sr., Danbury, Conn.)
C- Matt Falk, Mitchell (Sr., Enfield, Conn.)
1B- Bo Yaworski, Mitchell (So., Brooklyn, Conn.)
2B- Elvis Rojas, Eastern Nazarene (Fr., Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
3B- Lelo Martinez, Mitchell (Sr., New London, Conn.)
SS- Angel Galindez, Mitchell (Jr., Carolina, Puerto Rico)
OF- Francis Ferguson, Eastern Nazarene (Jr., Jefferson, Mass.)
OF- Dougie DelaCruz, Mitchell (Sr., Uncasville, Conn.)
OF- Adam Budorick, Lesley (Jr., Glenview, Ill.)
OF- Colby Jacobs, Lesley (So., Charlton, Mass.)
OF- Owen Robbins, Mitchell (Jr., East Lyme, Conn.)
UT- Shane McNamara, Eastern Nazarene (Gr., Londonderry, N.H.)
UT- Tim Krol, New England Col. (Sr., East Longmeadow, Mass.)
DH- James Brandon, Lesley (Jr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.)
Del Malloy Sportsmanship Team
Nate Duncan, Eastern Nazarene (So., Boston, Mass.)
Nate Trudnich, Lesley (Sr., San Pedro, Calif.)
Kenny Heon, Mitchell (Sr., Uncasville, Conn.)
Devin Parsons, New England Col. (Sr., Salisbury, Mass.)
