NEW HAVEN, CT - Felician College senior 1B Frank Quintana has been named the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Baseball Player of the Year in voting conducted by the conference's nine head coaches. Nyack College senior right-hander Billy Gleason has been tabbed Pitcher of the Year, while Caldwell College outfielder Adric Saxon has won Rookie of the Year honors. Caldwell head coach Chris Reardon has been voted Coach of the Year and Nyack earned the annual Team Sportsmanship Award.
Quintana, who hails from Miami, FL, leads the CACC in numerous categories including batting average (.413), total bases (142), runs scored (56), hits (74), doubles (18), runs batted in (59) and stolen bases (23). He is also second in slugging percentage (.793) home runs (16) and walks (28). Quintana became the school's all-time RBI leader with a grand slam on April 30 against Dominican. He has 146 career RBI. On Saturday, Quintana broke the school single-season RBI record with his 59th. Quintana is also one of only two players in Felician history with 200 career hits. Quintana, who was named CACC Player of the Week three times this season, has led the Golden Falcons to the third seed for this week's CACC Tournament, which will begin on Thursday in Wilmington, DE.
Gleason, a 6-4 hurler from Hollywood, FL, had an outstanding senior season and finished with a 5-3 record while holding opponents to a .241 batting average, which ranks second in the conference. Gleason threw a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts against Dominican on April 26 and also pitched a complete game shutout against Post on April 19 after allowing four hits and fanning nine. Gleason ranks second in the CACC in strikeouts (70) and innings pitched (69.2) and is tied for fourth with five wins.
Saxon, a freshman outfielder from Coral Springs, FL, burst onto the CACC scene and ranks among league leaders in numerous categories. He is third in total bases (102), RBI (53) and home runs (13), fourth in slugging percentage (.699) and 16th with a .356 batting average. Furthermore, he ranks first nationally in RBI's per-game with 1.61 and seventh in home runs per-game with 0.42 as of April 29th. Saxon and the Cougars are the top seed for this week's CACC Baseball Tournament.
Reardon led the Cougars to a CACC regular-season championship with an 11-5 record along with a 22-11 overall mark. Caldwell is currently ranked third in the Northeast Region. With Reardon's guidance, the Cougars are one of the most-improved teams in the CACC after going 11-14 in conference play (6th place) and 18-25 overall last season.
Nyack, with first-year head coach Jon Copeland at the helm, has been given the annual Team Sportsmanship Award for the second consecutive season.
FIRST TEAM
1B Frank Quintana Felician Sr. Miami, FL
2B Richard Melendez Felician Fr. Miami, FL
SS Jose Made Dominican So. Binghamton, NY
3B Billy Ryan Caldwell Sr. Toms River, NJ
C Chris Chiarappa Caldwell Jr. Elmont, NY
OF Jason Rust Wilmington Sr. Greenwood, DE
OF Ray Rose Felician Sr. Piscataway, NJ
OF Adric Saxon Caldwell Fr. Coral Springs, FL
DH Nicolas Cucchiarella Bloomfield So. Katonah, NY
UT Brian Testa Wilmington Jr. Wilmington, DE
P Billy Gleason Nyack Sr. Hollywood, FL
P Joe Matterer Wilmington Jr. Newark, DE
P Robert Casal Caldwell Fr. Howard Beach, NY
RP Jeff Calabrese Felician Fr. Freehold, NJ
SECOND TEAM (15 members due to a tie)
1B Keith Heck Philadelphia Sr. Cherry Hill, NJ
2B Ryan DePolo Post Sr. Milford, CT
SS Zach Mentzer Philadelphia Jr. Gettysburg, PA
3B Justin DeVincenzo USP Sr. Plains, PA
C Peter Gilardo Dominican Sr. Cornwall, NY
OF Raymond Keelan Caldwell Fr. Barnegat, NJ
OF JungMin Lee Philadelphia Jr. Seoul, Korea
OF Omar Velazquez Caldwell Fr. Astoria, NY
DH Chris Flynn Felician Sr. Keyport, NJ
UT Phil Maher USP Jr. Norristown, PA
P Brendan Wyman Post So. Manchester, CT
P Kenny McGrady Wilmington Sr. Rising Sun, MD
P Eric Hines Caldwell So. Milltown, NJ
P John Anderson Bloomfield Sr. Manville, NJ
RP Tyler Mentzer Philadelphia Fr. Gettysburg, PA
Player of the Year: Frank Quintana, Sr., Felician
Pitcher of the Year: Billy Gleason, Sr., Nyack
Rookie of the Year: Adric Saxon, Caldwell
Coach of the Year: Chris Reardon, Caldwell
Team Sportsmanship Award: Nyack College