Posted: May 07, 2012
CENTERVILLE, Mass. – The Endicott baseball team will host a four-team, one-day Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Tournament on Saturday, May 12th as the \#1 seed. The Gulls, who bowed out of the double elimination Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament on Sunday will be vying for back-to-back ECAC titles and their third in program history.
The other four teams in the tournament include \#2 Framingham State, \#3 Anna Maria, and \#4 Newbury.
A 7-6 loss to Western New England in the CCC Tournament bounced Endicott from conference championship contention but with a 27-16 overall record, including several key victories over non-conference opponents, the Gulls earned the top seed in the ECAC bracket. Nine players on the Gulls squad were named to the All-CCC Team this year including First Teamers Tad Gold and Colin Sitarz who lead Endicott with 38 and 34 RBIs, respectively. Last spring, Endicott and Anna Maria shared the ECAC New England Championship after rain forced a cancellation of the title game.
Framingham State went 26-16 in 2012 and appeared in the Massachusetts Small College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament where they advanced past Westfield State 5-0 before suffering back-to-back losses to Bridgewater State (0-3) and Salem State (3-5). Rams sophomore pitcher Matt DiCato and junior outfielder Will Crofton were selected to the MASCAC All-Conference First Team after DiCato went 6-2 with a 2.53 ERA and Crofton batted .381 with 32 runs scored and 30 RBI.
Anna Maria (23-17) took their 11-5 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) record into the playoffs and made it to the tournament’s final four round before falling 15-2 to Suffolk. Prior to their loss, the AMCATs beat Emerson 12-0 and Johnson & Wales 5-3 until suffering back-to-back losses to Saint Joseph’s (Maine) and Suffolk. Anna Maria rosters the GNAC Player of the Year Jeff Scafidi after batting .414 with 30 RBI and hurling a 5-1 record on the mound.
Newbury came up short of capturing the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship after falling 6-2 to Daniel Webster on Sunday. The Nighthawks went 23-21 overall on the season thanks in part to the effort of NECC Player of the Year Alex Chetelat who not only batted .433 with 24 RBIs out of the cleanup spot but also went 4-0 on the rubber with a 1.01 ERA.
2012 ECAC DIII New England Baseball Tournament Schedule
Saturday, May 12
\#4 Newbury (23-21) at \#1 Endicott (27-16), 10:00 a.m.
\#3 Anna Maria (23-17) vs. \#2 Framingham State (26-16)*
Semifinal Winners*
* Second ECAC Semifinal and ECAC Championship begins 30 minutes after the conclusion of the previous game
