BASEBALL: SJC Senior Shortstop Joey Murphy Named GNAC Player of the Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Anna Maria's Marzec, Drosidis
named GNAC Pitcher, Rookie of the Year

WINTHROP, Mass. – Saint Joseph's College of Maine senior shortstop Joey Murphy has been selected as the 2019 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Baseball Player of the Year, as the GNAC office unveiled its all-conference teams and major award winners on Tuesday afternoon.

The selections are voted upon and decided by the league's nine head coaches. For the complete list of all-conference, all-defensive and all-sportsmanship selections, please see below.

Murphy has enjoyed a banner season, as the Derry, N.H. native is currently hitting .421 with 45 runs scored, 21 RBI, 11 doubles, and 36 stolen bases in 39 attempts for the Monks, who captured their first GNAC title and NCAA Regional appearance since 2014 with a thrilling 8-7 extra-inning victory on Sunday night over Johnson & Wales University (RI).

Saint Joseph's will learn its NCAA fate next Monday, May 13 when the Division III field is announced in an online selection show.

Anna Maria College, which earned the No. 6 seed in the GNAC Tournament, took home the conference's other two major awards, as AMCATS sophomore right-hander Jack Marzec was voted as the GNAC Pitcher of the Year and freshman shortstop Kosta Drosidis was named the GNAC Rookie of the Year.

Marzec was stellar on the mound specifically in GNAC play, going 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 32.0 innings pitched. Overall, the second-year arm posted a 3.42 ERA and struck out 72 over 63.2 innings.

Meanwhile, Drosidis jumped onto the GNAC scene to lead the league in home runs (8) and slugging (.622). The Holden, Mass. native hit .363 with 28 runs scored and 37 RBI, posting an impressive 1.079 OPS.

Fifth-year Suffolk University head coach Anthony Del Prete was voted the GNAC Coach of the Year for the third time overall and second straight year, as the Rams went 14-2 against conference opponents to capture the league's regular-season title. While Suffolk's quest for a fifth consecutive GNAC Championship fell short this past weekend, the Rams tied with SJC by placing a league-leading eight on the All-Conference teams.

Of the eight, Suffolk placed three on the First Team in sophomore Blase Cormier, junior outfielder Tim Brigham and and sophomore outfielder Will Hopkins.

GNAC runner-up JWU placed six on the All-Conference Teams, headlined by First Teamer Colby Greenhalgh, who hit .397 with five home runs, 18 extra-base hits, 31 RBI, and a league-leading 51 runs scored.

From Saint Joseph's, joining Murphy on the First Team were senior catcher Greg Emanuelson, senior outfielder Jared Gagne and 6-7 freshman right-hander Matt Bergeron.

Gagne's numbers were on par with that of Murphy, as the Dover, N.H. native will enter NCAA Regional play with a .413 average to go with 46 runs, 30 RBI, while going 35-of-40 in stolen base attempts for the Monks.

First Team
C – Greg Emanuelson, Saint Joseph's (Me.) (Sr., Hudson, N.H.) 
INF – Matt Warren, Albertus Magnus (Jr., Wolcott, Conn.) 
INF – Kosta Drosidis, Anna Maria (Fr., Holden, Mass.) 
INF – Joey Murphy, Saint Joseph's (Me.) (Sr., Derry, N.H.)
INF – Blase Cormier, Suffolk (So., Wayland, Mass.) 
OF – Jared Gagne, Saint Joseph's (Me.) (Sr., Dover, N.H.)
OF – Tim Brigham, Suffolk (Jr., Cape Elizabeth, Maine) 
OF – Will Hopkins, Suffolk (So., Old Rochester, Mass.) 
DH – Colby Greenhalgh, Johnson & Wales (RI) (Jr., Plainfield, Conn.) 
UTIL – David Marsell, Lasell (Sr., Baldwinsville, N.Y.) 
P – Jack Marzec, Anna Maria (So., Northbridge, Mass.) 
P – Matt Bergeron, Saint Joseph's (Me.) (Fr., Salem, N.H.) 

Second Team
C – Joe Sullivan, Lasell (Jr., East Sandwich, Mass.) 
INF – Mike Browne, Albertus Magnus (Sr., New Fairfield, Conn.)
INF – Joe Maracic, Johnson & Wales (RI) (Jr., Syosset, N.Y.) 
INF – Andre Marchesseault, Lasell (Sr., Cheshire, Conn.) 
INF – Rich Gilbride, Suffolk (Jr., Beverly, Mass.) 
OF – Tyriq Harris, Albertus Magnus (Sr., Waterbury, Conn.) 
OF – Kevin Lynch, Norwich (Sr., Randolph, Mass.) 
OF – Hunter Richardson, Saint Joseph's (Me.) (So., No. Monmouth, Maine) 
DH – Connor Troio, Suffolk (Sr., Shrewsbury, Mass.) 
UTIL – Adam Twitchell, Anna Maria (Jr., Shrewsbury, Mass.) 
P – James Smiegocki, Johnson & Wales (RI) (Sr., Lambertville, N.J.) 
P – Steven Rossi, Suffolk (Fr., Corning, N.Y.) 

Third Team
C – Greg Gehring, Anna Maria (Jr., Southold, N.Y.) 
INF – Elijah Spataj, Albertus Magnus (Fr., Cheshire, Conn.) 
INF – Drew Healey, Saint Joseph's (Me.) (Jr., Rochester, N.H.) 
INF – Noah McDaniel, Saint Joseph's (Me.) (Sr., Eliot, Maine) 
INF – Trevor Lee, Suffolk (Sr., Flanders, N.J.) 
OF – Armani Henderson, Johnson & Wales (RI) (Jr., Johnston, R.I.)
OF – Fred Kazalski, Rivier (So., Dracut, Mass.) 
OF – Rich Giandrea, Suffolk (So., Audubon, N.J.) 
DH – Adam Diehl, Johnson & Wales (RI) (Sr., Cypress, Texas) 
UTIL – Tim Unczur, Colby-Sawyer (Jr., Danvers, Mass.) 
P – Josh Mousseau, Johnson & Wales (RI) (Sr., Woonsocket, R.I.) 
P – Zach Begin, Saint Joseph's (Me.) (Jr., Georgetown, Mass.) 

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
C – Greg Gehring, Anna Maria (Jr., Southold, N.Y.) 
1B – Blase Cormier, Suffolk (So., Wayland, Mass.) 
2B – Trevor Lee, Suffolk (Sr., Flanders, N.J.) 
3B – Andre Marchesseault, Lasell (Sr., Cheshire, Conn.) 
SS – Joey Murphy, Saint Joseph's (Me.) (Sr., Derry, N.H.) 
OF – Evan Michalek, Lasell (Sr., Berlin, Conn.)
OF – Kevin Lynch, Norwich (Sr., Randolph, Mass.) 
OF – Will Hopkins, Suffolk (So., Old Rochester, Mass.) 
P – Charles Batchelder, Suffolk (Sr., Shrewsbury, Mass.) 

PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Joey Murphy, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
PITCHER OF THE YEAR – Jack Marzec, Anna Maria
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – Kosta Drosidis, Anna Maria
COACH OF THE YEAR – Anthony Del Prete, Suffolk
INSTITUTIONAL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD – Rivier University

ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM
David Otero, Albertus Magnus (Sr., Bridgeport, Conn.) 
Justin Robbins, Anna Maria (So., Leominster, Mass .) 
Brendan Barrett, Colby-Sawyer (Sr., Nashua, N.H.) 
Tim Lombardi, Johnson & Wales (RI)  (Sr., Providence, R.I.)
Brian Cohen, Lasell (Sr., Rockland, Mass.) 
Mike Lesco, Norwich (Sr., Somers, Conn.)
Brett Iannazzo, Rivier (Sr., Methuen, Mass.) 
Simon Gonzalez, Saint Joseph's (Me.) (Jr., Peabody, Mass.) 
Charles Batchelder, Suffolk (So., Old Rochester, Mass.) 

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience. 

– #TheGNAC –