Four Seahawks garner TCCC All-Conference honors

NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University senior Riley Diaz (Miami, Fla.) and junior Alex Melcher (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) were each named to The Commonwealth Coast Conference First Team while juniors Charles Matarazzo (Montville, N.J.) and Craig Silva (Marlborough, Mass.) were Honorable Mention selections.

Melcher led the Seahawks in average (.459), hits (34), runs (18), and stolen bases (seven) in conference play, and ranked amongst the league leaders in each of those categories. He was third in both average and total bases (53), tied for third in triples (three), fourth in on-base percentage (.506), fifth in hits, and eighth in stolen bases in TCCC. Melcher also belted two home runs and recorded 16 RBI, which was second on head coach Steve Cirella's squad. He recorded eight multi-hit games, including a 4-for-4 effort against Endicott on April 10. In the first round of TCCC playoffs on Tuesday, Melcher went 2-for--5 with a pair of home runs and five RBI in a 14-6 win over Wentworth.

Diaz finished second only to Melcher in hits (32), and was second on Salve Regina and seventh in TCCC with a .444 average. His 25 RBI were tops on the team and third in the conference. Diaz also led the Seahawks with nine doubles and four home runs against TCCC foes; his four round-trippers tied him for second in the league. He was third in the league with a .736 slugging pct. and sixth with 50 total bases. Diaz drove in a combined eight runs in a doubleheader against New England College on March 27, and six in a doubleheader sweep of Nichols on April 11.

Silva, meanwhile, went 5-1 with a 4.35 earned run average (ERA) and three complete games. He struck out 29 batters in 31 innings of work. From April 6 through April 19, Silva went 3-0 - all complete games - and allowed just five earned runs during that span. He capped the streak with a season-high 10 strikeouts in a win over Eastern Nazarene.

Matarazzo went 1-3 with a 5.60 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 27.1 IP. He tossed one complete game this spring. His best outing of the spring was a complete-game, 11-strikeout performance against New England College on March 27.

Curry College's Tim Sweeney was named Player of the Year, and teammates Cory Moore was selected Pitcher of the Year. Eastern Nazarene's Joel Toores was tabbed Rookie of the Year, Endicott's Bryan Haley was named Coach of the Year, Pete Oggeri was the conference's Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year, and Colby-Sawyer College received the Team Sportsmanship Award.

The Seahawks (22-16) return to action on Wednesday afternoon when they travel to Milton, Mass. for a TCCC playoff contest with Curry College (26-11) at 3 p.m..