Posted: May 04, 2016

Nine Seahawks recognized as all-conference baseball players

Nine Seahawks earn All-CCC baseball honors: first team in front (l-r) are Tristan Dacey, Zack Smith, Ryan Kelly, and Alex Perry; third team in back (l-r) are Colton Eremian, John Militano, Christian Vargas, Sean Healy, and Cory Poplawski.

NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University baseball placed a school-record nine players on the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) all-conference team: senior Ryan Kelly (Waldwick, N.J.), juniors Sean Healy (Wakefield, R.I.) and Cory Poplawski (Syracuse, N.Y.), sophomores John Militano (Miller Place, N.Y.), Alex Perry (No. Attleboro, Mass.), and Christian Vargas (Melbourne, Fla.), and freshmen Tristan Dacey (Wyckoff, N.J.), Colton Eremian (Boca Raton, Fla.), and Zack Smith (New Canaan, Conn.).

Kelly makes it four straight years as a first team outfielder. Nobody has had more at bats in a Seahawk uniform (563), or scored more runs (190), or hit more triples (19), or been hit by a pitch (69) - almost twice as many as the next Seahawk (Matt Capone - 38 times hit by pitch). The two-year captain is currently tied for third in the league in home runs (four), and is second in stolen bases (18) - behind only teammate Militano. Kelly's 47 runs scored leads all conference players.

Perry returns to the first team for his second straight season, this year at first base. In his All-American season a year ago, he did not hit a single triple. This year he's hit three three-baggers and has added five more doubles than his total from 2015 (16-11). Perry has already scored nine more runs than last season (35-26) and ranks second in the league in runs batted in (40).

Smith has twice earned the conference's rookie of the week honor (April 11; May 2) while finishing the regular season as the league's leading batter (.415). A first team outfielder, he's played both corner positions and has backed up at backstop on multiple occasions. Smith has most base hits (56) of any Seahawk and ranks third on team with 34 RBI. He has a dozen doubles, a triple, and two home runs on the season.

Dacey earned a spot on the first team as designated hitter while sharing the league lead in homeruns (six). His two home runs against Gordon College (April 23) sparked another comeback for the Seahawks. He is second on the team behind only Perry with 35 runs batted in.

Eremian, Militano, and Vargas earned spots on the third team at third base, second base, and catcher, respectively. Eremian (pronounced eh-REE-mee-an) has four home runs, 61 total bases, and a .555 slugging percentage. Militano moved from a starting outfielder spot as a freshman to the middle infield and top of the batting order. He leads the league in stolen bases (25) and is tied for second in runs scored (43). Vargas has caught all but six of the Seahawks' 37 games to date, and has upped his batting average to a steady .300 on the season. He has 20 assists and has thrown out four would-be base stealers.

Poplawski gets his first all-conference nod as a starting pitcher on the third team. He has started six and completed five games for a 3-3 won-loss record while posting a 2.84 earned run average. In four conference starts, he had a 2.77 ERA and a 10.38 strikeouts per game mark for second-best in the league. Healy joins the pitching staff as a reliever on the third team. In nine appearances on the season (10.2 innings), he has struck out 12 batters and earned three saves - against Curry and Wentworth in the CCC, and Johnson and Wales during an extra-inning non-league game.

Salve Regina (21-15-1; 10-6 CCC) finished as the No. 4 seed in the CCC regular season and opens the postseason at Nichols College (No. 3 seed) on Thursday at 3 p.m. The teams split their regular-season meetings on Reynolds Field (April 9) with Billy Humes (East Rockaway, N.Y.) throwing a complete-game shutout in game two, and Perry going 7-for-7 at the plate in the doubleheader.