Ketch, Perachi nab major awards among 10 Seahawks earning accolades
BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) announced its 2022 Baseball All-Conference Teams and major award winners Tuesday afternoon. Eight CCC baseball schools had at least one representative on this year's list with Endicott's 12 selections leading the way.
There were two student-athletes who were recognized as CCC Player of the Year this season as Harry Painter (Essex, Mass.) from Suffolk and Caleb Shpur (East Canaan, Conn.) from Endicott both received the honor. The Salve Regina battery of Dominic Perachi (Washington Depot, Conn.) and Dylan Ketch (Clinton, Conn.) were also major award winners, taking home Pitcher of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors, respectively. Western New England's CJ Willis (Auburn, Mass.) was the 2022 Rookie of the Year, while Endicott's Max Tarlin (Sharon, Mass.) was named the CCC Scholar-Athlete. The Gulls head coach Bryan Haley earned his fourth career CCC Coach of the Year honor this season and Wentworth was the winner of the Team Sportsmanship award.
Voting for the All-CCC Teams and major awards was conducted by the nine CCC baseball head coaches following the conclusion of the regular season.
Painter, Shpur, and Perachi were all also members of the All-CCC First Team. Painter earned the spot at designated hitter, while Shpur took one of the outfield spots and Perachi was one of three starting pitchers selected. Joining Perachi as First Team pitchers were starters Nicholas Cannata (Marlborough, Conn.) from Endicott and Justin Garcia (Foxborough, Mass.) from Roger Williams, plus Salve Regina reliever Andrew Roman (Monson, Mass.). Around the infield on the All-CCC First Team were RWU first baseman Brandon Jenkins (East Bridgewater, Mass.), Endicott second baseman Dylan Pacheco (Dartmouth, Mass.), and Nichols third baseman Nathaniel Cormier (Sandisfield, Mass.) with Salve Regina's Michael Breen (Auburn, Mass.) earning the spot at shortstop. Doing the catching for the All-CCC First Team was the Gulls' John Mulready (Peabody, Mass.). Joining Shpur in the First Team outfield were his teammate Nicolas Notarangelo (Taunton, Mass.) and DJ Caron (Branford, Conn.) from Nichols. Ben Bonavita (East Longmeadow, Mass.) from Roger Williams was the First Team utility player.
There were 15 members of the All-CCC Second Team, including four pitchers. The three Second Team starters were the Hawks' Chris Flynn (Naugatuck, Conn.), the Golden Bears' Kevin Hummer (Shrewsbury, Mass.), and the Seahawks' Patrick Maybach (Saunderstown, R.I.). The one reliever selected to the Second Team was Gabe Van Emon (Lexington, Mass.) from Endicott. Salve Regina's Ketch was the All-CCC Second Team catcher with WNE's Willis and the Suffolk duo of Garret Roberts (Stratham, N.H.) and Christian Seariac (Framingham, Mass.) earning the spots from first to third base, respectively. Gordon's Jonathan McIntyre (Carmel, N.Y.) was the All-CCC Second Team shortstop. Four outfielders received All-CCC Second Team honors, including the Roger Williams pair of Tyler Cedeno (Maynard, Mass.) and Christopher Flynn (Randolph, N.J.). The two other outfielders named as Second Teamers were Matt D'Amato (Midland Park, N.J.) from Salve Regina and Joe Ward (Saugus, Mass.). Gordon's Shane Demers (Sandy Hook, Conn.) was the Second Team designated hitter with Salve's Dustin Siqueira (Trumbull, Conn.) being named the Second Team utility player.
There were 17 members of the All-CCC Third Team, including six Gulls. Representing Endicott were starting pitcher Rian Schwede (Whitman, Mass.), relief pitcher Tarlin, first baseman Jake Nardone (Wakefield, Mass.), third baseman Kyle Grabowski (Westfield, Mass.), designated hitter Nickolas Perkins (Nashua, N.H.), and utility player Robbie Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.). Salve Regina and Suffolk each had three All-CCC Third Team selections. Starting pitcher Brayden Clark (Beverly, Mass.) and outfielders Brandon Grover (Ashland, Mass.) and Tyler Petrosino (Beverly, Mass.) represented the Seahawks, while catcher Shane Lake (West Roxbury, Mass.) and outfielders Marc Birbiglia (Saint James, N.Y.) and Luke Harder (Liverpool, N.Y.) represented the Rams. WNE was the only other school with multiple Third Teamers on its roster as starting pitcher Matt Lauria (East Haddam, Conn.) and utility player Aaron Cole (Forestdale, Mass.) both earned slots. Rounding out the All-CCC Third Team were Roger Williams relief pitcher Connor Hewlette (Deer Park, N.Y.), Nichols second baseman Johnny Knox (Jefferson, N.J.), and Wentworth shortstop Kyle O'Neill (Haverhill, Mass.).
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Dominic Perachi, Salve Regina
Perachi was nearly untouchable on the mound for Salve Regina this year as he led the league in wins (8), strikeouts (99), and ERA (0.47). His miniscule earned run average is also best in all of NCAA Division III this year. Nationally, Perachi is also sixth in the division in strikeouts, third in strikeouts per nine (15.36), and ninth in WHIP (0.83). His 4.97 hits allowed per nine is also ninth in the country. He allowed just three earned runs all season, contributing to his 8-0 record over nine starts. He also had five games with double-digit strikeouts, peaking at 17 Ks against Wentworth. He was selected as the CCC Pitcher of the Week four times this year, during the weeks ending March 6, March 13, April 3, and April 10.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Dylan Ketch, Salve Regina
Ketch was fantastic behind the plate for Salve Regina this year, committing just one error and two passed balls in 37 games. He recorded a fielding percentage of .997, while commanding a pitching staff that currently holds a 3.05 ERA and leads the league with 11.75 strikeouts per nine innings.
2022 ALL-CCC BASEBALL TEAMS
FIRST TEAM ALL-CCC
SP - Nicholas Cannata, So., Endicott
SP - Justin Garcia, Gr., Roger Williams
SP - Dominic Perachi, Jr., Salve Regina
RP - Andrew Roman, Sr., Salve Regina
C - John Mulready, So., Endicott
1B - Brandon Jenkins, Gr., Roger Williams
2B - Dylan Pacheco, So., Endicott
3B - Nathaniel Cormier, Gr., Nichols
SS - Michael Breen, So., Salve Regina
OF - DJ Caron, Sr., Nichols
OF - Nicolas Notarangelo, So., Endicott
OF - Caleb Shpur, Jr., Endicott
DH - Harry Painter, Fr., Suffolk
UTIL - Ben Bonavita, Sr., Roger Williams
SECOND TEAM ALL-CCC
SP - Chris Flynn, Gr., Roger Williams
SP - Kevin Hummer, Gr., Western New England
SP - Patrick Maybach, Gr., Salve Regina
RP - Gabe Van Emon, Jr., Endicott
C - Dylan Ketch, Gr., Salve Regina
1B - CJ Willis, Fr., Western New England
2B - Garret Roberts, So., Suffolk
3B - Christian Seariac, Gr., Suffolk
SS - Jonathan McIntyre, Fr., Gordon
OF - Tyler Cedeno, Gr., Roger Williams
OF - Matt D'Amato, Jr., Salve Regina
OF - Christopher Flynn, Jr., Roger Williams
OF - Joe Ward, So., Suffolk
DH - Shane Demers, Jr., Gordon
UTIL - Dustin Siqueira, Sr., Salve Regina
THIRD TEAM ALL-CCC
SP - Brayden Clark, So., Salve Regina
SP - Matt Lauria, Fr., Western New England
SP - Rian Schwede, Jr., Endicott
RP - Connor Hewlette, Gr., Roger Williams
RP - Max Tarlin, Sr., Endicott
C - Shane Lake, Sr., Suffolk
1B - Jake Nardone, Jr., Endicott
2B - Johnny Knox, So., Nichols
3B - Kyle Grabowski, So., Endicott
SS - Kyle O'Neill, Sr., Wentworth
OF - Marc Birbiglia, Sr., Suffolk
OF - Brandon Grover, So., Salve Regina
OF - Luke Harder, Jr., Suffolk
OF - Tyler Petrosino, So., Salve Regina
DH - Nickolas Perkins, Gr., Endicott
UTIL - Aaron Cole, So., Western New England
UTIL - Robbie Wladkowski, Fr., Endicott
MAJOR AWARDS
Player of the Year - Harry Painter, Suffolk
Player of the Year - Caleb Shpur, Endicott
Pitcher of the Year - Dominic Perachi, Salve Regina
Defensive Player of the Year - Dylan Ketch, Salve Regina
Rookie of the Year - CJ Willis, Western New England
CCC Scholar-Athlete - Max Tarlin, Endicott
Quotes from Seahawk head coach Eric Cirella '05, who earned his 200th collegiate victory earlier this season:
Pitcher of the Year - "This should have been the easiest vote for all the CCC Coaches. Dom is putting together one of the best seasons in the history of the conference. He is No. 1 in the country in ERA right now and his strike out numbers are off the charts. Credit him with putting in the work and doing what he needs to do to prepare to start every week. He has been a lot of fun to coach and watch dominate opposing hitters and I hope he gets an opportunity on a regional stage as well."
Defensive Player of the Year - "Dylan made so many improvements this year I couldn't be prouder. He has handled one of the best pitching staffs in the entire country and is one of the reasons we have a 3.05 team ERA as well as 412 strike outs and only 112 walks. Many of our pitchers have electric stuff and that can take a toll on your body. Dylan has worked hard to be our guy behind the dish almost every day, blocking balls and making the pitching staff better as the season progressed."
"It says a great deal about our pitching staff that Dom, Pat, Brayden, and Andrew all received All-CCC recognition. This is the best the CCC has been in talent in a long time, and the fact that we have four pitchers receiving accolades is very impressive. All four of these guys are first teamers in other conferences. Andrew has taken his game to the next level and has been virtually unhittable since mid-year. He also tied the career saves mark, which I hope he gets a chance to surpass going forward."
"Although injuries cut Breen's year short, I firmly believe (and so did the coaches) that he is the best shortstop in the CCC."
"We were also one of only two teams to get their entire outfield on All-CCC teams. D'Amato, Petrosino, and Grover have all carried the load this year in a lot of ways. They can beat you with power, speed, or just getting on base and setting the table. I hope they can continue to build on what they have done so far."
"Finally, Dustin Siqueira has really been that 10th man this year. He is All-CCC Second Team in the utility spot because he played 2nd, 3rd and now shortstop for us. He could play the outfield if we asked him. He has taken his game to new heights and that has been fun to watch, especially as a table setter for us in the two-hole."
"We also had some guys I thought should have gotten All-CCC recognition but didn't. Hopefully that will light a fire inside of them for the CCC playoffs!"