FARMINGDALE, N.Y. ? Binghamton’s Brendon Hitchcock (Player of the Year) and Tim Sinicki (Coach of the Year), Stony Brook’s Gary Novakowski (Pitcher of the Year) and Maine’s Myckie Lugbauer (Rookie of the Year) took home the major hardware at the annual America East baseball awards banquet on Wednesday night. All voting was conducted by the conference’s head coaches.
Hitchcock becomes the second Bearcat in program history (Mathieu Bergeron, 2005) to take home the league’s top individual honor. The senior first baseman leads America East in batting average (.386) and on-base percentage (.492), ranks second in slugging percentage (.572), fourth in walks (31) and seventh in runs batted in (35). He was pivitol in leading the Bearcats to first-ever America East regular-season crown and the top-seed for the upcoming America East Championship.
Binghamton’s Sinicki led the Bearcats to their first-ever America East regular-season title. Under Sinicki’s guidance, Binghamton went 17-5 winning five out of six conference series and earning a split in the sixth. Sinicki earns his second coach of the year award in just his fifth season in America East. In his 15th season with the Bearcats, Sinicki has led the club to their best-ever mark since joining America East as the team is 26-17 overall.
In a hotly-contested race for Pitcher of the Year, Stony Brook’s Novakowski got the coaches’ nod. He shined as the Seawolves ace this season posting a 5-1 overall record with all five wins coming in conference play. Novakowski led the Seawolves to a 31-22 record, 16-7 in conference, and the second seed in the upcoming conference championship. The junior right-hander became the first-ever Stony Brook player to win pitcher of the year. Novakowski rose to the occasion during conference play as he was a perfect 5-0 in six appearances posting a 2.23 earned run average, fourth-best in America East, and limited opposing hitters to just a .220 batting average against. Overall, he ranks in the top 10 in ERA and opponent batting average.
Maine’s Lugbauer becomes the sixth Black Bear in school history and the second in as many seasons to garner the award. The freshman catcher/designated hitter collected a league-best four rookie of the week honors. He ranks 10th in the league in slugging percentage (.500) and ranks among the freshmen leaders in nearly every offensive category.
Joining Hitchcock (1B) and Novakowski (SP) on the all-conference first team are Albany’s Tom Hill (C), Alexander Beaulieu (RP), Dave West (OF) and Steve Wyland (3B), Binghamton’s Zach Groh (SP), Justin Smucker (SS), Matt Simek (2B), Maine’s Matt McGraw (OF), UMBC’s Will Delawter (DH) and Stony Brook’s Rob Leonard (OF).
The all-conference second team consists of Albany’s Sean Donovan (SS), Binghamton’s Khalid Afify (RP) and Henry Dunn (OF), Hartford’s Ben Sobocinski (2B), Maine’s Joel Barrett (1B), Billy Cather (OF), Brad Hertzler (SP) and Curt Smith (3B), Stony Brook’s Justin Echevarria (C), Michael Stephan (DH), Brian Witkowski (OF) and Vermont’s Bryan Rembisz (SP).
Lugbauer highlights the conference’s all-rookie squad (regardless of position) and is joined by Binghamton’s Dunn and Joe Charron, Hartford’s Greg Cinelli and Chris Greiner, Maine’s Kevin Jackson, Stony Brook’s Stephan and Rob Dyer and Vermont’s Ethan Paquette.
Afify, Hitchcock, Smucker, McGraw, Delawter and Witkowski garner more hardware as they anchor a 10-member all-academic team. Joining them are Hartford’s Bill Perry, Maine’s Greg Norton, and Vermont’s Jim Chapman and Will Huntington.
Several of the all-conference award winners will be in action this week at the America East Baseball Championship on May 24-27 at Farmingdale State College in Farmingdale, N.Y. The first round gets underway on Thursday, May 24 as top-seed Binghamton faces No. 4 Maine at 12:05 p.m. Host and No. 2 Stony Brook then takes on No. 3 Albany at 7:35 p.m.
America East Baseball Championship Tickets are $6 for adults and $2 for students with ID and children under 14. Tickets are available day of game at the stadium.
Be sure to follow all of the tournament action on the web at www.AmericaEast.com.