Seven Earn NECC Honors From Baseball
ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Seven members of the Mitchell College baseball team were honored by the New England Collegiate Conference on Monday as the league announced its annual awards.
Senior Al Jordan Johnson and juniors Tyler Pina and Chandler Whitney were all named to the all-conference first team. Sophomore Kyle Hartenstein was a second team pick while juniors Francis Prettitore and Axel De Jesus garnered third team status. Rounding out the group was senior Evan Dickerson, who was selected to the all-sportsmanship team. All awards were determined by a vote of the conference's head coaches.
Johnson was a repeat first team selection and earned all-conference recognition for the third time in his career. De Jesus picked up the second all-conference nod of his career while the rest were first-time honorees.
Johnson, the ace of the Mitchell staff, enjoyed perhaps his best season on the mound. The right-hander went 7-0 with a career-low 2.51 ERA in nine starts this season, and he led the NECC in strikeouts per game (10.1) while totaling 64 on the year. His 200 career strikeouts and 25 wins are both tops in the school's Division III record book.
Pina, Mitchell's designated hitter, batted a career-high .390 with 26 RBI and led the team in hits (53), doubles (12), homers (2), runs scored (35) and slugging (.522). He played in all 18 league games and hit .397 – third best in the NECC – while driving in eight. This past weekend he was named MVP of the NECC Championship after leading the Mariners to the title with nine hits and six RBI in three games.
Whitney played 35 games in left field in his first season with the Mariners and posted a team-high .396 batting average. The junior transfer also led the team in RBI (28), walks (19) and on-base percentage (.493). In league action he hit .292 with a team-high 13 RBI and eight runs scored.
Hartenstein followed a solid rookie season with a stellar sophomore campaign, playing in all 36 games at second base while batting a career-high .375 with 24 RBI and 32 runs scored. His four triples led Mitchell and ranked second among all NECC players, and in conference action he hit .381 with eight RBI.
Prettitore also made an impact in his first season at Mitchell. The junior transfer manned first base in 35 games and batted .361 with 27 runs scored and 27 RBI. His defense was also a boon to the team as he committed only two errors in 259 total chances.
De Jesus held down a starting spot in the Mitchell rotation and went 5-2 in seven starts with a 2.76 ERA and 33 strikeouts. In NECC play he was even better, going 5-1 with a 2.36 ERA that ranked as the second lowest in the conference.
Dickerson, a co-captain and four-year letterwinner, made five appearances and one start on the hill in his final season.
Mitchell (27-9 overall, 13-5 NECC) won its third straight NECC Championship this past weekend and earned the conference's automatic berth in the 2016 NCAA Division III Championship. The Mariners will make their fourth NCAA appearance (2015, 2014, 2011) and third under head coach Travis Beausoleil. The NCAA bracket is scheduled to be released on the morning of May 16 on NCAA.com.
