The America East Conference announced their end of the season annual baseball awards on Tuesday, and the Maine Black Bears garnered two major awards.
First baseman Jeremiah Jenkins was named the Len Harlow Player of the Year, and Nick Derba was named Coach of the Year. Jenkins along with Quinn McDaniel, Colin Fitzgerald, Jake Rainess, Connor Goodman, and Gianni Gambardella were named to the All-Conference First Team. Noah Lewis and Dylan McNary made the All-Conference Second Team, and Gambardella along with Luc Lavigueur also made it onto the All-Rookie Team. Fitzgerald and Goodman added a second award each as they were placed on the All-Academic Team.
Jenkins batted .419 in conference play during the regular season, with an .802 slugging percentage, a .560 on base percentage, and 37 RBI. Overall he had 18 homeruns and 70 RBI, and his 1.253 OPS is in the top 25 nationally. He earned a league best America East Conference Player of the Week three times, and is the fifth Maine player in history to win Player of the Year. Derba, in his sixth season, led the Black Bears to their first outright regular season title since 2013 after being picked fourth in the preseason. Derba is the third Maine coach to be named Coach of the Year, and only the fourth to win back to back Coach of the Year honors.
Here is the entire list of awards as announced by America East on Tuesday-
Player of the Year- Jeremiah Jenkins, Maine
Pitcher of the Year- Luke Johnson, UMBC
Rookie of the Year- Leewood Molessa, UMBC
Coach of the Year- Nick Derba, Maine
All-Conference First Team- Jeremiah Jenkins (Maine), Quinn McDaniel (Maine), Colin Fitzgerald (Maine), Connor Goodman (Maine), Gianni Gambardella (Maine), Gabe Driscoll (Binghamton), Tommy Reifler (Binghamton), Derek Smith (Bryant), Luke Johnson (UMBC), Justin Taylor (UMBC), Tony Krueger (UMBC), Robert Gallagher (UMass-Lowell), Aidan Kidd (NJIT), Will Feil (Albany)
All Conference Second Team- Noah Lewis (Maine), Dylan McNary (Maine), Josh Becker (UMass-Lowell), Jacob Humphrey (UMass-Lowell), Fritz Guenther (UMass-Lowell), Ryan Proto (UMass-Lowell), Leewood Molessa (UMBC), Christian Easley (UMBC), Luke Trythall (UMBC), Connor Kelly (UMBC), Jason Bottari (Albany), Will Binder (Albany), Ryan Fischer (NJIT), Jake Gustin (Bryant), Brett Wichrowski (Bryant)
All-Rookie Team- Gianni Gambardella (Maine), Luc Lavigueur (Maine), Nick DiRito (UMass-Lowell), Jacob Jette (UMass-Lowell), Michael Simes (UMass-Lowell), Leewood Molessa (UMBC), Matt Mariano (Albany), Ty Sallie (NJIT), Dan McAliney (Binghamton), Zac Zyons (Bryant)
All-Academic Team- Colin Fitzgerald (Maine), Connor Goodman (Maine), Josh Becker (UMass-Lowell), Gerry Siracusa (UMass-Lowell), Jason Bottari (Albany), Will Feil (Albany), Jack Collins (Binghamton), Tommy Reifler (Binghamton), Aidan Kidd (NJIT), Tony Krueger (UMBC)
The America East Baseball Tournament begins on Wednesday at Binghamton University in Vestal, New York
Story by Chris Lessner
