POMONA, N.Y. – After winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Regular Season Championship for the second-straight season, the Fairfield University Baseball team was rewarded with six All-Conference selections as voted upon the league's 11 head coaches.
Charlie Pagliarini led the group with an All-MAAC First Team selection.
Mike Becchetti,
Matt Venuto,
Bryson Cafaro, and
Matt Zaffino were all named to the All-MAAC Second Team and
Dean Ferrara rounds out the group with an MAAC All-Rookie selection.
"It's always good at the end of the year to see the rest of the league's head coaches congratulate your players with these honors," Head Coach
Bill Currier said. "It's good to see all the hard work and success of these student-athletes get rewarded."
Pagliarini highlighted the group with his first-ever All-MAAC First Team honors. Pagliarini leads the team and ranks fourth in the MAAC with 12 homers, placing him one homer shy of the program's single season record. In 17 MAAC games, Pagliarini batted .324 with 10 homers and 23 runs scored in just 68 at-bats. He recorded a team-best .809 slugging percentage and a .465 on-base percentage. He has reached base in 25-straight games including every MAAC game he has played this year.
Becchetti was the second base selection for the All-MAAC Second Team after tying for the MAAC lead with 18 doubles. He also ranked in the top-10 in the conference in OPS (.949) and hits (62). He leads the team with 20 multiple hit games and those 62 hits.
Venuto was the Stags' leading hitter in conference games with a .389 average against MAAC opponents to go along with seven homers and 23 RBI in 72 at-bats. The designated hitter has recorded a hit in 14 of his last 16 games while also tallying a .319 average for the season. He had some big hits of the season, including a game-tying three-run homer in the ninth inning against Monmouth.
Zaffino had one of the best offensive seasons in the MAAC, placing second in the conference in RBI (53) and sixth in home runs (10). His 53 runs drive in is just two shy of the program's single season record. He drove in a run in 11-straight games and 16 times in an 18-game span earlier this season. He leads the team with 15 games with multiple RBI.
Cafaro was the lone pitcher selected on an All-MAAC squad for the Stags as he posted a perfect 6-0 record in MAAC play with a team-best 43.1 innings pitched. He notched a 4.15 ERA in MAAC play with hitters batting just .221 against the left-hander.
Ferrara joined the MAAC All-Rookie team after appearing in 28 games while making six starts in the MAAC. He tallied a hit in five of those six conference starts including a three-hit day against Marist while picking up multiple hits in two games against Niagara. Against MAAC foes, Ferrara batted .360 with nine hits, four runs scored, and four RBI.
The All-MAAC group helped the Stags to their fifth MAAC Regular Season Championship in history and their second-straight. Fairfield will open up MAAC Championship play in Pomona, N.Y., on Thursday at 11am.
