Bravehearts

WEYMOUTH, Mass. (September 8, 2020) -- Following the milestone 10th season of Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) action throughout New England, the top players from all six teams were recognized on the 2020 All-FCBL Teams as announced on Tuesday. Five Worcester Bravehearts players were selected to the teams

Worcester catcher and 2020 Most Valuable Player Ben Rice (Dartmouth) leads an All-FCBL First Team that includes two other Bravehearts in pitcher Angelo Baez (St. Thomas Aquinas) and second baseman Matt Shaw (Maryland). Rice hit .350 with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs in 35 games for the Bravehearts. Though he didn't join the team until August 8th and played in only 14 games, Matt Shaw hit .341 and launched 9 home runs - homering in 6 of 8 games between August 11 and August 18 - to secure a spot on the All-FCBL First Team. The 2019 Futures League Pitcher of the Year, Angelo Baez, led the league with a 1.29 ERA and won three games to earn a spot on the ALL-FCBL team again.

The All-FCBL Second Team includes two Bravehearts newcomers from New York Tech in 2020. Shortstop EJ Exposito (NYIT) played in 35 games, posting a .271 batting average with 6 homers and 17 RBIs. Pitcher Christopher Mott joined the Bravehearts a few weeks into the season and gave up just 10 hits in 20.2 innings on his way to a 2.17 ERA. He also struck out 36 batters, including 11 of the 14 outs he recorded in a victory on August 18th against the Brockton Rox.

All six FCBL teams are represented on both the First and Second Teams, with the Brockton Rox and Nashua Silver Knights each boasting a league-high seven players across the two rosters. The newly-crowned, five-time champion Silver Knights have four players on the First Team, as do the North Shore Navigators.

Nashua first baseman Dominic Keegan (Vanderbilt), the league’s top run producer with 38 RBI, headlines the First Team infield along with Shaw, who hit eight home runs in just 11 regular-season games. Rounding out the infield are Brockton shortstop Jake Gelof (Virginia) and North Shore third baseman Cody Morissette (Boston College).

Two of this summer’s First Team outfielders were MVP finalists from Northeastern in Nashua’s Jared Dupere and North Shore’s Ben Malgeri. Fellow Navigator and 2020 Top Pro Prospect Sal Frelick (Boston College) rounds out the trio on the grass. Nashua’s John Mead (Franklin Pierce) is the designated hitter, and North Shore’s Logan Bravo (Harvard) and New Britain’s Noah Martinez (Central Connecticut State) are the utility players.

Baez, Sinacola, Rice and Dupere were also All-FCBL First Team performers for their respective teams in 2019 as well.

Three of the five pitchers on the All-FCBL Second Team are left-handed in Brockton’s Tim Noone (Babson), New Britain’s Drew Mead (Marymount) and Westfield’s Jeff Taylor (Millersville). Nashua’s Griffin Young (Wheaton) is the final pitcher. The group's catcher is New Britain's Mike Caruso (Fairfield).

The corner infield positions on the Second Team belong to a pair of Brockton Rox in first baseman Joe Bramanti (Maine) and third baseman Buddy Dewaine (Central Connecticut State), the latter who was also a First Team selection last year. In the middle are Westfield second baseman Drew DeMartino (Hartford) with Exposito. Two other infielders are the utility players in Nashua’s Nick Shumski (Merrimack) and New Britain’s Danniel Rivera (Southern New Hampshire).

North Shore’s Cam Climo (UMass Lowell) joins the Brockton duo of Joel Lara (Franklin Pierce) and Jacob Studley (Wheaton) in the Second Team outfield. Nashua veteran Dylan Jones (Franklin Pierce) earned his second consecutive Second Team honor, this time as a designated hitter.

ALL-FCBL FIRST TEAM
P: Nick Sinacola, Brockton Rox, University of Maine **Pitcher of the Year**
P: Angelo Baez, Worcester Bravehearts, St. Thomas Aquinas College
P: Chase Jeter, Westfield Starfires, Sacred Heart University

P: Nick Guarino, Nashua Silver Knights, Clark University

C: Ben Rice, Worcester Bravehearts, Dartmouth College **Most Valuable Player**
1B: Dominic Keegan, Nashua Silver Knights, Vanderbilt University
2B: Matt Shaw, Worcester Bravehearts, University of Maryland
SS: Jake Gelof, Brockton Rox, University of Virginia

3B: Cody Morissette, North Shore Navigators, Boston College
OF: Ben Malgeri, North Shore Navigators, Northeastern University **Defensive Player of the Year**
OF: Sal Frelick, North Shore Navigators, Boston College**Top Pro Prospect**
OF: Jared Dupere, Nashua Silver Knights, Northeastern University

DH: John Mead, Nashua Silver Knights, Franklin Pierce University

Utility: Noah Martinez, New Britain Bees, Central Connecticut State University
Utility: Logan Bravo, North Shore Navigators, Harvard University

ALL-FCBL SECOND TEAM
P: Drew Mead, New Britain Bees, Marymount University

P: Tim Noone, Brockton Rox, Babson College

P: Christopher Mott, Worcester Bravehearts, New York Institute of Technology
P: Jeff Taylor, Westfield Starfires, Millersville University

P: Griffin Young, Nashua Silver Knights, Wheaton College

C: Mike Caruso, New Britain Bees, Fairfield University

1B: Joe Bramanti, Brockton Rox, University of Maine

2B: Drew DeMartino, Westfield Starfires, University of Hartford

SS: EJ Exposito, Worcester Bravehearts, New York Institute of Technology
3B: Buddy Dewaine, Brockton Rox, Central Connecticut State University

OF: Cam Climo, North Shore Navigators, UMass Lowell

OF: Joel Lara, Brockton Rox, Franklin Pierce University

OF: Jacob Studley, Brockton Rox, Wheaton College

DH: Dylan Jones, Nashua Silver Knights, Franklin Pierce University

Utility: Danniel Rivera, New Britain Bees, Southern New Hampshire University
Utility: Nick Shumski, Nashua Silver Knights, Merrimack College