Scafidi captures GNAC Player of the Year, McNamara Coach of the Year
Senior Jeff Scafidi (Worcester, Mass.) has been named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Year and Head Coach Dave McNamara GNAC Coach of the Year in baseball as announced by the conference on Monday evening. Along with Scafidi, teammate Kevin Wodatch (Wallingford, Conn.) earned First Team All-Conference and senior Dean Diamantopoulos (Shrewsbury, Mass.), Justin Hyland (Spencer, Mass.) and Carlos Ortiz (Worcester, Mass.) captured Third Team accolades.
Sophomore Will Krug (Gales Ferry, Conn.) was selected to the GNAC Sportsmanship Team.
Besides being named Player of the Year, Jeff Scafidi earned All-Conference First Team as and outfielder and utility player and Second Team as a pitcher. Scafidi is the heart and soul of the AMCATS baseball team, besides holding almost every AMC all-time record he is a leader both on and off the field.
The senior right fielder/pitcher batted .414, with an OBP of .496 both good for 2nd and 3rd in the GNAC, respectively. He collected 4 home runs, 30 RBI and 9 stolen bases. This season he collected his 200th hit and set the AMC All-Time home run record at 14.
Scafidi was named GNAC Player of the Week and added Honor Roll recognition. On the mound the hurler was 5-1 in 6 starts this season. He pitched a total of 37.1 innings holding batters to just a .248 batting average while allowing just under one hit an inning. His era was 3.38 while not allowing a triple or home run this season.
Coach McNamara led the AMCATS to a 22-16 overall and 11-5 GNAC record. In the first year in the GNAC Anna Maria finished the regular season in third place after being ranked 5th in the GNAC pre-season poll. During the regular season the AMCATS defeated conference foe and nationally ranked Saint Joseph's College (ME) and won two post season conference games advancing to the GNAC Final Four. It was the third consecutive twenty win season for the AMCATS.
Wodatch has had a tremendous season for the AMCATS. The junior transfer started all 38 games for AMC, batted .348 with 29 RBI's and 38 runs scored. He was 1st in the GNAC in runs (38), home runs (6) and total bases (81). He was named GNAC Player of the Week, ECAC Hitter of the Week and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association honorable mention. He tied two AMC records for home runs in a game (3) and in a season (6).
Ortiz also started all 38 games for AMC. He batted .347 on the season with 27 RBI's and 21 runs scored. He is 4th in GNAC in stolen bases with 17. In 121 at-bats the junior collected 42 hits including 3 doubles and a triple. Defensively Ortiz had 26 putouts while dishing out 97 assists as he had a .844 fielding percentage.
Justin Hyland was the king of sacrifice bunts in 2012, whenever called upon to place one down the line the junior delivered. Justin led the GNAC with 12 sacrifice hits on the season. He started all 38 gamed for the AMCATS this season. He batted .304 with 23 RBI's and 25 runs scored. Defensively Hyland had 69 putouts while adding 85 assists with just 10 errors.
Diamantopoulos was 3-2 with a 2.81 ERA on the season for Anna Maria. He picked up two big late season wins over Suffolk University and 17th ranked Saint Joseph's (ME). Dean pitched a total of 41.2 innings, holding the opponent to a stingy .248 batting average, only allowing 34 hits and 13 earned runs while striking out 11.
