Mitchell junior infielder Seth Nowakowski was named the 2007 City University of New York Player of the Year and teammate Salvatore Messina was named the Pitcher of the Year. Baruch's David Chestnut was awarded the Rookie of the Year and John Jay's Dan Palumbo was named Coach of the Year.
Nowakowski, a native of Preston, Connecticut, finished fourth in the league in batting (.398), second in slugging percentage (.685), fourth in runs scored (42), third in RBI's (41), fourth in total bases (74), and tied for first in home runs (6). He also went 17-for-18 in stolen base attempts and recorded a .438 on base percentage.
Messina, a senior southpaw, went 4-3 with a 5.05 ERA and held opponents to just a .240 batting average. In 46.1 innings pitched, the Prospect, Connecticut native allowed just 44 hits and fanned 62 batters (second in the league).
"We are very pleased and honored to have two of our players selected for the very prestigious awards of conference player of the year and pitcher of the year," said Mitchell head coach Len Farquhar. "The results of these awards are the dedication and hard work of both Seth Nowakowski and Sal Messina, and the leadership and work ethic they bring to the field everyday. On behalf of the Mitchell College Baseball program, I would like to thank the CUNYAC for supporting and acknowledging our student athletes."
Chestnut ranked third in the league with an impressive .414 batting average. The Brooklyn, New York native also ranked ninth in RBI's (33), 12th in on base percentage (.470), 10th in doubles (9), and 12th in total bases (64). "I'm very honored to receive this award," Chestnut said. "I just tried to stay within myself and not do anything that I'm not capable of doing. Hopefully we can have a better season next year and qualify for the CUNYAC Tournament."
Palumbo takes home the top coaching accolade after leading the Bloodhounds to back-to-back conference regular season titles (2006 and 2007) and the conference championship in 2007. Under Palumbo the Bloodhounds are a combined 34-2 in conference regular season play (18-0 in 2006 and 16-2 in 2007) the past two seasons, and the John Jay baseball team has won the CUNYAC title twice (2002 and 2007). "I'm very honored to have received this award for the second consecutive year," said Palumbo. But the fact that six of my players (James DeCesare, Henry Chao, John Dobkowski, John Massoni, Gonzalo Gonzalez, and Joe Ayala) made either the CUNY first or second team brings me more satisfaction, and the fact we won the conference championship as a team."
In his six years with the Bloodhounds, Palumbo has won over 108 games, including 57 the past two seasons. And last season the Bloodhounds won 30 games, the most wins by a CUNYAC baseball team.
First Team All-Stars:
C Brian Padilla, CCNY
1B Jose Lopez, CCNY
2B James DeCesare, John Jay
3B Richard Gomez, CCNY
SS Henry Chao, John Jay
OF Lucian Maldonado, CCNY
OF Ruben Zorrilla, CCNY
OF Greg Polius, Baruch
UT Ray Valerio, CSI
DH Tim Mena, CCNY
P John Dobkowski, John Jay
P Wilton Salazar, CCNY
Second Team All-Stars
C Gonzalo Gonzalez, John Jay
1B Joseph Valentin, Baruch
2B Daniel Lanoue, Mitchell
3B Joseph Ayala, John Jay
SS Bob Glennerster, CSI
OF Thomas DeWaters, CSI
OF Anthony Piccirillo, CSI
OF Jeremy Simons, Yeshiva
UT Johanny Reyes, Lehman
DH John Massoni, John Jay
P Jeremy Chapman, Mitchell
P Daniel Gonzalez, CSI