Baseball Distributes 19th Annual Team Awards

Worcester, MA --- The Worcester State baseball team has announced their 2015 season awards. The squad has handed out awards every spring since 1996 and each is named for a prominent former player or coach who has had an impact on the program.

Bob Morton (Top Hitter - Statistical Category) - Junior Dave Ruggiero (Peabody, MA)

Ruggiero led the Lancers to the MASCAC Regular Season and Tournament Championship. As the MASCAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, he paced the squad with a .381 batting average (5th in MASCAC) to go with 28 runs, 26 RBIs, 53 hits, nine doubles, five triples (3rd most in school history), 75 total bases, a .540 slugging percentage, a .426 on-base percentage and three sacrifice flies.

The First-Team All-New England and All-MASCAC shortstop was among the league leaders in games, runs, hits, doubles, RBIs, total bases and slugging while also banging out his 100th career hit in a win against Nichols.

The award is named after the highest batting average in school history when Morton hit .519 in 1980.

John Brissette (Top GPA - Statistical Category) - Senior Joe Carlier (Rockland, MA) - Junior Joe Perlak (Chicopee, MA)

Carlier graduated with a 3.66 spring semester GPA during the Lancers run to the MASCAC title. He also earned a 3.0 or higher GPA in five different semesters, graduating with a cumulative 3.41 GPA. Carlier has also won the Courage (2012) and Off-Season Conditioning Awards (2013-14).

Perlak was unbeaten on the mound with a 5-0 mark in 2014 and impressed with a 3.66 semester GPA. He was named a Capital Co-SIDA All-Academic District I, Chi Sigma Alpha and the Business Honor Society. He owns a 3.61 cumulative GPA and has earned above a 3.0 or higher six times.

The award is named for the former Board of Trustees Chair and 1988 graduate who has been a loyal supporter of the Lancers for the last 20 years.

Tony Shooshan (Top Pitcher) - Junior Kris Doyle (Worcester, MA/Holy Name)

Doyle started every MASCAC weekend with four wins and consecutive shutouts in his final two starts over Bridgewater State and Salem State. He earned the nod in the second game of the NCAA Division III Tournament against St. Joseph's (Maine). He led the squad with a 6-4 record while he fanned 36 in a rotation-best 62 innings en-route to All-MASCAC First-team accolades.

Lancer Hall of Famer Shooshan '51 was one of the first great southpaws in school history.

Kevin Lyons (Best Defense) - Freshman Dan McGuill (E. Longmeadow, MA)

McGuill caught every inning of the MASCAC and NCAA Division III Tournament. In 27 starts he threw out 12 of 27 attempted base stealers and logged a .974 fielding percentage.

The award is named after Kevin Lyons - the first baseball player inducted into the Hall of Fame and for whom the baseball diamond at Rockwood Park is named after.

Jack Hehir (Top Rookie) - Freshman Adam Barry (Auburn, MA)

Making an impact as the third hitter in the line-up and as an All-MASCAC Second-team selection, he hit .309 in 39 games with 42 hits, 61 total bases. a .449 slugging percentage, 13 walks. He only had six strikeouts in 136 at-bats while committing just two errors in right field (69 putouts) for a .973 fielding percentage. Among his signature moments of the season, he smacked the game-tying home-run to help spark a come-back victory in the conference tournament title game. 

Hall of Famer Hehir was also a Hickey Award recipient for dedication to his alma mater.

John Mockler (Sportsmanship) - Senior Derek Cole (Billerica, MA)

With his third selection as the squads sportsmanship recipient, Cole was the squads only four-year varsity player and he graduated with a 3.13 cumulative GPA.

Hall of Famer Mockler was a former baseball and golf coach as he also served as the first athletic director at Worcester State.

Fran Dyson (Most Improved) - Junior Jeff Bolio (Oxford, MA)

Bolio returned to his 2012 form with a break-out season in the middle of the line-up. As one of the top left handers in the conference, he blasted a three-run homer in a comeback win over Fitchburg State, which helped spark the squad win 13 of 15 games before the NCAA Tournament. He hit .316 (fourth on team) in 37 games, with 27 runs, 36 hits, eight doubles (second on team), 21 RBIs, a .500 slugging percentage, a .397 on-base percentage, nine swipes (third on team) and only one miscue in the outfield for a .982 fielding percentage.

Hall of Famer Dyson was a former men's basketball coach and physical education professor at Worcester State.

John Eager (Unsung Hero) - Junior Nick Gikas (Danvers, MA)

As a three-time recipient, Gikas is an ultimate team player who helped out whenever and wherever was needed. Gikas saw action at third, shortstop, second base, catcher and pitcher.

Eager started the baseball program in 1948.

Steve Cronin (Courage) - Sophomore Joe Kasper (Lynn, MA)

After battling injuries in back-to-back seasons, Kasper has continued to work hard to play healthy with a knee injury in 2013 and a serious concussion in Florida last year. Kasper saw action in the outfield, first base and on the mound as his academics never wavered as he owns a 3.04 overall GPA through four semesters.

Cronin fought in World War II, then went on to coach the first Lancer squads in 1948-49.

Jim Quinn (MVP) - The 2014 Worcester State Lancers

The last time this occurred was 2008. With only three seniors, numerous underclassmen stepped up to return the Lancers to the NCAA Tournament. With five NCAA appearances since 2002, every single starter returns for the 2015 campaign. Impressively, 15 different players started games, plus seven pitchers.

The award is named after Lancer Hall of Famer Quinn who was a two-time All-New England and three-year captain.