Baseball Trio Earns NECBL Honors
Three members of the Central Connecticut baseball team earned New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) all-league recognition on Friday. Noah Martinez was named All-NECBL First Team, while Randy Reyes and Luke Garofalo earned Honorable Mention honors based on their regular season statistics and performances.
Martinez was consistent in his 35 games and 118 at bats for Newport. He ended the regular season with a .288 average, driving in a team-high 29 runs. He smacked four home runs, seven doubles and scored 23 times. His 34 hits and 14 walks helped his on-base percentage reach .373 and his OPS to climb over .800. Martinez was an All-Star starter for the Southern All-Star team. He went 2-5 with a bomb and two RBI in his only playoff game. With the Blue Devils in 2022 he was named All-Northeast Conference First Team, All-New England First Team and ABCA Northeast All-Region First Team. He led the Northeast Conference in homeruns (15) and RBIs (62). He ranked sixth nationally driving in 1.38 runs per game and posted a .313 batting average and .620 slugging percentage. His homerun total was the most at Central since Pat Epps hit 18 homeruns in 2010. Martinez batted .417 with a homerun and three RBIs in three games to earn NEC All-Tournament honors.
Reyes, who pitched for North Adams, ranked second among qualified starters with a 1.69 ERA for the SteepleCats. In 37.1 innings across seven appearances, Reyes struck out 31 batters. He started six games and allowed only seven earned runs, 23 hits and 15 walks. The lefty went 2-2 and lasted five or more innings in every start. Reyes recorded a season-high seven strikeouts in six scoreless innings against Bristol on July 16. He ended the regular season with just a .176 opponent average and a 1.02 WHIP. Batters slugged .237 against Reyes and had a .275 on-base percentage. Reyes was selected to the Northern All-Star team and appeared in the All-Star Game. Reyes made 13 appearances, including three starts, for the Blue Devils in 2022. He posted a 3-2 record with 16 strikeouts across 24.0 innings.
Garofalo, who was the closer for Bristol, led the NECBL with six saves in his 12.1 innings. In 12 appearances, the right-hander posted just a 0.73 ERA with 17 strikeouts. He allowed 12 hits and three walks and gave up a run just once all season. All of Garofalo's outings lasted less than a 1.2 innings and he never let up more than two hits. He pitched four one-two-three innings and ended the regular season with a 2-0 record. Opponents batted and slugged just .250 against the righty. Garofalo was selected to the All-Star Game as a member of the Southern squad. In his first season at CCSU in 2022, Garofalo was also a First Team All-NEC pick as well as being named All-New England First Team by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association and Second Team All-Northeast Region by the ABCA. He helped anchor the back end of the Blue Devils' bullpen and posted three saves in 43.0 innings of work across 18 appearances. He went 5-1 with a 1.26 ERA and had 57 strikeouts and limited opposing hitters to a .169 average. The righty tossed 6.0 shutout innings and earned the win in CCSU's win over FDU at the NEC Tournament.