Niman, Hickey Earn Major Awards; Six Blue Devils Named All-NEC in Baseball
The Central Connecticut baseball team collected a pair of major awards and had six members earn All-Northeast Conference recognition it was announced by the league office on Tuesday on the eve of the conference championship. Dominic Niman became the first Blue Devil named Pitcher of the Year since 2003, while head coach Charlie Hickey was named the Northeast Conference Coach of the Year.
The Central Connecticut baseball team collected a pair of major awards and had six members earn All-Northeast Conference recognition it was announced by the league office on Tuesday on the eve of the conference championship. Dominic Niman became the first Blue Devil named Pitcher of the Year since 2003, while head coach Charlie Hickey was named the Northeast Conference Coach of the Year.
Niman was joined by teammate Luke Garofalo on the All-NEC First Team. Ramon Jimenez, Jimmy Sullivan, Elliot Good and Jake Neuman were all named to the All-NEC Second Team.
Niman has had a standout campaign on the mound, setting a program-record with 10 wins thus far in 2023. By going 10-2 with a 2.98 ERA in the regular season, Niman became the first CCSU hurler named NEC Pitcher of the Year since Barry Hertzler in 2003. Niman won his first seven starts of the season and allowed more than three earned runs just twice, while going at least 5.0 innings in all 12 of his starts. He was named NEC Pitcher of the Week on March 14 after allowing just one run and striking out a season-high 11 hitters in 7.0 innings at UMES. In 10 conference starts, Niman went 9-1 with a 2.41 ERA and posted 60 strikeouts, against just 18 walks, in 71.0 innings pitched.
A five-time NEC Coach of the Year, Hickey has guided the Blue Devils to a 32-11 record overall and a 25-5 mark in NEC action. In his 24th season, the winningest coach in program history has steered the program to seven NEC Tournament titles and five regular season crowns. This season's regular season title was Central's first since 2006. The Blue Devils opened conference play with 10 straight wins and also won a program-record 10 straight games from March 10 to March 26. CCSU has lost consecutive games just twice all season and did not lose back-to-back league games, while ranking 11th nationally with a .744 winning percentage.
Garofalo anchored the Blue Devils' bullpen and went 3-0 with 10 saves and a 2.12 ERA, while striking out 40 and walking just nine in 34.0 innings. He led the circuit in saves, while matching the CCSU single-season mark for saves with his 10th of the season on May 6. He has limited opposing hitters to a miniscule .164 batting average.
Jimenez and Sullivan both earned All-NEC Second Team honors after transferring to CCSU prior to the season. Jimenez hit three homeruns in the season-opener against Butler and also had a six-hit, 11-RBI game at Wagner on March 31. He ended the regular season as the team leader in home runs and RBIs and has posted a .327 batting average on the campaign. Sullivan overcame a sluggish start to post a team-leading .333 batting average, including a .372 mark in NEC play. He is currently riding a 15-game hitting streak and is hitting .439 with three homeruns since April 14.
Good has started every game at shortstop for CCSU and has set career-highs in every offensive category, while hitting .291 on the season. He had a team-best 21 game hitting streak from March 26-May 2 and has currently reached base in 29 straight contests.
Neuman, the 2021 NEC Rookie of the Year, has settled into a starting role this season and has gone 6-1 with a 4.65 ERA overall. He matched a season-high with eight strikeouts, against no walks, against Stonehill to close the regular season. In league contests, Neuman is 5-0 with a 4.26 ERA and 45 strikeouts.
The Blue Devils are making their 19th appearance in the NEC Championship and won their first regular season crown since 2006. The six-team championship begins on Wednesday, May 24, while the top-seeded Blue Devils earned a bye and will begin play on Thursday at Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, NY. For the first time since the inception of the NEC Baseball Tournament in 1993, the field includes the top six finishers in the league standings. The 2023 NEC Baseball Championship features a double-elimination format, playing three games on Wednesday and Thursday, and two on Friday and Saturday and one game if necessary on Sunday.
