Merlonghi, Short Earn All-NEC Honors
Central Connecticut's Gianno Merlonghi and Brady Short earned All-Northeast Conference baseball recognition it was announced by the league office on Tuesday on the eve of the conference championship. Merlonghi and Short were both named to the Second Team.
ALL-NORTHEAST CONFERENCE TEAMS
Merlonghi ranked third in the Northeast Conference with a .378 batting average in all games. The junior outfielder played 30 games, starting 28, and collected 23 runs scored. He posted a .417 on-base percentage and a .529 slugging percentage. He had 14 multi-hit games, including four-hit games against Merrimack on April 6 and Le Moyne on April 28. Merlonghi was NEC Player of the Week on April 23 after having back-to-back three-hit, five-RBI games at FDU on April 20 and 21. In NEC play, he posted a .371/.421/.515 slash line with 28 RBIs and 17 runs scored and he was a NEC Prime Performer on April 9.
Short led the circuit in batting average (.388) and on-base percentage (.473). The junior infielder started all 42 games and led the team with 39 runs scored, 69 hits, and 91 total bases. He had 21 multi-hit games during the season, including four-hit outings against Le Moyne on April 27 and Coppin State on May 3. He reached base safely in the first 26 games of the season and in NEC play he had a .394/.475/.496 slash line with 33 runs scored, 22 RBIs and 10 extra-base hits. Short was a three-time NEC Prime Performer during the season.
The duo helped Central rank second in the league with a .293 batting average as a team. Under CCSU head coach Charlie Hickey, 102 student-athletes have been named All-Northeast Conference, including three Players of the Year, two Pitchers of the Year, and four Rookies of the Year
