WEYMOUTH, Mass. (September 28, 2022) -- Following the conclusion of its exciting 12th season of summer collegiate baseball in New England, the Futures League recognizes its top players with Wednesday's announcement of the annual All-Futures League Teams.
The All-League First and Second Teams, which are presented by 78 Sports and Zephyr, were compiled following a vote of the league’s field managers earlier this month. All eight Futures League organizations are represented across the two squads.
The top squad includes four of the league’s major award winners from three different clubs, including Most Valuable Player Gavin Noriega (Bryant), the Worcester Bravehearts’ first baseman/outfielder who hit .362, led the circuit with 72 hits and tied the league’s single-season record for doubles (21).
From the Vermont Lake Monsters, Futures League Pitcher of the Year & Top Pro Pitching Prospect Sean Matson (Harvard) -- who led the league with 68 strikeouts in 44.2 innings and led the team’s trio of five-game winner -- and Relief Pitcher of the Year George Goldstein (Middlebury) were also among the first-team honorees. Goldstein is the league’s all-time leader in appearances and saved 11 games.
Defensive Player of the Year Joel Lara (Franklin Pierce) leads the outfielders after blowing away the league’s single-season and career stolen base records and scoring a league-high 50 runs for the New Britain Bees.
Westfield Starfires catcher Jackson Hornung (Skidmore) won the batting title (..363) while compiling 113 total bases, 25 extra-base hits and a .621 slugging percentage.
Of the seven pitchers (five starters and two relievers) on the first All-FCBL roster, southpaw Tim Noone (Babson) and Goldstein’s co-relief ace Wyatt Cameron (New England College) also represent Vermont. Rounding out the pitching staff are Pittsfield Suns veteran Izaiya Mestre (New Haven), Jonah Wachter (Tulane) of the six-time champion Nashua Silver Knights, and Brockton Rox righty Michael Quigley (UMass Lowell).
Mestre and Noriega were All-FCBL honorees in 2021 as well, with the Suns pitcher repeating as a first-team selection after earning his third career FCBL All-Star Game appearance. Lara and Noone were both second-team picks in 2020 as teammates in Brockton.
Also on the first team, second baseman D’Angelo Ortiz (Miami Dade) led the Rox with a .329 average and .435 on-base percentage. Westfield’s Noah Campanelli (St. John Fisher) and Vermont’s Cooper Kelly (Kansas) tied for the shortstop spot, while Suns third baseman Drew Metzdorf (UMass Boston) rounds out the infield.
The speedy Lara holds down the outfield alongside the league’s leader with 49 RBI, Vermont’s Jimmy Evans (Tufts), Brockton’s Andy Martin (Dyersburg State) and Pittsfield’s Caleb Shpur (Endicott). Pittsfield’s Marco Ali (Marist) and New Britain’s CJ Brito-Trinidad (Bowdoin) were the designated hitter/utility picks.
Highlighting the second-team players, Norwich Sea Unicorns third baseman Chris Maldonado (Vanderbilt) hit a team-best .389 on his way to collecting Futures League Top Pro Prospect honors. Another power hitter was Worcester catcher Cam Seymour (Southern Maine), who was the only Futures Leaguer to total double-digit home runs.
First baseman Kyle Wolff (Boston College) and second baseman Jack McDermott (Amherst) were playoff heroes for the Silver Knights, hitting the championship-winning homer and compiling nine postseason RBI, respectively. Joining them on the infield, Westfield’s Brendan Jones (Holy Cross) was the league’s third-leading hitter, finishing at a .333 clip in 53 games.
Much of Nashua’s All-FCBL talent is up-and-coming as, like Norwich’s Maldonado, Wolff, pitcher Aiven Cabral (Northeastern) and shortstop Carmelo Musacchia (Northeastern) are all entering their freshman seasons of college ball in 2023.
Six of Vermont’s seven All-FCBL players were first-team picks. Nashua matches the leading total with seven total honorees of its own, while New Britain has six, Pittsfield and Westfield boast five apiece, Brockton four, Worcester three and Norwich two.
For the latest Futures League news and information throughout the year, visit thefuturesleague.com and follow the league’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
ALL-FCBL FIRST TEAM
P: Sean Matson, Vermont Lake Monsters, Harvard University (Pitcher of the Year & Top Pro Pitching Prospect)
P: Izaiya Mestre, Pittsfield Suns, University of New Haven
P: Tim Noone, Vermont Lake Monsters, Babson College
P: Jonah Wachter, Nashua Silver Knights, Tulane University
P: Michael Quigley, Brockton Rox, University of Connecticut
RP: George Goldstein, Vermont Lake Monsters, Middlebury College (Relief Pitcher of the Year)
RP: Wyatt Cameron, Vermont Lake Monsters, New England College
C: Jackson Hornung, Westfield Starfires, Skidmore College (Batting Champion)
1B: Gavin Noriega, Worcester Bravehearts, Bryant University (Most Valuable Player)
2B: D’Angelo Ortiz, Brockton Rox, Miami Dade College
SS: Noah Campanelli, Westfield Starfires, St. John Fisher College
SS: Cooper Kelly, Vermont Lake Monsters, University of Kansas
3B: Drew Metzdorf, Pittsfield Suns, UMass Boston
OF: Jimmy Evans, Vermont Lake Monsters, Tufts University
OF: Joel Lara, New Britain Bees, Franklin Pierce University (Defensive Player of the Year)
OF: Andy Martin, Brockton Rox, Dyersburg State Community College
OF: Caleb Shpur, Pittsfield Suns, Endicott College
DH/Utility: Marco Ali, Pittsfield Suns, Marist College
DH/Utility: CJ Brito-Trinidad, New Britain Bees, Bowdoin College
ALL-FCBL SECOND TEAM
P: John Kiss, New Britain Bees, Molloy College
P: Kyle Rizy, Worcester Bravehearts, Bryant University
P: Justin Sinibaldi, Westfield Starfires, Rutgers University
P: Aiven Cabral, Nashua Silver Knights, Northeastern University
P: Tim Cianciolo, Pittsfield Suns, UMass Boston
RP: George Welch, Nashua Silver Knights, Southern New Hampshire University
RP: Will Andrews, Nashua Silver Knights, Wake Forest University
C: Cam Seymour, Worcester Bravehearts, University of Southern Maine
1B: Kyle Wolff, Nashua Silver Knights, Boston College
2B: Brendan Jones, Westfield Starfires, College of the Holy Cross
2B: Jack McDermott, Nashua Silver Knights, Amherst College (Championship Series Most Valuable Player)
SS: Carmelo Musacchia, Nashua Silver Knights, Northeastern University
3B: Chris Maldonado, Norwich Sea Unicorns, Vanderbilt University (Top Pro Prospect)
3B: Tyler Pettorini, New Britain Bees, Ohio State University
OF: Peter Messervy, Brockton Rox, Harvard University
OF: Luca Giallongo, Westfield Starfires, New England College
OF: Teddy Schoenfeld, New Britain Bees, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
OF: Jackson Kline, Vermont Lake Monsters, University of Kansas
DH/Utility: Andrew Bianco, Norwich Sea Unicorns, University of New Haven
DH/Utility: Colton Shaw, New Britain Bees, Yale University
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