Baseball | 5/16/2023 11:07:00 AM

MELBOURNE, Fla. -- After earning their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2011, the Barry Buccaneers put six players on the 2023 All-Sunshine State Conference baseball teams, led by First-Team selections Joe Stella and Braden Forchic and conference Freshman of the Year Jake Ogden.

SSC Baseball All-Conference History: All-SSC Teams | Players & Coaches of the Year

Stella made the First-Team as designated hitter, after picking up a Second-Team nod at utility last season. The sophomore from Pittston, Pa., batted .343 with nine doubles, five homers and a team-best 50 RBI. He slugged .483 and drew a team-high 34 walks to post a .454 on-base percentage. His 37 runs were good for fourth on the team and he swiped nine bags in 10 attempts. Stella had 17 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games. His 11-game hitting streak was the third-longest on the team this season.

Forchic earned a First-Team pick in the outfield, after getting a Second-Team honor at third base while at Lynn in 2021. Forchic led the team with a .369 average and nine home runs. He scored 36 runs and drove in 23. He added 10 doubles and two triples to slug .685 and drew 18 walks for a .449 on-base percentage. Forchic had 12 multi-hit games and five mutil-RBI games. His 13-game hitting streak was the best on the team.

Third baseman Jake Ogden won Freshman of the Year accolades and was one of three Buccaneers on the Second-Team. The rookie from Homestead, Florida, saw action in 47 games this season, earning 46 starts. Ogden tallied a .315/.397/.506 slash line following 51 hits, 16 extra-base hits, 41 runs scored, and 31 runs batted in. His seven homers were the second-most on the team behind Forchic and the second-most for a Barry rookie after Irain Gonzalez (1998 - 10). He had 14 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI games and posted a 10-game hitting streak. In addition, he worked four games on a mound, earning four saves with a 0.00 ERA in 3.1 innings. He gave up just one hit and three walks and struck out four.  He is the third Barry player named SSC Freshman of the Year and the first since 2015³.

Junior Kevin Noriega was a Second-Team pick in the outfield. He batted.348 with 36 runs and 41 RBI. He had 19 doubles, three triples and two home runs, to lead the team with 24 extra-base hits, for a .516 slugging mark. He also drew 20 walks for a .421 on-base percentage. He led the team with 12 multi-RBI games and was tied for the lead with 19 multi-hit games. His 12-game hitting streak was the second-longest this season.

Senior Mike Reagan had a career year to earn Second-Team honors as a starting pitcher. He went 9-1, leading the conference in wins, with a 3.35 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. In 83.1 innings, he held opponents to a .245 average and struck out 75 to 32 walks. He had eight starts of two earned runs or less, including eight shutout innings in a 5-0 win over Georgia Southwestern on Apr. 1. He struck out a season-high 11 in beating Florida Southern 5-2 on May 12.

Junior Christian Maceda was named to the All-Defensive Team in the outfield. His 123 putouts were the fourth-most on the team and second most among outfielders in the SSC. He added two outfield assists and committed just one error. Offensively, he batted .270 and was second on the team with 45 runs. He drew 33 walks for a .401 on-base percentage and stole 26 bases.

EJ Cumbo from Tampa collected SSC Player of the Year honors. The junior outfielder ranks first in league hits (87) and runs batted in (58). He's also Top-3 in batting average (.429), doubles (19), slugging percentage (.631), and on-base percentage (.471). The East Meadow, New York product is the eighth Spartan to win Player of the Year honors and the first since 2019¹. The Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year award is presented by College Ave Student Loans.

Alex Canney was selected Pitcher of the Year following an 8-0 record on the bump for Tampa. The sophomore from Valrico, Florida, recorded a 2.58 earned run average and one save over his 16 appearances. In 69.2 innings pitched, he struck out 48 batters and registered a WHIP of 1.19. Canney is the 12th Spartan to be named SSC Pitcher of the Year².

Jon Sjogren of Rollins College was picked as Coach of the Year by his peers. In his 16th year with the program, Sjogren led the Tars to a .680 overall win percentage (34-16) and second place in the SSC standings (22-8). Rollins earned the fourth seed in the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament and has received numerous national rankings throughout the season. Sjogren is the third Rollins manager named Coach of the Year and the first since 2004⁴. 

Cumbo highlights the repeat All-SSC winners with his third consecutive First Team award. He becomes the 10th baseball athlete to win three First Team All-SSC honors⁵. UT's Drew Ehrhard and Michael Paul each earn a third career All-SSC honor in 2023. Ehrhard repeats as First Team and was Second Team in 2018. Paul was previously named First Team in 2022 and 2021. Ten athletes honored in 2023 repeat as All-SSC First or Second Team. The SSC's All-Defensive Team moves into its third year, with Florida Tech's Sam Schner as the only athlete honored all three years.

Player of the Year: EJ Cumbo, Tampa
Pitcher of the Year: Alex Canney, Tampa
Freshman of the Year: Jake Ogden, Barry
Coach of the Year: Jon Sjogren, Rollins

* = 2022 First Team All-SSC
^ = 2022 Second Team All-SSC
† = 2021 First Team All-SSC
‡ = 2021 Second Team All-SSC
~ = 2019 Second Team All-SSC
# = 2018 Second Team All-SSC
% = 2021 & 2022 All-Defensive Team
F = Former SSC Freshman of the Year
 

¹ Previous Tampa Player of the Year winners: Brian Zaletel (1992), Rodd Kelley (1993), Ronnie Merrill (2000), Tom Carrow (2001), Lee Cruz (2006), Mike Schwartz (2010), Yorvis Torrealba (2019)
² Previous Tampa Pitcher of the Year Winners: Ricky Burton (1996), Mike Valdes (1998), Charlie Manning (2001), Eric Beattie (2003), Sergio Perez (2006), Kevin Ferguson (2007), Sean Bierman (2012), Mike Adams (2013), Preston Packrall (2014), David Lebron (2017-18), Jordan Leasure (2021)
³ Previous Barry Freshman of the Year Winners: Irian Gonzalez (1998), Ryan Baldwin (2015)
⁴ Previous Rollins Coach of the Year Winners: Boyd Coffie (1983 & 1986), Bob Rikeman (2004)
⁵ 3x All-SSC First Team: Tino Martinez, Tampa (1986-88); Cris Allen, FSC (1986-88); Sam Militello, Tampa (1988-90); Carmine Cappuccio, Rollins (1989-92); Marc Rodriguez, Tampa (1993-95); BJ Leach, FSC (1998-99), Trevor Hall (2000-02); Nick Shaw, Barry (2008-10); Logan Browning, FSC (2016-18)
⁶ No Sunshine State Conference All-Conferences awards were issued in Spring 2020