There were many former FCIAC baseball players who pursued their passion for the sport as student-athletes at their respective colleges during the past 2018 spring season.
Several of those players had excellent seasons for their college teams. The statistics and highlights of those players along with those of many other former FCIAC players are listed under which high school they each graduated from. Names of the players included here were provided by the coaches from FCIAC teams.
Click the player names for bios from their college websites.
Brien McMahon
Mike Giordano started in 33 of the 34 games he played in as a 5-foot-11, 190-pound junior redshirt catcher for Southern Connecticut State University. He had a .252 batting average with 32 hits, 10 RBIs and 12 runs scored.
Danbury
George Bielizna and Andrew Luis are a pair of former Hatters who are playing college ball in their hometown for Western Connecticut State University.
Bielizna is a 6-foot-6, 265-pound junior first baseman who batted .360 (9-for-25) in the 13 games he played in.
Luis played in eight games and had one hit in eight at-bats.
Darien
Richard Brereton had a strong sophomore season as a 6-foot, 185-pound outfielder/pitcher for Emory and was selected to the D3Baseball.com All-South Region Third Team and the All-University Athletic Association First Team.
He had a .320 batting average, was the lone Eagle to start in all 38 games and he led their offense with 48 hits, 37 runs, 10 doubles, three triples, 15 walks, 13 stolen bases and a .467 slugging percentage. Brereton also had a team-high 16 multi-hit games. The right-hander had a dozen mound appearances and his five victories led the team as he had a 5-4 record with a 3.60 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 70 innings.
Jamie Schofield was a 5-foot-10, 180-pound infielder for Western New England who played in 37 games and had a .257 batting average (29-for-113) with a .512 on-base percentage because of his excellent eye at the plate (a team-high 44 walks) and he also had 24 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.
Anthony DiMeglio had a strong year on the mound as a 6-foot-1, 210-pound junior right-handed pitcher for Fordham. He started 11 times among is 17 appearances and had an 8-3 record, a 3.40 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 82.0 innings pitched.
Casey Brown was a 6-foot-6, 245-pound backup freshman first baseman for Fordham who saw action in seven games and got three hits, including a double, in nine at-bats.
Jake Frasca had a very good season as a 6-foot, 195-pound redshirt sophomore pitcher infielder for Sacred Heart University. He started in 49 games as an infielder and was second on the team with a .307 batting average, 55 hits and 10 doubles. Frasca had six three-hit games among his 13 multi-hit games and reached base safely in 19 consecutive games from March 25-April 24. The right-hander also came through on the mound during his 15.2 innings pitched in 13 appearances. Frasca had a 4-1 record with a 2.87 ERA, 14 strikeouts and one save when he struck out two batters in the last inning to wrap up a 6-4 victory over Central Connecticut State University on April 8. Frasca was the only former FCIAC player among the 30 total players on SHU’s roster.
Brendan Donohue played in eight games and had a .316 batting average (6-for-19) while finishing his career as 5-foot-9, 170-pound senior outfielder for Middlebury College. Donohue, who saw most of his action during his first two years when he played in 51 games, finished his career with a .323 batting average (51-for-158) with 27 RBIs in 60 games.
Peter Marren a 5-foot-11, 210-pound backup freshman corner infielder for Bucknell.
Andrew Nault was a 6-foot, 190-pound senior pitcher who pitched one inning in one game for Western Connecticut State University.
Ludlowe
Mikey Arman had an excellent season as a 6-foot, 185-pound senior outfielder for Kenyon College to put the wraps on a very good career. Arman had a robust .440 batting average this past year – getting 59 hits in 134 at-bats while starting in 32 games – and he finished with a .371 career batting average (151-for-407) while starting in 106 games. Arman drove in 30 runs this year and had 89 career RBIs. He was selected to the 2018 All-North Coast Athletic Conference Baseball Team.
Tom Ryan started in 48 of the 51 games he played in as a 5-foot-10, 180-pound junior infielder for Fairfield University. Ryan had a .231 batting average (34-for-147) with 15 RBIs, 22 runs scored, four doubles and five stolen bases. And he excelled in the classroom again as he was selected to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year.
Kevin Hickey was a 6-foot-9, 205-pound senior right-handed pitcher who started 12 games for USC Upstate. He had a 2-4 record with a 4.23 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 66 innings pitched.
Steve Zadravec was a 6-foot-2, 195-pound right-handed pitcher for Keene State who had three starts in five appearances and a 1-2 record.
Jack McGuire a 6-foot, 175-pound freshman backup outfielder for Bentley.
Dan Paglialunga played in four games for Western Connecticut State University and the 5-foot-8, 155-pound sophomore outfielder/pitcher played in four games and had one double in his two at-bats.
Greenwich
Alex LoParco had an excellent junior season as a 5-foot-9, 165-pound infielder to continue his very successful career at Western New England. LoParco led the team in batting average (.382), hits (63), runs scored (55) and on-base percentage (.525), was second on the team in slugging percentage (.497) and walks (40), and he also drove in 37 runs, stole 19 bases and had a dozen doubles. For his three-year career LoParco has a .327 batting average (153-for-468) with 89 RBIs, 106 runs scored, 32 doubles and 36 stolen bases in 127 game.
Florida Southern pitcher JT Hintzen won the Brett Tomko Award as the Div. II Pitcher of the Year after going 14-0 with a 1.96 ERA. His win total tied for the NCAA Div. II lead.
Hintzen fanned 114 batters while walking only 13 in 96.2 innings. His 10.61 strikeouts per nine innings were sixth in the SSC while his 1.21 walks allowed per nine innings was third best in the conference.
The Moccasins were 45-11-1 this spring and went 6-2 in the NCAA national tournament.
Hintzen was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers with their 10th round pick — 305th overall — in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Kevin Woodring played in nine games as a 6-foot-3, 280-pound sophomore infielder for Middlebury and had a .357 batting average (10-for-28) with seven RBIs.
New Canaan
Zack Smith was a catcher and outfielder for the Salve Regina Seahawks, who went 25-14 and finished as the Commonwealth Coast Conference runners-up this season.
Named a captain as a sophomore, Smith batted .352 with 44 hits in 125 at-bats, and had eight doubles, two home runs, 31 runs scored and 26 RBIs. He finished the season with a .464 slugging percentage and a .475 on-base percentage.
Norwalk
Isaac Keehn was a 6-foot, 170-pound right-handed pitcher at Keene State who had seven starting assignments among his nine appearances and a 1-3 record with a 3.93 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 36.2 innings.
Ryan Searles was a 6-foot-1, 185-pound sophomore left-handed pitcher/first baseman who pitched 2.1 innings in two mound appearances for Western New England, did not allow any runs and had a 1-0 record.
Moe Ortiz-Echevarria was a 5-foot-10, 180-pound sophomore outfielder who had a .333 batting average (14-for-42) with 11 RBIs in the 21 games he played for Western Connecticut State University.
Ridgefield
John Thrasher started in 39 of 44 games as 6-foot-1, 170-pound freshman outfielder to help Hartford win the America East Conference championship and qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time. He had a .248 batting average (53-for-204) with 24 runs scored, 13 RBIs and was second on the team with 14 stolen bases.
Anthony Macchia was a 5-foot-11, 175-pound freshman backup outfielder for Endicott College who saw action in nine games and had one hit in five at-bats.
Stamford
Billy DeVito had his best pitching performance when his Hartford Hawks needed it most. DeVito, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound junior right-hander, got his first win of the year in a must-win situation as he led the Hawks to a 9-4 victory which gave them their first America East championship and berth in the NCAA Tournament. DeVito pitched a career-high seven innings, struck out four and allowed five hits and two earned runs. For the season he had a 1-5 record with a 7.06 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 65.0 innings pitched.
Jay DeVito, the younger brother of Billy, and Kenny Wright were teammates for Central Connecticut State University. Wright was a 6-foot-2, 210-pound junior outfielder who played in two games and was 0-for-2. DeVito, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound freshman infielder, saw action in 16 games and batted .143 (4-for-28).
Shawn Urbano was a 5-foot-11, 175-pound redshirt sophomore left-handed pitcher for Southern Connecticut State University who made 10 appearances, all in relief, and had a 2.93 ERA, two saves, an 0-1 record and 14 strikeouts in 15.1 innings pitched.
Mike White started in 10 games as a 6-foot, 200-pound sophomore right-handed pitcher for Stonehill College and had a 2-3 record with a 4.92 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 56.2 innings pitched.
Tyler Serricchio was a 5-foot-9, 190-pound sophomore catcher/infielder who started in 39 of the 47 games he played for UNC Asheville. He had a .226 batting average (30-for-133) and was second on the team with 25 RBIs.
Mark Serricchio played in seven games and batted .300 (3-for-10) as a 5-foot-7, 160-pound sophomore infielder for Springfield College.
Staples
George Goldstein was a 6-foot-2, 215-pound freshman pitcher who struck out 26 batters in 21.2 innings and a dozen appearances for Middlebury and had a 2-1 record with a 1.66 ERA and two saves.
Trinity Catholic
Matt Fraioli played in 11 games and had a .333 batting average with six hits and five RBIs as a 5-foot-10, 165-pound junior infielder for Springfield College.
Dillon Daine was a 5-foot-10 sophomore first baseman who started in 20 of the 24 games he played in for Bard College. He had a .297 batting average, 19 hits, including four doubles, and 13 RBIs.
Randy Polonia, listed on the University of Connecticut roster as a 6-foot-2, 204-pound junior right-handed pitcher, missed the 2018 season due to injury.
Trumbull
Andrew Lojko, Zach Sagar and Matt Fasoli were three of the eight former players from the FCIAC on the Western Connecticut State University roster.
Sagar started in 31 of the 33 games he played as a 5-foot-10, 195-pound senior catcher. He had a .357 batting average (41-for-115) and was second on the team with 18 RBIs.
Fasoli was a 6-foot-3, 225-pound junior right-handed pitcher who started three games and appeared in nine. He had a 2-1 record with a 4.66 ERA in 29.0 innings pitched for a team which finished 16-19 and he was second on the team with his 32 strikeouts.
Lojko was a 6-foot, 185-pound freshman right-handed pitcher who pitched 10.1 innings in four appearances and was 0-1.
Westhill
Dean DePreta started in 36 games as a 6-foot-1 freshman infielder for Roger Williams and had a .283 batting average (36-for-127) with 10 RBIs and five stolen bases.
Luke Dawson was a 6-foot-2, 215-pound junior right-handed pitcher for Bentley who received 12 starting assignments and had a 6-4 record with a 3.16 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 85.1 innings pitched.
John Spoto started in 18 of the 30 games he played in as a 5-foot-11, 185-pound sophomore middle infielder for Southern Connecticut State University. He had a .231 batting average with 18 hits, 15 RBIs and 13 runs scored.
Wilton
Henry Strmecki had a .278 batting average (20-for-72) with 12 RBIs, 16 runs scored and five stolen bases in 25 games as a freshman 6-foot, 180-pound outfielder for Middlebury.