Kennedy, Avery Earn Spots On 2017 MASCAC Baseball All-Conference Team
Massachusetts Maritime junior outfielder Connor Kennedy and senior pitcher Daniel Avery earned spots on the 2017 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball all-conference team in a vote of the league’s eight coaches that was announced earlier this afternoon.
Kennedy, a native of West Barnstable, Mass. and a graduate of Saint John Paul II High School, earned first team all-MASCAC honors for a second straight season this spring, as he paced the Buccaneers at the plate with a .383 batting average that included 41 hits, six doubles, five triples, a homer and 14 RBI. Connor recorded a .561 slugging percentage and a .419 on-base percentage to go with 60 total bases in 2017, and he enters his final collegiate campaign 54 hits shy of the school career mark of 169 set by Mark Boretti from 1980-83. Kennedy, who will bring a 15-game hitting streak into the 2018 season, earned MASCAC Player of the Week honors back on March 27th, and he sports a .350 career batting average in 96 outings that includes 88 hits in each of the last two years alone.
Avery, a native of Milford, Mass. and a graduate of Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School, earned second team all-conference accolades after posting an overall mark of 3-3 with a 3.43 earned run average, as he struck out 53 batters in 42 innings pitched (11.36 per nine innings) and held opponents to a .241 batting average. Daniel, who earned his MASCAC Pitcher of the Week honor on April 17th following a 2-1 win over Salem State, also earned a save in nine appearances (six starts) this spring, and he finished his career with 11 victories and five saves in 35 contests while recording 148 strikeouts in 140 1/3 innings pitched.
Massachusetts Maritime posted 12 overall victories this spring under second year Head Coach Mike Kelley, who guided the Buccaneers to an appearance in the MASCAC championship game during his inaugural campaign in 2016.