Bob Corradi’s glorious 43-year tenure as Massachusetts Maritime’s Head Baseball Coach will continue this weekend, as the Buccaneers are one of five teams that have earned berths in the 2015 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Championships.

Massachusetts Maritime is seeded third in this year’s tournament and will travel to Newport, R.I. on Saturday morning (May 9^th) to take on host and second-seeded Salve Regina in a semifinal round match-up that begins at 11:00 a.m. EDT.  Saturday’s other semifinal round contest will pit top-seeded Framingham State against the winner of Wednesday’s quarterfinal round game between fourth-seeded Western New England and fifth-seeded WPI at 2:30 p.m. EDT, and the semifinal winners will meet on Sunday, May 10^th for the ECAC New England crown beginning at Noon EDT.

Corradi, who will retire later this spring after serving as the Academy’s only coach in its NCAA Division III history, has guided his squad to an overall mark of 17-12 on the season, as Massachusetts Maritime captured a share of its first Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference championship in 33 years with a 10-4 league mark.  Corradi enters the weekend with 579 career victories and has served in the position since 1973, as he has guided the Buccaneers to their eighth appearance in the ECAC Championships overall and the first since 2008.

Freshman Logan Sullo (Acushnet, Mass./Bishop Stang), who was named last week as the 2015 MASCAC Player & Rookie of the Year, paces Massachusetts Maritime at the plate with a .471 batting average that includes eight doubles, six triples, two homers and 18 RBI.  Sullo has recorded a whopping .843 slugging percentage to go with a .563 on-base percentage, as he earned league Player of the Week honors twice during the regular season while amassing four Rookie of the Week accolades.

Fellow freshman Connor Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass./Pope John Paul II) is next on the Buccaneer hit parade at a .318 clip with 27 hits and 11 RBI, while junior Everett Walsh (Marstons Mills, Mass./Barnstable) follows at .296 that includes a double and triple.  Senior Greg Downs (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield), named last week as the first-team all-MASCAC first baseman, has batted .294 with eight doubles, a triple, two homers and 15 RBI for Massachusetts Maritime in 28 contests, while fellow senior Bobby Rosano (North Reading, Mass./North Reading) earned all-MASCAC honors for the third straight season at shortstop for the Buccaneers, as he has scored 27 runs and stolen 14 bases while batting .287 in starting all 29 games to date.

Junior lefthander Kevin Kwedor (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) ranked among the conference leaders in wins during the regular season, as the second-team all-MASCAC performer is 6-3 overall with a 3.69 earned run average in 10 appearances (nine starts) and has recorded 49 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings pitched to date.  Fellow junior Kyle Kennedy (Woodbury, Conn./Nonnewaug) earned all-conference accolades for a second straight campaign, as he has posted a 3-1 mark with a 1.80 ERA and four saves while holding opponents to a .219 batting average in 14 appearances.  Junior Alex Rozak (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) and sophomore Daniel Avery (Milford, Mass./Blackstone Valley) combined for a 6-2 record and 48 strikeouts for the Buccaneers, while senior Zac Cooney (East Bridgewater, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) tied for the conference lead with six saves and has struck out 49 in 39 innings of work for Corradi, who was voted by his peers as the MASCAC Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career last week.

Salve Regina enters Saturday’s ECAC semifinal match-up with an overall record of 24-16 under second year Head Coach Eric Cirella, as the Seahawks finished 8-8 in Commonwealth Coast Conference play this spring.  Freshman Alex Perry (North Attleboro, Mass./Bishop Feehan) paces Salve Regina at the plate with a .422 average that includes 10 doubles, 10 homers and 56 RBI, while senior Joe Haley (North Kingstown, R.I./North Kingstown) follows at .358 with 13 doubles, two triples, a homer and 25 RBI.  Senior Kyle Pheland (North Scituate, R.I./Scituate) is 4-2 on the mound for the Seahawks with a 2.22 earned run average in eight starts to date, while sophomore Cory Poplawski (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden) has a 4-1 mark with a 2.76 ERA in eight appearances.

Massachusetts Maritime is seeking its first ECAC New England title since 1982, which was the last season that Corradi’s crew also copped the MASCAC crown.  The Buccaneers finished as the ECAC runner-up to Roger Williams in their last tournament appearance seven years ago.

2015 ECAC DIVISION III NEW ENGLAND BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

(All Rounds Single Elimination)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6^TH – QUARTERFINALS

Game #1:            #5 WPI (21-15) at #4 Western New England (15-15)                                          3:30 pm

SATURDAY, MAY 9^TH – SEMIFINALS (AT SALVE REGINA)

Game #2:            #3 Massachusetts Maritime (17-12) at #2 Salve Regina (24-16)                    11:00 am

Game #3              Western New England/WPI winner vs. #1 Framingham State (26-18)       2:30 pm

SUNDAY, MAY 10^TH – CHAMPIONSHIP (AT SALVE REGINA)

Game #4:            Semifinal Winners                                                                                                           Noon