A pair of first-year faces have taken home major awards from the City University of New York Athletic Conference, as they have announced their year-end Baseball all-stars and major award recipients. Junior transfer Derek Jentz earned the conference’s Pitcher of the Year honor, while Jett Nouvertne took Rookie of the Year laurels. Veteran coach Michael Mauro took home the conference’s Coach of the Year while contingent Anthony DiMarco, Glenn Glennerster and Frank Sconzo earned all-star honors. Senior Chris Moran was appointed to the All-Sportsmanship team.
A transfer from Kingsborough Community College, Jentz hit the ground running in 2017 in his debut for the Dolphins on the hill. Including the postseason, Jentz recorded a 4-2 record with a 2.16 ERA, tops among starting pitchers on the team in both categories. In six starts, Jentz tossed 41.2 innings, yielding just 28 hits, 14 runs (10 earned), fanning 44 while only walking 10. Opponents batted a paltry .183 against the junior, and Jentz allowed just five extra-base hits, all doubles.
“This offseason I put in a lot of work in the gym to make myself the best I could possibly be and I feel like winning this award shows that it paid off and I accomplished what I set out to do,” Jentz stated. “I want to thank my coaches for giving me the opportunity and my teammates behind me in the field, and all the guys in the ‘bro-pen’. I couldn’t have done it without all of them.”
Nouvertne may have gotten off to a pedestrian start, but the freshman shortstop absolutely ripped down the home stretch, and finished with a .362 batting average in 32 starts. His 38 hits were tied for fourth on the team, as were his 25 RBI. Nouvertne posted seven doubles and a triple, and his 18 stolen bags on 19 attempts were tops on the unit. Nouvertne also flashed the glove on plenty of occasions, making 50 put-outs and team-high 98 assists this year.
“It’s an honor to win this award, and it wouldn’t have been possible without my coaches and my teammates,” Nouvertne mentioned. “My coaches gave me a great opportunity to play and gave me so much help throughout the year and my teammates always had my back and helped me with so many different aspects of my game.”
As for Mauro, the skipper is used to the spotlight. He eclipsed 200 wins en route to CSI’s fourth-highest win output in program history boasting a 27-11-1 record. The Dolphins graduated eight seniors a year ago, but hardly missed a beat, bringing in 10 new faces to bolster the recruiting effort. The Dolphins capped the year with their 19th program championship and their third in a row.
DiMarco, Glennerster and Sconzo were all solid all-star candidates and took home deserving honors. DiMarco was CSI’s hottest hitter in the waning weeks and posted a final batting average of .348, leading the squad with 14 doubles. His 33 walks were ranked second on the squad and improved his on-base percentage to .497, best on the team. Glennerster, the former CUNYAC Rookie of the Year two years ago batted a crisp .353, tied for the team lead with three home runs while claiming the team’s RBI title with 28. Senior Frank Sconzo was a wall at the catcher position and tossed out 13 would-be base stealers. He batted .299 with 11 stolen bases while breaking the CSI single season record with 36 walks this season.
Lehman College’s Jeffrey Ledesma took home the conference’s Player of the Year honor. As for CSI, they finalized their season on Sunday, coming from behind after losing the first game of the CUNYAC Tournament to win four in a row and claim their third straight championship.
