The American Baseball Coaches Association have announced their eight All-Region teams this week, and making the list was College of Staten Island junior hurler Christian Capellan, who made New York’s third-team All-Region lineup. Capellan, the CUNYAC Pitcher of the Year, was a standout all season for the Dolphins, and the honor is his first from the ABCA in his career.
Capellan was easily CSI’s ace on the hill in 2018, sporting an outstanding 6-1 mark and a single save with a 2.95 ERA. He made eight starts for the Dolphins, going four complete games, aiding him to a team-high 64 innings pitched. He led the unit with 55 strikeouts this season, yielding only seven walks, less than one per nine innings of work. Capellan yielded just 11 extra base hits all season. He saved two of his best performances for late in the season, scoring a complete-game, 11-2, win over Baruch College to usher in the 2018 CUNYAC Championship Tournament, and after just a single day’s rest, came back out to pitch nine sterling innings in what was a 5-4 win extra-inning victory over John Jay College on the Tournament’s final day. CSI would go on to win a second game over the Bloodhounds to claim the CUNYAC title for the fourth-straight year.
Capellan, who took CUNYAC Pitcher of the Year honors, stands 10th all-time at CSI in career ERA at 4.28 and is sixth all-time in career victories with 15. He stands four complete games shy of the CSI record of 16 set by Richard Anderson from 2010-13.
Founded in 1945, the ABCA is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level. Its over 9,600 members represent all 50 states and 25 countries. Since its initial meeting of 27 college baseball coaches in June 1945, Association membership has broadened to include eight divisions: NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA, Pacific Association Division, High School and Youth. The 75th annual ABCA Convention will be held Jan. 3-6, 2019 in Dallas, Texas.
