May 11, 2009

Freshman pitcher Jack Leathersich (Beverly, MA) was named the Freshman Pitcher of the Year and led six UMass Lowell players cited to the Northeast-10 All-Conference teams, released Monday morning.

Leathersich, also named to the First Team, was among three pitchers cited to the all-star teams as well as three River Hawks named to the All-Rookie Team.

Sophomore pitcher Ted Haley (Cranston, RI) was named to the Second Team while juniors Jared Notargiacomo (Newburyport, MA) and Peter Onorato (Clarence Center, NY) were cited to the Third Team, alongside freshman pitcher Dallas Nunes (Easton, MA).

Freshman 2B Pat Devlin (Tewksbury, MA) was also named to the All-Rookie Team with Nunes and Leathersich.

UMass Lowell recently capped the 2009 season with a 25-21 record (15-15 in the NE-10, sixth) and reached the semifinal round of the NE-10 Tournament. All six River Hawks earned the honors for the first time.

Leathersich went 7-4 with a 2.18 earned run average this season and turned in other impressive figures, including opposing batting average (.226), strikeouts (63), runs (25) and earned runs (17) allowed.

He was prominent among NE-10 leaders, ranking in a host of categories such as earned runs allowed (tied for fifth), strikeouts looking (fifth), ERA (seventh), wins (seventh) and strikeouts (eighth).

With a 6-0 record and a NE-10-best 1.76 ERA, Haley enjoyed a special season and also ranked highly among his conference counterparts. Additionally, he was prominent in fewest earned runs allowed (tied for first), opposing batting average (second, .179), as well as fewest runs (second, 14) and hits (fourth, 39).

Notargiacomo enjoyed a breakout season which saw him bat .306 with 22 RBI and nine doubles. He was also a standout defensively as he threw out 15 runners on stolen base attempts.

Onorato led all River Hawks in batting with a .322 average – ranking 14th among NE-10 hitters – while also compiling 19 RBI, 15 runs and 11 doubles.

Nunes emerged as UMass Lowell’s closer this season, posting a 2-2 record with a 2.27 ERA and eight saves in 20 games (39.2 innings). He capped the year third in the NE-10 in saves and tied for fifth in appearances and also held opposing hitters to a .242 average.

Devlin made an immediate impact, batting .315 with team-highs of 33 runs and 21 stolen bases (26 attempts). He also drew 20 walks and established a .958 fielding percentage with 83 putouts, 98 assists and eight errors.

The River Hawks return all but two players for the 2010 season.