College baseball: Polemeni is Player of the Year as CSI claims 3 of 4 major ECC awards

COLONIA, N.J. — College of Staten Island sophomore outfielder Chris Polemeni, a St. Peter’s Boys HS product, has been selected the ECC Player of the Year to headline the East Coast Conference Baseball All-Conference awards, which were announced on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the start of this weekend’s 2025 ECC Baseball Championship.

CSI freshman outfielder Jack Kehoe, another St. Peter’s product, earned Rookie of the Year accolades.

Dolphins’ head coach Michael Mauro earned the Coach of the Year nod from his peers as all voting was completed by the league’s six head coaches.

In addition to the three major award winners, two more Dolphins earned a spot on ECC All-Conference Teams. Joining Polemeni on the All-Conference First Team were AJ Vigliotti, a St. Joseph by-the-Sea graduate, and Ryan Kehoe, another St. Peter’s product and the older sibling of Jack.

“I’m proud and honored that our team was recognized with these distinguished awards,” said Mauro. “My players earned them and truly deserved to win. I am humbled and honored to receive the COY award. But I cannot and will not take all the credit. My coaching staff this season has done as much if not more work than asked from me. Without them this award does not happen, without them we are not in the playoffs. I’m just so proud of my staff and team right now, we will all enjoy this.”

Polemeni slugged a conference-leading .751 this spring, also topping the ECC in total bases (127) while ranking second in hits (64), home runs (14, which ties for CSI’s single-season record), and runs scored (52), third in batting average (.379), and fourth in runs batted in (46) and stolen bases (14). In conference play only, the two-time ECC Player of the Week led the conference in slugging percentage (.884), home runs (12), runs scored (29) and stolen bases (seven) and sat second in hits (33) and runs batted in (29) while hitting .384.

CSI’s everyday centerfielder, Polemeni made 89 putouts with one assist in 95 opportunities for a .947 fielding percentage in 44 starts. He will also have the chance to make history in the potseason as he needs one homer and seven hits to break the CSI single-season program records in those categories.

Against conference competition, Jack Kehoe led all ECC freshmen with a .363 batting average (eighth in ECC), 29 hits, 23 runs scored (third in ECC), and four stolen bases. The three-time ECC Rookie of the Week hit .344 overall (second among ECC rookies) and scored 40 total runs (first among ECC rookies) across 44 starts. Kehoe made 86 putouts with six assists in right field in 95 opportunities for a .968 fielding percentage.

Mauro was named Coach of the Year by his peers after leading the Dolphins to an 18-26 overall record and 11-9 mark in conference play en route to CSI’s first-ever Division II playoff berth.

The first of two additional Dolphins named to the ECC All-Conference First Team, Vigliotti posted a .350 batting average this season and started all 44 games. His 1.026 OPS, five homers and 44 RBI all trailed only Polemeni. The senior led the team in walks with 31 and on-base percentage at .469. He will graduate the program as one of the best offensive talents of the Division II era and will be critically important to the team’s success in the postseason.

Joining Vigliotti and Polemeni on the All-Conference First Team was senior Ryan Kehoe. Kehoe led CSI starters in ERA at 5.34 and was the only CSI pitcher to earn four wins. He was also the only Dolphins pitcher to start 10 games, and he enters the postseason with 14 wins in his career.

The Dolphins will open the East Coast Conference postseason Thursday at noon against Mercy University.

Visit the the CSI baseball schedule page for links to live streaming, stats, and more.

This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.