NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Danbury infielder Alex Bello (South Florida) coupled with Upper Valley right-handed hurler William Carnley (Troy) to make up the Week 4 award winners for the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s Player and Pitcher of the Week honors, as announced Monday.
In a week that saw seven hitters across the league – including three from Danbury alone – post double-digit hit totals, it was only Bello who had a double-digit RBI total, as the South Florida product finished with 10 RBIs in that five-game span, as well. He batted .500 for the week with eight runs scored, a double and a league-high three home runs while also going 4-for-5 on the base paths. The Miami native had at least two hits in three of those games with a sparkling 5-for-5, four-run, two-homer, four-RBI performance in a 16-8 slugfest over North Adams the highlight of his week.
Bello’s average is up to .269 on the season with 14 hits, nine runs scored, 10 RBIs and three homers after last week’s performance, while his OPS now stands at .818. He has helped Danbury maintain a lead atop the Southern Division at 12-4 as the calendar turns to July. He played in 40 games as a true freshman this spring at South Florida with 19 runs scored and two homers.
Carnley made it two straight weeks for a Nighthawk to earn a weekly honor, this time on the mound after tow impressive performances atop the rubber. He totaled a league-high 11-1/3 innings of work across two outings (one start) with only one earned run yielded in that span. He struck out 16 over that duration – the most by any pitcher last week – and finished with a 1-0 record and a 0.79 ERA. After facing Valley in a no decision last Monday and lasting just over four innings with nine strikeouts, he returned six days later to shut out the two-time defending champion Blue Sox with seven scoreless frames that featured seven more strikeouts.
Now having thrown over 21 innings of work this summer, Carnley – a rising senior at Troy – owns an impressive 2.10 ERA with 27 strikeouts over 21-1/3 innings with just five walks thrown in that span. His WHIP is down to 1.08 while opponents are hitting only .225 against him.
Week 4 Honor Roll – Position Players
Alex Baratta (Danbury, 2B, Binghamton), Alex Brickman (New Bedford, 1B, Dayton), Corey DiLoreto (Vermont, OF, Northeastern), Matthew Koperniak (North Adams, IF, Trinity), Will Wagner (Keene, 2B, Liberty)
Week 4 Honor Roll – Pitchers
Jordan DiValerio (Upper Valley, RHP, St. Joseph’s), Derek Duffy (Danbury, RHP, Franklin Pierce), Christian Scafidi (Vermont, RHP, Penn), Stanley Vargas (New Bedford, RHP, New England College), Will Warren (Martha’s Vineyard, RHP, Southeastern Louisiana)
