NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Winnipesaukee outfielder Sam Cochrane (Eckerd) joined Mystic right-handed reliever Nicholas Robino (Wagner) for the New England Collegiate Baseball League’s (NECBL) Week 5 honorees, as announced Monday.
Cochrane drove in a league-high nine runs while finishing with 12 hits (the second-highest total in the NECBL in that span) and a .545 batting average (also second in the league in that same period) to help the Muskrats earn three wins in five days. More impressively, Cochrane – a rising senior at Eckerd College – had four multi-hit outings, including a 4-for-6 showing with two runs, two doubles and four RBIs in a 17-2 victory over Sanford on July 1. He also went 3-for-4 with an RBI two games later and went 2-for-5 with three RBIs in a win at Vermont. Finally, the Ocala, Florida, native had four stolen bases on four attempts, as well.
Now batting .342 on the summer, Cochrane pushed his season OPS up to .973 after his monster week at the plate with 27 hits in 79 at-bats; he also is up to eight doubles and three homers for 21 RBIs, as well as five stolen bases. He is coming off a junior campaign that featured a .279/.364/.416 slash line for Eckerd, finishing third on the team in RBIs, runs scored and stolen bases.
Robino dazzled out of the bullpen last week, factoring into three victorious decisions for Mystic in that span. He started with a scoreless frame to lock up a 3-2 win over New Bedford on July 1, striking out two of the four batters he faced while working around a single hit – the only one he yielded last week. He then picked up another save while facing the minimum a night later at Danbury in a 5-2 victory, again striking out two batters. Finally, he earned the win on July 4 at home over New Bedford by striking out two of the three batters he faced before the Schooners walked off in the bottom of the ninth to break a 2-2 tie.
The right-hander and Delaware native is now up to four saves on the summer with a 1.00 ERA in nine innings of work. He has 16 strikeouts to just one walk and seven hits in that span, owning an impressive 0.89 WHIP and a .212 batting average against. Robino had seven saves out of the bullpen for Wagner this past spring, striking out 31 in 28-2/3 innings.
Week 5 Honor Roll – Position Players
Steve Barmakian (Mystic, 3B, George Washington), Randall Bednar (Keene, OF, Maryland), Drew DeMartino (Sanford, 2B, Hartford) Cole Frederick (Upper Valley, 3B, Jacksonville State), Joe Lomuscio (Valley, Outfield, Brown)
Week 5 Honor Roll – Pitchers
Jacob Abbott (North Adams, RHP, Eastern Kentucky), Devin Beckley (Upper Valley, RHP, The Citadel), Gordon Graceffo (North Adams, RHP, Villanova), Zachary Rodgers (Winnipesaukee, RHP, St. Michael’s), Joseph Simeone (Keene, RHP, UConn)
