PRINCETON, N.J. -- Ivy League champion Harvard and Penn were represented among the Ivy League baseball postseason award winners following a vote of the League’s eight head coaches.
Harvard junior outfielder
Jake Suddleson was selected as the Player of the Year, Penn junior starting pitcher
Christian Scafidi was named the Pitcher of the Year and Penn freshman shortstop
Josh Hood claimed Rookie of the Year honors.
Suddleson hit .381 on the season with a League-high 53 RBI. He slugged .675, amassing 33 extra-base hits via 10 doubles, two triples and 11 home runs. The Pacific Palisades, Calif., native also tallied 108 total bases and 28 runs scored. Suddleson fared even better in conference play, hitting .416, slugging .775 and accumulating eight home runs, 18 runs scored and 36 RBI.
Suddleson is the fifth Crimson student-athlete to be recognized as the Player of the Year, joining
David Morgan (1993),
Mike Giardi (1994),
Brian Ralph (1997) and
Andrew Huling (1999).
Scafidi compiled a 6-1 record in 10 appearances this season, throwing 68.2 innings. He carried a 2.62 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and .234 opposing batting average, while striking out 59 during his junior campaign. The Blackwood, N.J., product posted a 2.16 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in League play with a 4-1 record and 45 strikeouts. He is 1-of-4 Ivies to boast a sub-2.25 ERA in League action.
Scafidi is the fifth Quaker student-athlete to be named the Pitcher of the Year, following
Doug Smidt (1988),
Craig Connolly (1989, 1990),
Ed Haughey (1995) and
Paul Cusick (2011).
Hood hit .331 during his freshman campaign with 43 runs scored, 42 RBI and 105 total bases. The Richland, N.J., native had 25 extra-base hits via 13 doubles, four triples and eight home runs. In League play, Hood hit .347 with 23 runs scored, 28 RBI and 64 total bases.
Hood gives Penn three of the last four Rookie of the Year honorees, joining current teammates
Matt O’Neill (2016) and
Eduardo Malinowski (2018). Prior to that stretch, just one Quaker—
Todd Roth (2007)—had been dubbed Rookie of the Year.
Seventh-year Harvard head coach
Bill Decker reaped Coach of the Year honors for the first time since the award was instituted in 2015. Decker led the Crimson to a 27-13 record, including a 14-7 mark in League play. The Crimson won their first Ivy League title since 2005—and with a two-game sweep of Columbia in the Ivy League Playoff Series, are bound for their first NCAA Baseball Regional since 2005.
Joining Suddleson and Scafidi as unanimous First Team All-Ivy selections were Cornell junior relief pitcher
John Natoli (Fairfield, Conn.), Penn senior catcher
Matt O’Neill (Morristown, N.J.), Dartmouth senior third baseman
Steffen Torgersen (Shoreline, Wash.), Brown sophomore outfielder
Joe Lomuscio (West Roxbury, Mass.) and Harvard junior designated hitter
Hunter Bigge (Los Gatos, Calif.).
Penn paced the League with four First-Team All-Ivy selections—Scafidi, O’Neill, Hood and junior outfielder
Peter Matt (Larchmont, N.Y.). Ivy League champion Harvard followed with three First Team All-Ivy honorees—Suddleson, Bigge and senior first baseman
Patrick McColl (Los Altos, Calif.).
Brown, Dartmouth and Yale each claimed a pair of First Team All-Ivy nods. Lomuscio and senior utility man
Mark Sluys (Gig Harbor, Wash.) represented the Bears; Torgersen and senior second baseman
Sean Sullivan (Hopedale, Mass.) were the Big Green honorees; and starting pitchers senior
Kumar Nambiar (Larchmont, N.Y.) and junior
Alex Stiegler (Dallas, Texas) were the Bulldog representatives.
Columbia—senior shortstop
Joe Engel (Downers Grove, Ill.)—and Cornell—Natoli—each had one First Team All-Ivy honoree. Princeton claimed a Second Team All-Ivy award winner in junior starting pitcher
Andrew Gnazzo (Farmington, Conn.).
Penn tallied a League-high seven All-Ivy selections among the two teams, outpacing Ivy League champion Harvard (5) and Columbia (5).
Harvard's Bigge earned All-Ivy recognition as both a designated hitter (First Team) and starting pitcher (Second Team).
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jake Suddleson, Harvard (Jr., OF – Pacific Palisades, Calif.)
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Christian Scafidi, Penn (Jr., SP – Blackwood, N.J.)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
* Josh Hood, Penn (Fr., SS – Richland, N.J.)
COACH OF THE YEAR
Bill Decker, Harvard
FIRST TEAM ALL-IVY ^
* Christian Scafidi, Penn (Jr., SP – Blackwood, N.J.)
Kumar Nambiar, Yale (Sr., SP – Larchmont, N.Y.)
Alex Stiegler, Yale (Jr., SP – Dallas, Texas)
* John Natoli, Cornell (Jr., RP – Fairfield, Conn.)
* Matt O’Neill, Penn (Sr., C – Morristown, N.J.)
Patrick McColl, Harvard (Sr., 1B – Los Altos, Calif.)
Sean Sullivan, Dartmouth (Sr., 2B – Hopedale, Mass.)
Joe Engel, Columbia (Sr., SS – Downers Grove, Ill.)
Josh Hood, Penn (Fr., SS – Richland, N.J.)
* Steffen Torgersen, Dartmouth (Sr., 3B – Shoreline, Wash.)
* Joe Lomuscio, Brown (So., OF – West Roxbury, Mass.)
* Jake Suddleson, Harvard (Jr., OF – Pacific Palisades, Calif.)
Peter Matt, Penn (Jr., OF – Larchmont, N.Y.)
Mark Sluys, Brown (Sr., UT – Gig Harbor, Wash.)
* Hunter Bigge, Harvard (Jr., DH – Los Gatos, Calif.)
SECOND TEAM ALL-IVY
Josh Simpson, Columbia (Sr., SP – Stafford, Conn.)
Hunter Bigge, Harvard (Jr., SP – Los Gatos, Calif.)
Andrew Gnazzo, Princeton (Jr., SP – Farmington, Conn.)
Dustin Baird, Brown (Jr., RP – Indianapolis, Ind.)
Liam McGill, Columbia (Jr., C – Wakefield, R.I.)
Chandler Bengtson, Columbia (Sr., 1B – Fresno, Calif.)
Chris Adams, Penn (Jr., 2B – Boalsburg, Pa.)
Simon Whiteman, Yale (Sr., SS – Trumbull, Conn.)
Mason LaPlante, Yale (Fr., 3B – Allen, Texas)
Julian Bury, Columbia (So., OF – Mechanicsburg, Pa.)
Matt Feinstein, Dartmouth (Sr., OF – Old Brookville, N.Y.)
Ben Skinner, Harvard (Sr., OF – Moraga, Calif.)
Craig Larsen, Penn (Fr., UT – Toms River, N.J.)
Sean Phelan, Penn (Sr., DH – Devon, Pa.)
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-IVY
Ben Wereski, Columbia (Jr., SP – Orchard Park, N.Y.)
Max Hunter, Dartmouth (So., RP – St. Louis, Mo.)
Will Simoneit, Cornell (Sr., C – Glen Ellyn, Ill.)
Griffin Dey, Yale (Sr., 1B – Pound Ridge, N.Y.)
Jack Chernow, Columbia (So., 2B – Chester, N.J.)
Chad Minato, Harvard (Jr., SS – Huntington Beach, Calif.)
Josh Nicoloff, Columbia (So., 3B – Ladera Ranch, Calif.)
Ben Porter, Columbia (Sr., OF – Newton, Mass.)
Eduardo Malinowski, Penn (So., OF – Spring, Texas)
David Harding, Princeton (Jr., UT – Severna Park, Md.)
Jake Gehri, Yale (Fr., DH – Buckley, Wash.)
* Unanimous Selection
^ First Team Expanded Due To Tie In Voting