WEST BABYLON, N.Y. – On Wednesday (May. 10) afternoon, the East Coast Conference office announced the 2023 Baseball Top Awards along with the First and Second Team All-Conference selections.
For the second straight season, the Queens College baseball team has earned one of the four top honors as
Jorsixt Jimenez (Queens, N.Y.) became the second Knight player to be named ECC Rookie of the Year following in the footsteps of fellow teammate sophomore
Marc Cisco (Long Island City, N.Y.) who became the first Knight to be named ROTY after his tremendous 2022 season.
Head coach
Chris Reardon and his coaching staff have put together one of the most dangerous batting lineups to look out for the second straight season as the Knights earned seven All-Conference Selections, tied with Molloy University and Saint Thomas Aquinas College as the three teams combined for 21 players in the First and Second Teams,
Last season, the Knights placed six on the All-Conference teams, and with their historic 2023 season, that number has ballooned up to seven.
The seven All-Conference selections are the most under Reardon's 10 seasons in Flushing beating the record of six honorees earned in 2022. Since the 2016 season, Queens has seen at least one player named to the ECC All-Conference team, and the numbers have grown each year as the program continues to take the next step.
In the First Team All-Conference, the Knights placed three with Jimenez earning a spot as an Outfielder, Cisco at Second Base, and senior
Anthony Fontana (Wantagh, N.Y.) at First Base.
While in the Second Team, sophomore
Matt Filip (Maspeth, N.Y.) earned a spot as the Designated Hitter, while the pitching trio of Senior
Liam Pulsipher (East Moriches, N.Y), junior Jordan Sanabria (Woodside, N.Y.) and junior
Danny Gargano (Middle Island, N.Y) earned a spot as Pulsipher and Sanabria were named as Starting Pitchers and Gargano as a Relief Pitcher.
Jorsixt Jimenez (Queens, N.Y.) | Freshman | Rookie of the Year | All-Conference First Team - Outfielder
Leading the pack was rookie Jimenez who on the year appeared in all 45 games while earning 41 starts as he leads the team with a batting average of .382 with a team-high 60 hits, 13 doubles, one triple, six home runs, 38 runs scored and a team-high 49 RBI to earn top rookie honors and being named to the First Team All-Conference honors.
The 49 RBI has tied the Freshman Single Season RBI Program record with Cisco.
On the season he earned four ECC Rookie of the Week honors.
Jimenez has recorded 18 multi-hit games, tallying 11 two-hit games, three three-hit games, and four four-hit performances, to go with a team-high 13 multi-RBI games on the year.
The Queens native has shown his power throughout the year including a career-best performance against Southern Connecticut State University when he went perfect at the plate with a line of 4-4 AB, three runs scored, three home runs, and eight RBI in the victory.
While Jimenez tied the program record for most home runs hit in a single game since Eric Roubal hit three blasts on March 15, 2019, against Bloomfield. The rookie would break the program record for most RBI recorded in a single game previously held by Roubal who tallied seven RBI against Bloomfield (Mar. 15, 2019) and junior
Nick Barreiros (Seaford, N.Y.) (1-1 AB, RBI, R, 2BB) who recorded seven RBI on February 27, 2022 against Felician University.
In Conference play, Jimenez played and started all 21 games batting .395, .556 slugging%, 1.041 OPS, with 32 hits, seven doubles, two home runs, 23 runs scored, and 20 RBI, while earning 11 walks.
Anthony Fontana (Wantagh, N.Y.) | Senior | All-Conference First Team – First Base
In his first year in Flushing, Fontana has proved to be one of the big bats in the dangerous Knights lineup batting .376, with 50 hits, 12 doubles, one triple, six home runs, 28 runs, and 40 RBI
(second on the team) to earn ECC First Team All-Conference honors.
The Wantagh native recorded 16 multi-hit games, tallying 10 two-hit games, and six three-hit games while recording 10 multi-RBI games on the year.
Fontana was crucial in helping Queens erase one of their biggest deficit of the year in the remarkable 14-12 victory over Felician on March 30. He would lead the way with three hits, three runs scored and five RBI as Queens rallied back from a 12-2 deficit to win 14-12 at home.
In Conference play, Fontana started and played 17 games as he missed four games due to injury and batted .375, .625 slugging %, OPS of 1.080, with 24 hits, 10 doubles, two home runs, 11 runs scored, and 19 RBI.
Marc Cisco (Long Island City, N.Y.) | Sophomore | All-Conference First Team – Second Base
This season can be defined as a
"slow year" by his standards after the Long Island City native became the first player in program history to be named ECC Player & Rookie of the Year last year.
But for the second straight year, Cisco has earned ECC First Team All-Conference honors.
Despite missing five games due to an injury, Cisco finished the regular season batting .356 with 48 hits, 10 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 24 RBI, a team-high 47 runs scored, and six stolen bases on the year in 40 games played with 39 starts.
Cisco tallied 13 multi-hit games on the year with nine two-hit games, and four three-hit games to go with eight multi-RBI games.
In Conference play, Cisco started 20 games batting .338 with 24 hits, four doubles, two home runs, 22 runs scored, 10 RBI, and earned a team-high 18 walks.
The sophomore fell short of a single to become the second Knight to hit for the Cycle as he went 3-3 at the plate with a double, triple, and a home run while driving in two RBI and four runs scored but would earn two walks as Queens defeated Wilmington on April 12 in a quality regional win at home.
In the senior day sweep over STAC, Cisco helped the Knights put the game away with his fourth home run of the season as Queens tied the Single Season Program Record for Wins as the Knights earned a 5-0 shutout victory for their 29
th win of the season.
Matt Filip (Maspeth, N.Y.) | Sophomore | All-Conference Second Team – Designated Hitter
For the second straight season, Filip has earned Second Team All-Conference honors as he earned a spot as the Designated Hitter in the ECC Second Team.
It was a slow start to the year for Filip as the Maspeth native found himself in the middle of a sophomore slump.
In 43 games, he would earn 41 starts batting .264, with a slugging % of .371 and an OPS of .768 as he tallied 37 hits, 10 doubles, one triple, one home run, 27 RBI, and 28 runs scored and earned 30 walks.
In Conference play, Filip appeared in 21 games with 20 starts as he tallied 24 hits, seven doubles, one triple, one home run, 14 RBI and 17 runs scored, and 12 walks.
On the season, Filip tallied 10 multi-hit games with nine two-hit performances and one three-hit game, and five multi-RBI games with three two-RBI, one four-RBI, and a five-RBI game.
Liam Pulsipher (East Moriches, N.Y) | Senior | All-Conference Second Team – Starting Pitcher
For the second time in his Knights' career, Pulsipher has earned All-Conference honors finding a spot on the Second Team.
On the season, the lefty pitcher made 10 appearances earning nine starts to finish with a record of 4-2 as he pitched 56.0 innings, allowing 56 hits, 23 earned runs, and struck out 42 batters with the opposing batters batting .256 against him.
He would combine for a shutout pitching 7.1 innings allowing three hits while striking out five batters as the Knights defeated Felician University 4-0 on March 16.
On April 28, he would pitch a complete game victory as he put in 7.0 innings of work allowing six hits, and two earned runs as he struck out five D'Youville batters as Queens earned a 5-3 victory in Flushing.
With his complete game victory, he would earn his 11
th career victory to move into fourth place on the All-Time Career wins list in program history.
Jordan Sanabria (Woodside, N.Y.) | Junior | All-Conference Second Team – Starting Pitcher
In a breakout for the Woodside native, Sanabria has earned Second Team All-Conference honors as a Starting Pitcher.
The junior has been one of the main arms Reardon and his coaching staff have looked to deliver and the Woodside native has delivered.
In 12 appearances, Sanabria earned 10 starts pitching a team-high 59.0 innings allowing 53 hits, and 32 earned runs with a team-high 59 strikeouts to lead the Knights with a team-high five wins on the mound with opposing batters batting .237 against him.
On April 15, he would pitch his first career shutout and complete game victory as the Knights defeated Lincoln 5-0 as he limited the home side to just one hit in the rain-affected game.
In his last four starts, the junior has struck out six or more batters with a career-high nine strikeouts coming against D'Youville on April 28.
Danny Gargano (Middle Island, N.Y) | Junior | All-Conference Second Team – Relief Pitcher
In a remarkable breakout season, Gargano has put career numbers in his junior year to earn his first All-Conference honors as he was named to the Second Team as a Relief Pitcher.
As the Knights continue to rewrite history, Gargano has rewritten his own career book on the season.
In 14 appearances, the Middle Island native has pitched a career-high 26.2 innings allowing 24 hits, and seven earned runs with 30 strikeouts with the opposing batters batting .226 against him.
He has earned two wins on the season to go with a career/team/conference-best nine saves on the year.
Nationally, Gargano is ranked sixth in Saves.
The nine saves on the season have set the new Single Season Saves Record breaking the previous record of five recorded in 2011 and 2016.
Over his four-year career, Gargano has recorded 12 saves which also sets a new All-Time Career Record breaking the previous record of 10 set from 2010-2013 by Steve Varela.
UP NEXT: In what has already been the rewriting of the record book, head coach
Chris Reardon and the Knights have their eyes set on the bigger picture as they look to continue their historic season with the East Coast Conference Baseball Championship set to begin Thursday (May. 11) afternoon Uniondale, N.Y. at Mitchel Field.
Queens finished the 2023 season with an overall record of 29-16 and 13-9 in East Coast Conference marking the fourth straight year the Knights have finished a season with a plus .500 record during the regular season and in conference play.
The Knights clinched the #3 seed as they get set to match up against #2 seed Saint Thomas Aquinas College in game two on Day 1 of the Double Elimination Tournament. The first pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
