Benestad, Stuart, and Haley Headline 12 Total Baseball All-Conference Honorees
BEVERLY, Mass. — The No. 9/11 nationally ranked Endicott baseball team featured 12 total 2026 Conference of New England (CNE) All-Conference postseason honorees, the league office announced on Wednesday afternoon.
The Gulls were headlined by three major award winners. The trio of James Benestad (Portsmouth, R.I.), Brady Stuart (Hudson, Mass.), and head coach Bryan Haley secured the league's Defensive Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, and Coach of the Year honors, respectively.
The remaining Endicott All-CNE award honorees were spread across the three teams accordingly:
ALL-CNE FIRST TEAM
C - James Benestad (Portsmouth, R.I.)
1B - Cade Bernardo (Glenmont, N.Y.)
OF - Brenden Walsh (Reading, Mass.)
DH - Adam Regan (Braintree, Mass.)
SP - Matt Pappalardo (Pelham, N.H.)
SP - Brady Stuart (Hudson, Mass.)
RP - Ben Gill (Sanford, Maine)
ALL-CNE SECOND TEAM
SS - TJ Liponis (Scarborough, Maine)
SP - Evan Scully (Maynard, Mass.)
RP - Jake Harmony (Fairfield, Conn.)
ALL-CNE THIRD TEAM
3B - Kyle Grabowski (Westfield, Mass.)
COMMUNITY SERVICE TEAM MEMBER
James Benestad (Portsmouth, R.I.)
MAJOR AWARD WINNERS
JAMES BENESTAD | JR. | C | Portsmouth, R.I.
Defensive Player of the Year | All-CNE First Team
Benestad secures CNE Defensive Player of the Year and All-CNE First Team honors from behind the dish for the first time in his career, and becomes the third Gull in program history to earn the conference's Defensive Player of the Year award (John Mulready '24 M'25 (2023, 2025); Bradley Baldinger M'21 (2021)).
"Benny," the Gulls' junior catcher, has suited up in 39 games this season. At the plate, he has produced a slashline of .298 AVG / .431 OBP / .386 SLG with two homers, 26 RBI, and 12 stolen bases.
Defensively, he has limited the opposing run game all season. Benestad has posted an overall fielding percentage of .988 thus far, and has gunned down three runners on 18 attempts for a .143 caught-stealing percentage.
His well-scouted arm as well as his unparalleled athleticism, framing, and blocking behind the plate has been a big contributor as to why the Gulls' pitching staff is among the best in the nation.
Benestad has steered his pitching staff to the best WHIP (1.06) and hits allowed per nine innings (6.34) numbers in Division III. Additionally, his leadership behind the dish also has resulted in the fourth-lowest team ERA (2.87) and fourth-best fielding percentage (.977) in DIII.
Benny's all-around game was on display in Endicott's 18-5 victory at Eastern Connecticut State back on April 27. In that contest, he cut down two separate would-be base stealers, picked up a hit, and scored a run in Endicott's big road win.
He also enjoyed a big day at the plate at Wentworth in Endicott's doubleheader sweep on April 18. Over those two games, the Gulls' backstop went 5-for-8 with five RBI, five runs scored, and a stolen base, showcasing all five tools in the sweep.
BRADY STUART | SR. | P | Hudson, Mass.
Pitcher of the Year | All-CNE First Team
Stuart becomes the 10th Gull in program history (fourth consecutive) to don conference Pitcher of the Year honors.
The senior right-hander has posted a career year so far in his 2026 campaign. He currently sports an ERA of 1.40 (first in CNE, fifth in DIII), a WHIP of 0.87 (first in CNE, seventh in DIII), and a record of 7-0 through his 11 starts and 64.1 IP this season.
He has established new career highs in practically every category across the board this season, including innings pitched (64.1), wins (seven), strikeouts (68), WHIP (0.87), and games started (11).
His dominance has been showcased by his program-record three single-season shutouts (MUW, 2/20/26; WNE, 4/4/26; Nichols, 5/7/26).
On February 20, Stuart took the hill for his senior season debut down in LaGrange, Ga. against Mississippi Univsersity for Women (MUW). The right-hander became just the second Gull in Coach Haley's tenure to throw a no-hitter, as he dazzled the Owls over a seven-inning mercy-rule win (7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K).
His competitive edge did not falter under the bright lights, as he kicked off Endicott's 2026 CNE Tournament run with a brilliant complete game shutout performance against Nichols en route to Endicott's 7-0 win. The Gulls ace finished with a line of 9 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 12 K against the Bison, and in that start, his 12 strikeouts established a new single-game career best.
BRYAN HALEY | 19th SEASON | COACH OF THE YEAR
This is the eighth Coach of the Year in head coach Bryan Haley's Endicott career ('10, '13, '14, '22, '23, '24, '25).
Haley steered the Blue and Green to a 35-9 record (17-1 CNE) throughout the 2026 season, and clinched the program's fifth consecutive conference championship.
The path to securing this year's CNE Championship was a different one than past years, as the Gulls had to overcome some early adversity (semifinal loss to WNE) and win their way out of the loser's bracket.
With their backs against the wall, Haley's Gulls defeated Hartford (10-0, semifinals) and then beat WNE in consecutive championship games (7-4, 3-1) to retain the conference championship crown.
His timely decision making and ability to overcome the odds has the Gulls back in their fifth consecutive NCAA Regional. Should they make it out of the Regional round, they would also be advancing to their fifth consecutive Super Regionals. The Gulls are also the only program throughout all NCAA divisions to have appeared in each of the last three College World Series, so they aim to become the only program to advance to each of the last four CWS in this year's playoff run.
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 9/11 Endicott heads to Montclair State for NCAA Regionals, and will take on Husson in its first contest.
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(Photo Credit - Jonah Bean '28 | Jacob Alonge '28 | Kaeli Talora '25)