D3Baseball.com Player of the Year Gold Headlines Four All-New England Winners
BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott senior centerfielder Tad Gold (Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.) was named D3Baseball.com New England Player of the Year and headlined a talented group of four All-New England First Team student-athletes that include senior catcher EJ Martinez (Brooklyn, N.Y.), junior second baseman Harry Oringer (Dartmouth, Mass.), and sophomore pitcher JJ Branch (Milford, Mass.).
2014 D3Baseball.com All-Region Teams
BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott senior centerfielder Tad Gold (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.) was named D3Baseball.com New England Player of the Year and headlined a talented group of four All-New England First Team student-athletes that include senior catcher EJ Martinez (Brooklyn, N.Y.), junior second baseman Harry Oringer (Dartmouth, Mass.), and sophomore pitcher JJ Branch (Milford, Mass.).
Gold collects his second New England Player of the Year award after receiving the same honor from the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) last week. Gold and fellow senior Martinez were also named to the NEIBA All-New England First Team while Oringer and Branch were placed on the Second Team. This is the first appearance on the D3Baseball.com All-Region Team for all four players.
Gold, the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Player of the Year and All-CCC First Team Outfielder, had a career year in his fourth and final season in the Blue and Green. His .429 batting average exceeded his previous career-high by 76 points while he also set new personal bests in hits (79), runs (60), runs batted in (45), extra-base hits (27), doubles (18), triples (9), and stolen bases (28). The Endicott captain played well in the NCAA Division III New England Regional Tournament batting .400 with 10 hits in 25 at bats, four RBI, four runs, and four stolen bases en route to being named to the All-Tournament Team.
Martinez was named to the D3Baseball.com All-New England First Team following a senior season in which the catcher/designated hitter batted .410 with 57 hits, 17 of which were for extra-bases including three homeruns, 27 runs, 44 RBI, 17 walks, and 12 stolen bases. Hampered by injury late in the season, Martinez did not slow down in the 10 combined games in the CCC Tournament and NCAA New England Regional as he hit .417 with a .512 on-base percentage and .583 slugging percentage. Six of his 15 hits during that span were doubles while he knocked in seven runs and scored six himself.
Oringer, who played in all 50 games this season for the Gulls, batted .383 with 21 extra-base hits via 16 doubles, three triples, and two homeruns. Both of his homeruns this season were three-run shots against nationally-ranked Southern Maine, one on March 28th in a 16-7 regular season, home victory for Endicott over the Huskies, and on March 17th facing elimination in the NCAA regional tournament to help deliver a 7-6 win for the Gulls. On the spring, Oringer totaled 70 hits, 47 runs, and 36 RBI, all of which were career-highs to go along with 11 stolen bases.
Branch, the CCC Pitcher of the Year and representative on both the NEIBA and D3Baseball.com All-New England Team, spun an 8-2 record in 81 1/3 innings pitched in his sophomore season as he made 13 starts with five complete games and two shutouts. Branch had a sub-three ERA (2.88) as he allowed just 26 earned runs of the 33 that crossed the plate while on the mound and struck out a total of 45 batters. Defensively, he was especially effective with six pickoffs which set a single-season Endicott record.
Gold, Martinez, Oringer, and Branch are now all eligible candidates for D3Baseball.com's All-American Team which will be announced in the near future.