CAA Baseball Weekly Awards - April 6
Rob Washburn
CAA BASEBALL WEEKLY REPORT - APRIL 6
RICHMOND, Va. (April 6, 2026) – Towson senior catcher Brian Heckelman and Charleston sophomore first baseman Alex LaCoste shared CAA baseball Player of the Week honors, while Northeastern senior Ryan Griffin was chosen as the CAA Pitcher of the Week. Stony Brook freshman outfielder Nicholas Dromboski was selected as the CAA Rookie of the Week.
CAA Baseball Co-Player of the Week
Brian Heckelman, Towson – Sr., C – Mineola, N.Y.
Heckelman batted .500 (5-10) with a homer in all three games, five runs scored and five RBI’s in Towson’s series win over Hofstra. The senior catcher was 3-for-5 with a double and a two-run shot in Thursday’s 9-6 win and belted a game-tying solo shot in the 8
th on Friday. He smacked a 2-run homer in the first on Saturday as the Tigers won 8-6 to take the series.
CAA Baseball Co-Player of the Week
Alex LaCoste, Charleston – So., 1B – Simpsonville, S.C.
LaCoste batted .563 (9-16) with three extra-base hits and four RBI’s in Charleston’s 2-2 week. In a 15-5 win over Winthrop, the first baseman was 5-for-6 with two homers and four RBI’s, posting CofC’s first 5-hit game since 2024. He had a pair of two-hit games vs. High Point, including a 2-for-4 effort in a 6-5 victory on Saturday, highlighted by a single in the 9
th that led to the game-winning run.
CAA Baseball Pitcher of the Week
Ryan Griffin, Northeastern – Sr., RHP – Andover, Mass.
Griffin moved to 4-0 after allowing just two hits and one run over 6.0 innings and striking out nine in Northeastern’s series-clinching 13-1 win over Monmouth on Saturday. The right-hander gave up a first-inning solo homer but limited MU to just a single the rest of the way. The nine strikeouts were a career-high and he walked only two.
CAA Baseball Rookie of the Week
Nicholas Dromboski, Stony Brook – Fr., OF – Columbus, N.J.
Dromboski batted .600 (6-10) with two doubles, a triple, a homer, eight runs scored and five RBI’s in Stony Brook’s 3-1 week that included a series win over UNCW. The freshman was 2-for-3, scored four times and hit a solo homer in a win over New Haven. He was 3-for-4 with a double and a triple in a 7-6 victory over UNCW on Thursday and drove in two in Friday’s 4-2 win. Dombroski also stole four bases.
CAA Baseball Players of the Week
Feb. 16 – Vince Fattore, Elon
Feb. 23 – Jamie Laskofski, William & Mary
March 2 – Jake Amman, Charleston
March 9 – Mason Hughes, UNCW and Chris Walsh, Monmouth
March 16 – Mason Hughes, UNCW
March 23 – Nick Lovarco, Monmouth
March 30 – Michael Brown, Hofstra and Trent Rumley, Campbell
April 6 – Brian Heckelman, Towson and Alex LaCoste, Charleston
CAA Baseball Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 16 – Lleyton Grubich, Campbell
Feb. 23 – Cooper Allen, UNCW
March 2 – Aidan Stieglitz, Elon
March 9 – Ryan Griffin, Northeastern
March 16 – Bromley Thornton, UNCW and Owen Winebarger, Elon
March 23 – Connor Marshburn, UNCW
March 30 – Cooper Allen, UNCW
April 6 – Ryan Griffin, Northeastern
CAA Baseball Rookies of the Week
Feb. 16 – Sam Saucke, Monmouth
Feb. 23 – Matthew Kosuda, William & Mary
March 2 – Matthew Kosuda, William & Mary
March 9 – Carter Harrington, Charleston
March 16 – Carlos Lugo, Campbell
March 23 – Jett Humphreys, William & Mary
March 30 – Carlos Lugo, Campbell
April 6 – Nicholas Dromboski, Stony Brook
CONFERENCE NOTES
HUMPS KEEP ROLLING
Campbell saw its nine-game winning streak end in a 5-4 setback in 14 innings at #6 North Carolina last Tuesday, but bounced back with a three-game sweep at William & Mary. The Camels are 17-3 with a pair of nationally ranked victories since March 6 and have vaulted to #51 in the most recent NCAA RPI.
TOP TWO TEAMS IN THE SOUTH FACE OFF
The top two teams in the South - Campbell (14-1) and UNCW (8-4) - face off in a three-game series in Buies Creek starting on Friday. The Camels are 6-0 at home in CAA play while the Seahawks are 3-3 on the road.
RACE TIGHTENS IN THE NORTH
Northeastern took 2-of-3 from Monmouth last weekend to pull within a game of the Hawks in the North Division. It was first CAA series loss of the season for Monmouth, while the Huskies have now won 14 of their last 15 conference series dating back to 2024.
PAIR OF COUGARS HONORED
Charleston graduate Dylan Johnson was one of 50 players named to the midseason watch list for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year award. Cougars’ pitcher Carter Harrington was chosen to the Perfect Game Midseason Freshman All-America team.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
The CAA has four of the top 18 teams in the nation in stolen bases - Northeastern is 3rd (111), William & Mary is 6th (93), Campbell is 12th (85) and Stony Brook is 18th (81). UNCW ranks 27th in Division I in ERA (4.00), 20th in hits allowed per 9 IP (7.44), 15th in WHIP (1.23) and 20th in K/BB ratio (2.79).
CAMPBELL CAMELS (21-10; 14-1 CAA)
• The Camels rebounded from a 5-4, 14-inning loss at #6 North Carolina to sweep CAA foe William & Mary.
• Trent Rumley stayed hot, batting .375 wih six RBI’s last week. He was 3-for-6 with an RBI at UNCW and belted a homer and drove in four on Saturday vs. W&M. He’s on a 7-game hit streak.
• David Rossow earned his CAA-best 6th win on Friday, holding W&M to two runs on five hits over a career-high 7.0 innings. He struck out seven.
• Carlos Lugo had a pair of multiple hit games last week before having his hittng streak snapped at 15 games.
• Joey Morton, Jonah Oster and Jett Music each have a CAA-best 7 HR’s.
CHARLESTON COUGARS (12-19; 5-7 CAA)
• The Cougars went 2-2 last week, beating Winthrop (15-5) and taking the finale of a series with High Point, 6-5, on Saturday.
• Alex LaCoste went 5-for-6 with 2 HR’s and 4 RBI’s vs. Winthrop, posting the first 5-hit game by a CofC player since 2024. He’s had a hit in 16 of his past 17 games and is batting .320.
• Dylan Johnson is batting .458 over his last seven contests, which includes three games with three hits. He belted his 3rd homer in Saturday’s HPU win.
• Jake Stancil limited HPU to two runs on six hits over 7.0 innings on Thursday and struck out seven.
• The Cougars visit SEC foe and in-state rival South Carolina on Tuesday night.
ELON PHOENIX (13-18; 5-10 CAA)
• The Phoenix had a 3-1 week that included a walk-off win over Queens and a CAA series victory at N.C. A&T.
• Brian Strange gave up just one run over 7.0 innings and fanned six to get the win vs. A&T on Friday and Owen Winebarger held the Aggies to two earned runs over 7.0 frames on Saturday to move to 3-1.
• Gar Hindle was 2-for-5 and drove in two vs. Queens, higlighted by the walk-off RBI single in the 10th. He was also 4-for-5 with four RBI’s in Game 2 vs. A&T.
• Brian DuRoff was 6-for-14 (.429) in the A&T series with three runs scored and four RBI’s.
HOFSTRA PRIDE (10-16; 5-7 CAA)
• The Pride earned a 3-2 win at Big Ten member Rutgers last Tuesday before going 1-2 at Towson in their CAA series.
• Gabriel Melara batted .533 (8-15) with three homers, five runs and five RBI’s last week. He was 4-for-5 and went deep twice in Friday’s 9-6 win at Towson.
• Joseph Curreri (4.1 IP, 1 R), Nick Reese (3.0 IP, 1 R) and Maddon McArthur (1.2 IP, 0 R) combined to limit Rutgers to seven hits while striking out 11.
• Michael Brown extended his hitting streak to 8 games last week and is batting a team-best .352.
• Tyler Castrataro recorded five hits in the Towson series with three runs scored and three RBI’s.
MONMOUTH HAWKS (15-13; 11-4 CAA)
• The Hawks went 1-3 last week, but picked up an 8-6 win at Northeastern on Friday to maintain a 1-game lead in the North Division.
• Wyatt Hunt was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI’s in Friday’s win and batted .500 (8-16) for the week.
• Chris Walsh belted his team-leading 5th homer at NU on Saturday and has reached base in 22 straight games. Simmi Whitehill has a 28-game on-base streak.
• Austin Beard allowed just one run over the final 4.0 innings to earn the save vs. NU on Friday.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T AGGIES (9-21; 3-9 CAA)
• The Aggies split four games last week, rolling past Gardner-Webb (16-6) before taking the finale vs. Elon (6-5).
• Bruce Wyche stayed hot, batting .571 (8-14) for the week with four runs scored. He’s hitting a team-best .337 for the season.
• JT Taylor drove in at least one run in all four games and had seven RBI’s for the week. He homered in the opener vs. Elon on Friday.
• Tyler Smith contributed seven hits and scored six runs last week.
• Aiden Hansen held Elon to one run on three hits over 5.0 innings to get the win in the series finale.
UNCW SEAHAWKS (19-12; 8-4 CAA)
• The Seahawks closed a 1-3 week with an 8-6 victory at Stony Brook on Saturday.
• Freshman Trey Williford gave up just one run in 7.0 innings out of the bullpen last week. He got the win at SBU after retiring the final 12 batters of the game and striking out four, improving to 3-1.
• Mason Hughes, who leads the CAA with a .405 batting average, had a hit in all four games, including a 3-for-5 outing with two runs in the win at SBU.
• Trevor Lucas batted .429 (6-14) last week and drove in five, with two RBI’s at ECU and three in the SBU victory. He’s 2nd in the CAA with 31 RBI’s.
NORTHEASTERN HUSKIES (16-14; 10-5 CAA)
• The Huskies closed to within a game of first place in the North after winning 2-of-3 against Monmouth.
• Freshman Charlie Criscola had a hit and scored a run in all four games last week and contibuted five RBI’s.
• Robbie O’Connor limited MU to one run on four hits over 6.0 innings and struck out eight to open the series before Ryan Griffin closed it by giving up one run on two hits over 6.0 frames with 9 K’s.
• Matt Brinker extended his hitting streak to eight games last week, batting .467 (7-15) with a homer and four RBI’s. He raised his season average to .318.
STONY BROOK SEAWOLVES (9-19; 6-9 CAA)
• The Seawolves had a 3-1 week, which included their first CAA series win of the season against UNCW.
• Nicholas Dromboski batted .600 (6-10) for the week with two doubles, a triple, eight runs and five RBI’s. He was 3-for-4 in the opener vs. UNCW and drove in two in Friday’s victory. He’s batting a team-best .338.
• John Rizzo earned a win and a save after not allowing an earned run over 3.2 innings. He threw the final three frames to secure a 7-6 win over UNCW.
• Hunter Colagrande (6.0 IP, 2 R, 9 K’s) and Aidan Colagrande (3.0 IP, 0 R) combined on a 4-2 win over UNCW.
TOWSON TIGERS (13-15; 4-11 CAA)
• The Tigers captured their second straight CAA series, taking 2-of-3 from Hofstra to cap a 3-1 week.
• Brian Heckelman batted .500 (5-10) and homered in all three games of the HU series. He drove in five and scored five and finished with a .643 OBP%.
• Frank Adamski, Jr. was 6-for-11 (.545) in the Hofstra series and finished the week with seven RBI’s.
• Dutch DeProspero (2-3) earned the win in the opener vs. Hofstra, allowing a pair of runs over 5.0 innings.
• Towson begins a 10-game stretch on the road this week.
WILLIAM & MARY TRIBE (12-18; 4-8 CAA)
• The Tribe suffered four losses last week, including three to CAA foe Campbell.
• Jamie Laskofski went 3-for-4 and homered twice vs. Campbell on Friday. He’s batting a team-best .354 and tops the CAA in hits (40), runs (34) and slugging (.611).
• Charlie Iriotakis had a pair of two-hit games against Campbell, including a homer, and scored four runs.
• Zach Boyd threw 3.0 shutout innings in the opener vs. Campbell and Connor Jernigan allowed one run over the final 4.0 frames. Boyd has thrown 7.0 scoreless innings over his last two starts.