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| Kawiecki (WNEU athletics) |
Former St. Paul pitching standout Jake Kawiecki had a strong outing in his final start on a collegiate mound in the NCAA Tournament New England Regional.
Kawiecki threw six innings for Western New England University in its season-ending 6-4 loss to Keystone College (Penn.) on May 19. He struck out six, walked two and allowed just one earned run on two hits. Kawiecki threw 112 pitches in his final start for the Golden Bears. When he exited the game after six innings, WNEU led 4-2.
Kawiecki made 12 appearances in his senior season, including 11 starts. He was a perfect 6-0 with a 4.05 ERA over 60 innings pitched. Kawiecki struck out 49, walked 31 and allowed 34 runs (27 earned) on 59 hits. He was third on the staff in wins.
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| Rinaldi (Bridgeport athletics) |
Tom Rinaldi, University of Bridgeport baseball
The graduate student and former Holy Cross player had an impressive final collegiate season.
Rinaldi set a Bridgeport single-season record for RBI with 47 on his way to First Team All-East Coast Conference honors. He was also Honorable Mention All-Region as voted by the New England Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Rinaldi earned both distinctions as a designated hitter.
He played in all 45 games and hit .293 with 49 hits, including 12 doubles, one triple and four home runs. His 12 doubles tied him for second on the team. Rinaldi also had a slugging percentage of .449.
Olivia Banulski, Molloy College softball
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| Banulski (Molloy athletics) |
The former Bristol Central leadoff batter played in and started all 55 games in her senior season with the Lions.
Banulski was named Second Team All-East Coast Conference for the third straight year. She was a key player when it came to moving runners on the basepaths, as her 14 sacrifice hits led the team. Banulski hit .303 with 54 hits, including six doubles and one triple. She scored 27 runs and drove in another nine. Banulski finished second on the team in hits and runs scored for the season.
Third-seeded Molloy made it to the ECC’s championship round, where it forced a second and final game against top-seeded LIU-Post. After a 3-1 win in the first game, the Lions lost 4-1 in the second game and finished as the runner-up in the tournament. Banulski went 1-for-4 with a single in her final college game.
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| Ducham (Post athletics) |
Jillian Ducham, Post University track and field
The former Kennedy athlete helped the Eagles to their highest Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference championship finish in women’s program history.
Ducham finished fourth in the 3000-meter steeplechase in a time of 13:11.67. The freshman was also part of a school record in the 4×400-meter relay. Ducham ran the last leg of the race and combined with teammates Paula Llistosella, Sarah Lallemand and Kendall Fitzgerald for a time of 4:19.26. Not only was it a school record, but it shaved nearly 10 seconds off the relay’s seed time going into the event. Post finished fifth in that event.
The CACC meet was held on the campus of Georgian Court University in Lakewood, N.J.
Cody Hildebrand, Felician University lacrosse
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| Hildebrand (Felician athletics) |
The freshman from Bristol Central was a part of something new with the Golden Falcons.
This season was for the first for the Felician men’s lacrosse program, and Hildebrand was one of 19 true freshmen on the roster. He played in all 12 games as a freshman and made 10 starts on defense for the Falcons.
Hildebrand took just one shot, no surprise given his position, but he made that one shot count by scoring his only goal of the season. That goal came in a 12-8 loss at Wilmington (Delaware) on April 14.
On April 17, Felician picked up its first win and only win (1-11) by beating Post University 9-7. Hildebrand had three groundballs for the Falcons in that game. He led the team in that category with 38.
In the season finale against Dominican (N.Y.) on April 21, Hildebrand went 7-for-8 on faceoffs and had six groundballs in the 19-6 loss. A solid game like that will only help Hildebrand grow his confidence as Felician looks to build its program.
Hildebrand is majoring in Computer Science.
Statistics and information compiled from the team website of each athlete.
