WEST BABYLON, N.Y. – Coming off of their first East Coast Conference Championship title since 1998, the Knights of Queens College have edged Molloy by one point to top the 2024 ECC Baseball Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league’s seven coaches and announced on Friday afternoon. Additionally, Molloy’s Charlie Cucchiara (East Meadow, N.Y) has earned ECC Preseason Pitcher of the Year recognition for the third straight season while D’Youville’s Billy Morris (Lancaster, N.Y.) was named the conference’s Preseason Player of the Year.
The defending champion Knights, who earned 46 points and four first-place votes, are coming off of a historic season in which they made their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 25 years, earned their first NCAA Tournament victory in program history, and won a program-record 34 games. Queens is predicted to make its fifth consecutive postseason appearance this spring and returns a roster complete with five All-Conference players in First Team second baseman Marc Cisco, First Team outfielder and 2023 ECC Rookie of the Year Jorsixt Jimenez, Second Team designated hitter Matt Filip, Second Team starting pitcher Jordan Sanabria, and Second Team relief pitcher Danny Gargano.
With 45 points and three first-place votes, Molloy comes in the No. 2 spot in the preseason poll. The Lions, who have received votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25 Preseason Poll, have appeared in the ECC Championship final five times in the last six years, winning back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022. Molloy will have a hole to fill with the loss of 2023 ECC Player of the Year Garrett Scavelli but return a trio of First Team performers in Cucchiara, shortstop Aidan Larkin, and outfielder JJ DeVito, as well as Second Team catcher Matt Yip.
Cucchiara earned his third straight Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-Region selection and landed on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-Region Second Team last season after finishing second in the conference with eight wins and a 3.31 ERA. The Molloy graduate student ranked 20th in the country in walks per nine innings (1.55) and 41st in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.40), both of which led the ECC, and fanned 66 batters over 87 innings of work. Cucchiara is a three-time All-Conference First Team pick, the 2022 ECC Pitcher of the Year, and the Most Outstanding Player of the 2021 ECC Championship.
St. Thomas Aquinas is No. 3 in the poll and has qualified for the conference tournament in 14 of the past 15 seasons. The Spartans won the ECC title four times in six years from 2013-18 and most recently made a final in 2021. STAC returns All-Conference First Team catcher Sean Lynch and Second Team infielders Gregory DiGiaro (1B) and C.J. Cumbo (2B).
In their first year of postseason eligibility after finishing their three-year NCAA-mandated transition from Division III to Division II, the D’Youville Saints are expected to be the fourth team to make the ECC Championship this spring. Morris leads the pack alongside the All-Conference Second Team trio of outfielder Ethan Hammond, starting pitcher Chris Auclair, and relief pitcher Samuel Worthen.
An All-Conference First Team selection as a freshman last season, Morris had a standout campaign that resulted in being named an American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings NCAA Division II All-East Region First Team and NCBWA Second Team third baseman. The Lancaster native started all 47 games for the Saints, hitting .371 (66-for-178) with a .432 on-base percentage and .640 slugging percentage. Morris led D’Youville and ranked second in the ECC with 11 home runs and 47 runs batted in while also scoring 38 runs and hitting 13 doubles. He also struck out 41 batters over 60.1 innings pitched en route to six wins on the mound.
Mercy (22 points) lands in the No. 5 spot while Staten Island (14 points) and Lincoln (8 points) round out the poll in No. 6 and No. 7, respectively.
2024 ECC Baseball Preseason Poll
1. Queens
46 points (4 first-place votes)
34-19 (13-9 ECC) in 2023
2. Molloy
45 points (3 first-place votes)
35-17 (19-5 ECC) in 2023
3. St. Thomas Aquinas
33 points
23-27 (16-8 ECC) in 2023
4. D'Youville
28 points
21-26 (10-12 ECC) in 2023
5. Mercy
22 points
16-33 (10-14 ECC) in 2023
6. Staten Island
14 points
17-26 (9-15 ECC) in 2023
7. Lincoln
8 points
12-35-1 (5-19 ECC) in 2023
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Charlie Cucchiara, Gr., Molloy
Preseason Player of the Year
Billy Morris, So., IF, D’Youville
Season Openers
Friday, February 9
Lincoln vs. Morehouse, 11:00 AM (Gresham Park, Ga.)
D'Youville vs. Clarion, 12:30 PM
Friday, February 16
Mercy vs. Goldey Beacom, 10:00 AM (Cary, N.C.)
Molloy vs. Felician, 3:00 PM (Morehead City, N.C.)
Friday, February 23
St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Bentley, 10:30 AM (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
Queens vs. Southern New Hampshire, 4:00 PM (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)
Staten Island vs. Southern Connecticut State, 4:30 PM (Myrtle Beach, S.C.)