By: John Jay Sports Information
Flushing, NY - The City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) announced the 2019 baseball all-conference team. Senior
Zach Hyde was selected as the Player of the Year while senior
Steven Catuogno and junior
Sean Napier garnered all-star honors. In addition, sophomore
Anthony Liriano was named to the Sportsmanship team.
Hyde's senior campaign was slated for 2018 but he tore his ACL in the fall of 2017, which required season-ending surgery. He rehabbed all of last year to take the field one last time with his teammates. The shortstop had a breakout season starting all 39 games and finishing with a .331 average. He notched 43 hits, 33 runs, seven doubles, four triples, four home runs, 23 RBI's, and 20 walks. On the base paths, he was 33-for-38 for an 86.8% clip. In addition, he picked up a team-high three victories on the mound.
In conference play, the Myrtle Beach, SC native hit .409 with 18 hits, four homers, eight RBI's, and was 11-for-12 in stolen bases. His best game of the season came in the CUNYAC opener vs. CCNY when he slugged three home runs in his first three at bats to finish 4-for-5 with five RBI's. He finished with at least one hit and one stolen base in 19 games for the year.
Hyde led the conference in stolen bases, was tied for first in walks, second in runs and total bases, tied for second in triples, tied for fourth in home runs, tied for fifth in slugging percentage, sixth in hits, eighth in doubles, and ninth in runs batted in.
The senior caps his historic Bloodhound career with 180 hits, making him tied for third all-time in program history. He is also the first John Jay baseball player to be named Player of the Year since 2006 when James DeCesare was selected.
After hitting .400 in his junior season, Catuogno once again led the squad with a whopping .389 average to go along with 31 runs, 20 RBI's, and 25 stolen bases. The second baseman led the team and was tied for first in the conference with 51 hits.
Catuogno started the season with a six-game hitting streak and had hits in eight of his first nine games. In a doubleheader sweep over CCNY, the Brooklyn native went 5-for-9 with two RBI's, a pair of runs scored, and a stolen base.
In a come-from-behind victory at Western Connecticut State, he started a ninth-inning rally to finish a perfect 4-for-4 with two doubles, three runs, two RBI's, and a pair of stolen bases. Catuogno registered at least two hits in 17 games.
Napier hit in the middle of the lineup for John Jay as well as started on the hill during conference play. The third-year player recorded a .351 average (40-for-114) while driving in a team-high 25 RBI's. He also picked up eight doubles, one triple, 14 runs, 16 walks, and nine stolen bases.
On the mound, he notched two wins including a conference victory over City College. In his final start of the season, the right-hander tossed a complete game, firing seven innings and allowing six hits, one run, two walks and struck out three.
Offensively, Napier's best game of the season came in a win over Manhattanville when he went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a pair of runs scored. He finished his junior season with hits in 10 of the final 11 games, including nine straight.
For the full CUNYAC release, please click
here.
