Feb. 3, 2010
EDISON, N.J. - Red-shirt junior catcher Bryce Nugent (Binghamton, N.Y.) of the Marist baseball team was named to the Preseason All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Baseball Team, the conference announced Wednesday. As a team, the Red Foxes were selected to finish in second place in MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Last season, Nugent earned Second Team All-MAAC honors and was named to the MAAC All-Tournament Team. He hit .318, tied for the team lead in home runs with eight and had 42 RBIs. He drew a team-high 31 walks and led the Red Foxes with a .425 on-base percentage while slugging .503. Nugent earned MAAC Player of the Week honors on Feb. 23 of last year, and was one of just five sophomores in the country named to the Watch List for the Johnny Bench Award.
In the coaches' poll, defending conference regular-season champion Manhattan was picked first with 79 points. Marist, which won the conference tournament last year, followed with 79 points. Canisius was picked third with 65 points, followed by Rider (43), Siena (42), Fairfield (40), Niagara (29), Saint Peter's (20) and Iona (16).
Marist will open its 2010 season on Friday, Feb. 19, when the Red Foxes begin a three-game series at James Madison. The Red Foxes are scheduled to play 54 games this season, with 18 of them coming at McCann Baseball Field. The top four teams in the MAAC regular-season standings will qualify for the conference championships, which will be held from May 27-30 at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, N.Y.
2010 MAAC Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll
1-Manhattan, 79
2-Marist, 71
3-Canisius, 65
4-Rider, 43
5-Siena, 42
6-Fairfield, 40
7-Niagara, 29
8-Saint Peter's, 20
9-Iona, 16
2010 MAAC Baseball Preseason Team
C-Bryce Nugent, Marist
1B-Austin Sheffield, Manhattan
2B-Dan Paolini, Siena
SS-Conor Mullee, Saint Peter's
3B-Anthony Giansanti, Siena
OF-Ian Choy, Canisius
OF-Mike McCann, Manhattan
OF-Kevin Nieto, Manhattan
DH-Anthony Armenio, Manhattan
UTIL-Shayne Willson, Canisius
P-Rob Gariano, Fairfield
2010 MAAC Preseason Player of the Year: Kevin Nieto, Manhattan
