EAST STROUDSBURG – The honors continued to pile up for East Stroudsburg University redshirt senior
Brent Francisco, as the Burlington Township, N.J. native was named the ABCA/Rawlings Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year, the ABCA announced on Wednesday.
The teams are voted on by members of the American Baseball Coaches Association and the process is led by the ABCA NCAA Div. II All-America & Coach of the Year Committee.
Accompanying Francisco on the ABCA All-Region First Team was sophomore outfielder
Shanley Wall, while junior relief pitcher
Caden Parker was tabbed to the Second Team.
Francisco becomes the second pitcher in program history to be honored as ABCA Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Year and first in 13 years as Jeremy Gigliotti previously earned the honors in 2011.
Francisco, who was previously tabbed as an NCBWA First Team All-American as well as the NCBWA Atlantic Region, D2CCA Atlantic Region and PSAC East Pitcher of the Year, garners ABCA All-Region First Team honors for the second time in his career after wrapping up his final season with a stellar 12-1 record, 1.91 ERA and .78 WHIP across 89.1 innings. He registered 84 strikeouts, five complete games, three shutouts, fired 26.0 consecutive scoreless innings from March 29 to April 20 and was a two-time PSAC East Pitcher of the Week during the year.
The Burlington Township, N.J. native departs with school records for innings pitched (285.1), strikeouts (316), wins (29) and games started (53) as well as single-season records for punchouts (116 – 2022), innings pitched (89.1 – 2022, 2024), games started (16 – 2022) and wins (12 – 2024).
In his final career start, Francisco led the Warriors to a 3-1 win over Frostburg State in the opening round of the NCAA Atlantic Regional after tossing 7.0 innings, allowing one run on nine hits to go along with a season-high 10 strikeouts.
As of May 26, Francisco lead the NCAA Division II in WHIP while ranking second in victories, third in ERA, third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (8.40), fifth in complete games, fifth in walks allowed per nine innings (1.01), seventh in hits allowed per nine innings (6.04), 21st in games started and 44th in strikeouts.
Starting all 57 games this season, Wall broke out during his sophomore campaign as he received First Team honors from the PSAC East, NCBWA, D2CCCA and now the ABCA. Wall finished with team-highs of .401 batting average, .472 on-base and .553 slugging percentage as the Souderton native totaled 79 hits, which ranks second all-time in a single season, including 16 doubles and four home runs to go with 37 RBI, 50 runs and 11 stolen bases. The sophomore led ESU with 21 multi hit performances which included going 4-for-5 at Pace (3/19), against Shippensburg (4/6) and versus Slippery Rock (5/8) in the opening round of the PSAC Tournament. Selected as the PSAC East Athlete of the Week on March 11, Wall ranks 16th in the NCAA Division II as toughest to strikeout (16.4), 50th in batting average and 52nd in hits.
Parker, who was named to the All-PSAC East and NCBWA All-Atlantic Region First Teams, earned Second Team honors as a relief pitcher after making a team-high 21 appearances out of the bullpen for the Warriors. In his first season wearing the red and black, Parker set the single-season school record for saves with 12, which ranks fifth in NCAA Division II, to go along with a 2.25 ERA and 22 strikeouts across 24.0 innings pitched.
ABCA – Pitchers of the Year
AWARD WINNERS
Player of the Year: Ethan Kiple, Frostburg State
Pitcher of the Year: Brent Francisco, East Stroudsburg
FIRST TEAM
C - Tyler Shinn, Salem
1B - Mike Huber, West Virginia State
2B - Zack Saryeldin, Concord
3B - Jack Oberdorf, Seton Hill
SS - Kyle Waters, West Virginia State
IF - Ethan Kiple, Frostburg State
OF - Shanley Wall, East Stroudsburg
OF - Fabian Escalante, Glenville State
OF - Anthony Boccio, West Chester
OF - James Salvatori, West Liberty
DH - Payton Conte, California (Pa.)
UT - Casey Finck, Charleston
P - Brent Francisco, East Stroudsburg
P - Alex Mykut, Millersville
P - Aidan Layton, Seton Hill
P - Gage Gillott, Slippery Rock
RP - Jake Kramer, California (Pa.)
SECOND TEAM
C - John DeMucci, West Chester
1B - Mackenzie Wainwright, Salem
2B - Mark McNelly, Millersville
3B - Braden Killens, Wheeling
SS - Sean Szestowicki, West Chester
IF - Mikey Guy, Frostburg State
OF - Randy Steen, Frostburg State
OF - Jacob Houtz, Mansfield
OF - Chris Juchno, Mercyhurst
OF - Jeff Sabater, Millersville
DH - JD Armstrong, Charleston
UT - Keegan Soltis, Millersville
P - Corbin Foy, Mercyhurst
P - Jaxon Dalena, Shippensburg
P - Julian Costa, West Chester
P - Chris Morris, West Virginia State
RP - Caden Parker, East Stroudsburg
