Quinnipiac Baseball Tops Preseason Poll; Manhattan’s Nick Cimillo Named Preseason Player of the Year
EDISON, N.J. (Mar. 2, 2021) - Quinnipiac University was picked the preseason favorite and Manhattan College's Nick Cimillo was named the Preseason Player of the Year, as voted on by the league's 11 head coaches.
Quinnipiac (30-29, 17-7 MAAC) won its first-ever MAAC Championship in 2019 after defeating No. 3 Fairfield University twice and No. 5 Manhattan en route to the title. The Bobcats return a pair of 2019 All-MAAC First Team selections in Andre Marrero and Ian Ostberg, along with Second Team honoree Colton Bender. The trio also makes this year's Preseason All-MAAC Team.
Marist College was voted into second place (94 points), Fairfield University in third (91) and Manhattan College in fourth (89). Canisius College (87) rounded out the top five.
Manhattan's Nick Cimillo once again headlines as the Preseason Player of the Year after receiving the honor back in 2020. Cimillo was unanimously selected as the 2019 MAAC Rookie of the Year after posting a .350 (78-of-223) average, 78 hits, 12 doubles, seven home runs, 36 RBI, 36 runs and 20 walks in his freshman campaign.
The 2021 MAAC Baseball Championship is set for May 27-30 at a location to be determined at a later date. To stay up-to-date with MAAC Baseball, follow @MAACSports on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and join the conversation using #MAACBaseball.
See below for the full poll and list of preseason honors:
| Preseason Coaches' Poll |
| 1 |
Quinnipiac (5) |
103 |
| 2 |
Marist (2) |
94 |
| 3 |
Fairfield |
91 |
| 4 |
Manhattan (3) |
89 |
| 5 |
Canisius |
87 |
| 6 |
Monmouth |
75 |
| 7 |
Rider (1) |
56 |
| 8 |
Niagara |
47 |
| 9 |
Siena |
44 |
| 10 |
Iona |
29 |
| 11 |
Saint Peter's |
11 |
| Preseason Player of the Year |
| Nick Cimillo - Manhattan |
| Preseason All-MAAC Team |
| Player |
Position |
Year |
Institution |
| Colton Bender |
Catcher |
Sr. |
Quinnipiac |
| Nick Cimillo |
Catcher |
Jr. |
Manhattan |
| Peter Battaglia |
First Base |
Gr. |
Niagara |
| Justin Guerrera |
Second Base |
Jr. |
Fairfield |
| Jonathan Barditch |
Shortstop |
Jr. |
Manhattan |
| Robbie Armitage |
Third Base |
Sr. |
Marist |
| Jake Burlingame |
Outfield |
Gr. |
Canisius |
| Dan Ryan |
Outfield |
Gr. |
Fairfield |
| Andre Marrero |
Outfield |
Gr. |
Quinnipiac |
| Scott Shaw |
Outfield |
So. |
Rider |
| Tyler Kapuscinski |
Designated Hitter |
Gr. |
Marist |
| Ian Ostberg |
Utility |
Sr. |
Quinnipiac |
| Ryan Cardona, MAR |
Pitcher |
Jr. |
Marist |
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) celebrates its 40th year of competition during the 2020-21 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.