POMONA, NY (May 19, 2025) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) today announced the 2025 Baseball postseason major award winners and All-MAAC Teams, voted on by the league’s 13 head coaches.
Rider University headlined major award winners, claiming four out of the five awards, which included Player of the Year Joe Tiroly, Pitcher of the Year Brian Young, Relief Pitcher of the Year Gavin Hawkes, and Coach of the Year Lee Lipinski. Additionally, MAAC Rookie of the Year was awarded to Iona University freshman Sean Stephenson.
Tiroly, the MAAC Player of the Year, was the only unanimous player named to the All-MAAC First Team, making the lineup at second base. The sophomore appeared and started in all 48 games for the Broncs this season and he was the league leader in batting average (.396), home runs (17), home runs per game (.35), on base percentage (.500), runs (62), runs per game (1.29), RBIs (69), RBIs per game (1.44), slugging percentage (.786), OPS (1.286) and total bases (143). Tiroly ranked second in the conference in hits per game (1.50), fourth in total hits (72) and eighth in doubles (16). A native of Yardley PA, he added two triples, which was tied for 10
th in the MAAC and was walked 34 times, which ranked tied for 13
th on the MAAC leaderboard. Defensively, Tiroly logged 84 putouts, 116 assists, 33 double plays, with just one error, recording a .995 field percentage. His 33 double plays were the most in the MAAC this season while his 116 assists were the 10
th most in the conference.
Rider Left-handed pitcher, Young, was named the MAAC Pitcher of the Year. The senior from Neptune, NJ, made 13 starts on the mound and was the only unbeaten pitcher in the MAAC for qualifying pitchers, posting a perfect 8-0 record. Young’s eight victories were the most in the league, while also leading the MAAC in ERA (2.64) and complete games (2). In 81.2 innings of work this season, he struck out 69 batters, sixth in the MAAC and posted a WHIP of 1.20, third in the league.
The MAAC Relief Pitcher of the Year selection was Hawkes from Rider. Hawkes made 14 appearances out of the bullpen in 2025, earning three saves, a mark that ranked ninth in the MAAC. The Yardley, PA native pitched a total of 38.1 innings, posting a 2-0 record. He recorded an ERA of 1.88, a WHIP of 1.07 and struck out 29 batters.
Stephenson of Iona was honored as the MAAC Rookie of the Year. Stephenson made 49 starts for the Gaels posting a stat line of .341 batting average, .927 OPS, .517 slugging percentage, and a .410 on base percentage. He recorded 70 hits, with 15 doubles, seven dingers, 38 runs, 39 RBIs, 106 total bases, 19 walks and five stolen bases. On the MAAC charts Stephenson ranked sixth in hits per game (1.43), eighth in hits, 12
th in batting average and doubles, and 13
th in total bases.
Rider head coach Lee Lipinski was voted amongst his peers as the MAAC Coach of the Year. In his first season at the helm of the Broncs, Lipinski led Rider to a 22-6 MAAC record and 32-16 overall mark. Rider secured the MAAC Regular Season title, the program’s first in a decade, last winning the league’s regular season in 2015, and top overall seed in the MAAC Championship field.
The full list of major award winners and All-MAAC Teams are below.
| 2025 Baseball Major Awards |
| Awards |
Player |
School |
| Player of the Year |
Joe Tiroly |
Rider |
| Pitcher of the Year |
Brian Young |
Rider |
| Relief Pitcher of the Year |
Gavin Hawkes |
Rider |
| Rookie of the Year |
Sean Stephenson |
Iona |
| Coach of the Year |
Lee Lipinski |
Rider |
| All-MAAC First Team |
| Player |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Ashby Vining |
Sr. |
Catcher |
Saint Peter’s |
| James Kemp |
Gr. |
First Base |
Iona |
| Joe Tiroly* |
So. |
Second Base |
Rider |
| Dean Ferrara |
Sr. |
Third Base |
Fairfield |
| Luke Nomura |
Jr. |
Shortstop |
Fairfield |
| Matt Bucciero |
Jr. |
Outfield |
Fairfield |
| CJ Willis |
Sr. |
Outfield |
Quinnipiac |
| Kyle Neri |
R-So. |
Outfield |
Rider |
| Ben Alekson |
So. |
Pitcher |
Fairfield |
| Brian Young |
Sr. |
Pitcher |
Rider |
| Alistair Morin |
R-Jr. |
Pitcher |
Siena |
| Christian Smith |
Jr. |
Designated Hitter |
Quinnipiac |
| Trent Rumley |
Sr. |
Utility |
Canisius |
| All-MAAC Second Team |
| Player |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Aidan Paradine |
R-Fr. |
Catcher |
Siena |
| Dante D'Amore |
Sr. |
First Base |
Sacred Heart |
| Johnny Knox |
Gr. |
Second Base |
Quinnipiac |
| Sebastian Mueller |
Gr. |
Third Base |
Quinnipiac |
| Jake Sparks |
So. |
Third Base |
Siena |
| Alex Irizarry |
Jr. |
Shortstop |
Quinnipiac |
| Aidan Taclas |
Jr. |
Outfield |
Manhattan |
| Alex Ungar |
Sr. |
Outfield |
Sacred Heart |
| Tommy Kendrick |
Jr. |
Outfield |
Saint Peter's |
| Bowen Baker |
Gr. |
Pitcher |
Fairfield |
| Andrelys Payamps |
Sr. |
Pitcher |
Iona |
| Serigne Sarre |
Fr. |
Pitcher |
Mount St. Mary's |
| Gavin Hawkes |
Jr. |
Pitcher |
Rider |
| Tyler Kipp |
Sr. |
Designated Hitter |
Fairfield |
| Curtis McKay |
Jr. |
Utility |
Niagara |
| MAAC All-Rookie Team |
| Player |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Sean Stephenson |
R-Fr. |
Third Base |
Iona |
| Justin Trinidad |
Fr. |
Pitcher |
Iona |
| Chris Fidanza |
R-Fr. |
Pitcher |
Manhattan |
| Ethan Marzo |
R-Fr. |
Pitcher |
Marist |
| Noel Rivera |
Fr. |
Infield |
Marist |
| Nolan Book |
Fr. |
Infield |
Mount St. Mary's |
| Sam Grube |
Fr. |
Infield |
Mount St. Mary's |
| Serigne Sarre |
Fr. |
Pitcher |
Mount St. Mary's |
| Kyle Batt |
Fr. |
Pitcher |
Rider |
| Charley Magoulick |
Fr. |
First Base/Pitcher |
Rider |
*Denotes Unanimous Selection
The 2025 MAAC Baseball Championship is an eight-team, single and double elimination championship, that will take place at Clover Stadium in Pomona, NY on May 20-24. Games 1 and 2 will be single elimination, games 3-12 will be double elimination and all rounds will reseed. This will be the fourth straight season that the championship is hosted at Clover Stadium. For all information regarding the 2025 MAAC Baseball Championship, please visit
maacsports.com/baseball.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 13 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 44th year of competition during the 2024-25 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius University, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan University, Marist University, Merrimack College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Sacred Heart University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.
Stay up to date with the MAAC on social media by following @MAACSports on
Twitter,
Facebook,
Instagram and
Threads or visit
MAACSports.com for all the latest MAAC news.