Conforti named POY; joins Niedzwiedz on all-CCAC First Team
A year of firsts continued.
Days after earning a share of its first Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) regular-season championship, the St. Ambrose baseball team had its first player earn CCAC Player of the Year honors.
Bee first baseman Jeremy Conforti took home the award as the conference's top player as the league announced its postseason baseball honors.
Conforti is SAU's first CCAC Baseball Player of the Year since the University joined the conference prior to the 2015-16 academic year, and the program's first conference player of the year since J. Golden took home the award in the Midwest Collegiate Conference (MCC) in 2014. Anthony Gagliardi was named the MCC Pitcher of the Year in 2015.
Conforti was joined on the all-CCAC First Team by starting pitcher Brad Niedzwiedz, giving St. Ambrose multiple first-team all-conference selections for the fifth straight year. Designated hitter Brandon Matias, catcher Filip Milatovic and relief pitcher Parker Ruth were named second team all-conference.
St. Ambrose was also selected as the conference's Champions of Character Team.
Conforti, a senior from Villa Park, Ill., led the Bees in batting average (.356), doubles (20), home runs (13) and RBIs (68). He currently leads the conference in RBIs with 11 more than the second-place hitter. He is also second in the league in homers. Conforti also stole 12 bases this season.
In 32 conference games, he batted .373 (47-for-126) with 14 doubles, two triples and 10 home runs. He drove in 46.
Conforti was also named the CCAC Gold Glove winner at first base. He committed just two errors in 325 chances to finish with a .994 fielding percentage.
Niedzwiedz posted a 6-4 record with a 3.39 earned run average over 13 appearances, including eight starts. He ranks second in the CCAC in ERA and is fifth in wins. The graduate student from Batavia, Ill., struck out 44 over 63 2/3 innings of work. Niedzwiedz was really good in conference play, going 5-1 with a 2.47 ERA over seven CCAC starts. Over his last five league starts, he was 4-0 with a 1.06 ERA.
The three second-team all-CCAC selections gave SAU five all-conference performers for the first time since the 2022 season.
A year after bashing a school-record 18 home runs, Matias clubbed 11 this season, the third-most in the conference. The grad student from Glenview, Ill., batted .295 with 10 doubles. He drove in 41 runs while scoring 40. In his two years at St. Ambrose, Matias collected 99 RBIs.
In his first season with the Bees, Milatovic was a steady presence behind the plate. The junior from Chicago, Ill., batted .279 with 18 RBIs. He also threw out nine potential base stealers.
Ruth, a senior from Eldridge, Iowa, served as the team's closer. He picked up three saves in 10 appearances. Ruth struck out 24 over 16 2/3 total innings, a rate of 12.96 strikeouts per nine. He finished his four-year SAU career with a 4-3 record to go along with eight saves.
St. Ambrose finished in a three-way tie at the top of the CCAC standings with a 20-12 record. The Bees were 26-25 overall.