Currier and Gummow Highlight MASCAC Honors for Baseball
SALEM, Mass. - The Salem State baseball team claimed a total of five awards in this year's Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletics Conference (MASCAC) postseason awards, as announced by the league office on Wednesday.
Headlining this year's group was Nolan Currier (Maynard, Mass.), who was named Pitcher of the Year. He is the first pitcher to earn the honor since 2016 (Sean Buckland).
In addition, head coach Andrew Gummow was named Co-BSN Sports Coach of the Year. It marked the second time in his career that he earned the honor. Additionally, four Vikings earned All-Conference spots.
Gummow earned Co-BSN Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Vikings to a 20-15 overall record while going 16-8 in conference. Salem's 20-win season was the first since 2023, and the 16 conference victories are the most in program history. He also helped Salem rank fourth in the conference, scoring 220 runs, and had scored 10 or more runs in seven contests this year.
Along with being named Pitcher of the Year, Currier also earned a spot on the All-Conference First Team. He is the first Viking to earn First Team honors since Brahiam Ortega in 2023. Currier ended the regular season first in the MASCAC with a 1.02 ERA, second with six wins, a .95 WHIP, only allowing five earned runs, 49 strikeouts, and four games without a single earned run. He is currently third in DIII so far this season in regards to ERA and is the only MASCAC pitcher to be ranked in the top-10. Twice this season, Currier earned Pitcher of the Week honors, including the week of 4/21 when he threw a complete game seven-inning shutout, only allowing two hits, with 11 strikeouts, one walk, a 0.00 ERA, and .43 WHIP in the Vikings' 3-0 win over the AMCATS.
Salem featured three student-athletes who earned Second Team honors: Yabdriel Gonzalez (New Haven, Conn.), Jack Doyle (Salem, Mass.), and Ethan Stepputtis (Prospect, Conn.). Gonzalez had one of his strongest years in Salem by setting career-highs in home runs (four), RBIs (32), hits (43), batting average (.328), and slugging percentage (.481). In the conference, he ranks in the top-10 in multiple offensive categories, including RBIs (fourth) and home runs (seventh). Earlier this year, he had a five-game hitting streak that included a four-hit day in a 14-8 win against Knox (Mar. 20).
Doyle, in his third year with the Blue and Orange, had a solid season posting multiple career-highs, including at-bats (114), hits (34), home runs (one), RBIs (24), batting average (.298), on-base percentage (.380), and slugging percentage (.395). During the beginning part of the season, Doyle posted a four-game hitting streak that was highlighted by a three-hit day in a 15-5 win versus Lesley (Mar. 19). Defensively, he had a career-high .925 fielding percentage, where he assisted on 58 plays this year.
Rounding out the list of postseason honors for Salem is Stepputtis with the first postseason MASCAC honor of his career. The second year outfield posted a strong stat line for the Vikings, where he tied his career-high in hits (39) and had a batting average of .320. He ended up posting a new career-high on-base percentage of .432. He was also a menace on the basepaths this year, swiping a team and career-high 17 bases for the Vikes. His 17 stolen bases had him ranked within the top-10 of the MASCAC (seventh). Stepputtis started off the year on a heater by recording a hit in 12 straight contests, highlighted by a three-hit performance in a win against Knox (Mar. 20).