Northern Essex Community College

Six members of the Region 21 and Northeast District champion Northern Essex Community College men's soccer team were named to the All-Region teams as announced today. Highlighting the selections were Jadiel Bomfim (Nashua, NH) who was named Co-Regional Player of the Year and Eusebio Marote who was named Region 21 Coach of the Year.

Northern Essex Community College sophomore Jadiel Bomfim (Nashua, NH) has been named the NJCAA National Player of the Week for the week ending Sunday September 15th as announced today by the national office.

Following the conclusion of the 2023-24 academic year, 11 Northern Essex Community College student-athletes were named to the NJCAA All-Academic teams as announced by the national office. The 11 selections are the highest among all members of NJCAA Region 21.

Northern Essex Community College sophomore right hander Jayden Voelker (Coventry, RI) has been named the NJCAA National Pitcher of the Year for the 2024 season. The award for Voelker marks the second consecutive season that the Knights have taken home the award as Lawrence's Jairo Vazquez claimed the honor in 2023.

Northern Essex Community College sophomore shortstop Chris Bear (Boston) has been named the NJCAA ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove shortstop as the nation's top defensive player at their respective position. The Gold Glove team was announced today by the NJCAA Baseball Committee.

Three members of the Northern Essex Community College baseball team have been named All-Americans as announced today by the NJCAA Baseball Committee, highlighted by first team selections for sophomore pitcher Jayden Voelker (Coventry, RI) and sophomore shortstop Chris Bear (Boston). Freshman centerfielder Max LaLaime (Portsmouth, NH) also got the All-American nod as he was selected to the second team. Voelker, a Major League Baseball prospect in the July draft, who missed the 2023 season with injury picks up his second All-America recognition as he picked up third team honors as a freshman in 2022. Throughout the season Voelker dominated the opposition as he led the nation with 18.59 strikeouts per nine innings pitched as he struck out a Northern Essex modern era record of 126 batters on the season in 61 innings pitched. The 126 strikeouts also led the nation. He also finished second in earned run average with 1.48 while picking up eight wins on the season. Over the course of the season he was named the NJCAA Pitcher of the Week on three occasions while being named First Team All-Region 21 and being named the regional Pitcher of the Year Bear, who is headed to the University of Maine in the fall to continue his athletic and academic career finished third in the nation in stolen bases with 37, and a slash line that included a .468 batting average, .529 on base percentage and .687 slugging percentage. He recorded 68 hits in 42 games on the season with 23 hits bring of the extra base variety. Both his hit and stolen base totals led Region 21 as did his 48 RBIs as he was named the Region 21 Player of the Year at the conclusion of the conference season. LaLime, who transferred into NECC from Baldwin Wallace plans to return for the 2025 season after he finished his campaign with a .371 batting average to go along with .477 on base percentage and .643 slugging percentage. He finished second to Bear in the region in both runs batted in (47) and stolen bases (34). Hitting out of the lead off position the majority of the season he led the region with nine home runs. On the season, the Knights finished with a 27-15 overall recorded advancing to their third consecutive NJCAA World Series and 10th overall in program history.

With the game tied at two runs apiece in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Northern Essex Community College baseball team plated six runs in the eighth inning to win their third straight Region 21 Championship by an 8-3 final over Community College of Rhode Island on Sunday at Clark University's Kneller Athletic Complex. With the win, the Knights improve their season record to 25-13 overall and advance to host next weekends NJCAA Northeast District Championship series against Kingsborough Community College. The winner will advance to the NJCAA World Series in Auburn, NY beginning May 25th. The Knights jumped on the board first when Thomas Fratto (Reading) jacked a two-out solo home run over the left center field wall in the bottom of the first inning. CCRI immediately took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second on a pair of hits and a defensive miscue, before the Knights tied the game back up in the bottom of the third. Ryan Brown (Haverhill) led off the third with a walk and would steal second base before coming around to score on a one out base hit back up the middle from Chris Bear (Boston). CCRI got out of the inning before the Knights could do any further damage and the game would then remain scoreless for four plus innings before the Knights plated six runners in the bottom of the eighth to secure their championship. The Knights opened the eighth with Michael Fabiano (Reading) and Jacob Carter (Reading) reaching via a walk and hit batsman. The scoring would start with one out when Brown laid down a bunt single that scored Fabiano. Max LaLime (Portsmouth, NH) was intentionally walked to load the bases and Bear roped a two RBI single down the right field line which would end up being the game winning hit and giving the Knights a 5-2 advantage. A walk to Fratto and both catcher Eric Wainwirght (Falmouth) and third baseman Manny Castro (Manchester, NH) were hit by a pitch to plate two more runs. A walk to Carter resulted in the sixth run of the inning. Fratto's home run was the games only extra base hit as the CCRI out hit the Knights 11-10. Michael Geissler (Peabody) got the start for the Knights and went 4 1/3 innings allowing five hits and two runs while striking out six and walking three. John Afanasiw (Marshfield) came on in the fifth inning and provided 4 2/3 innings and allowed a single run in the top of the ninth inning while scattering six hits, striking out three and walking two. NECC will be seeking a third straight and 10th all-time World Series appearance.

Mirelys Morales (Dracut) was named to the NJCAA Region 21 Women's Basketball All-Region First Team and was among four Knights honored. She was joined on the All Region Teams by McKayla Dingle (Haverhill) who earned Second Team honors while Iesha Burgos (Haverhill) and Kamryn Pastorello (Billerica) picked up Honorable Mention recognition. Morales led Region 21 in scoring at 17.9 points per game while she ranked third in field goal percentage at 44.7%. On the defensive side of the ball she ranked second in the region 185 total rebounds averaging 9.5 per game over 20 games. She had a career high 37 points in the teams double overtime regional semi-final victory over Massasoit including a pair of free throws in the closing seconds of the first extra period to force the second overtime. Dingle finished seventh in the region with 13.4 points per game including a career high 25 on November 18th against Quinsgiamond. On the defensive side of the ball she averaged 3.8 steals per game which ranked third in the region. Grabbing spots on the honorable mention squad, Pastorello averaged 6.8 points per game to go along with five rebounds. Burgos recorded a tick under four rebounds per game to go along with 2.3. As a team, the Knights the finished with a 12-9 overall record and 9-3 record in conference play following a 13-year hiatus of not having an intercollegiate team on campus. The Knights made a run in the regional tournament before falling to Community College of Rhode Island in the championship game

For the second consecutive year Luis Reynoso (Lawrence) has been named the NJCAA Region 21 Player of the Year and First Team All-Region honoree, while Head Coach Darren Stratton has been named the Region 21 Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. Edwin SamMbaka (Paris, FR) has also been recognized as he was selected to the All-Region Third Team. Reynoso, one of the nation's most prolific all-around performers picks up the double recognition once again as he ranks nationally in several categories on both the offensive and defensive side of the court. In 28 games played, he's averaged 13.5 rebounds per games which ranks fourth in the country, while ranking 15th in total points with 546 and 19.5 points per game. His 135 assists are good for 18th in the country and his 65 steals rank 25th in the country. SamMbaka, the regions premiere defensive player appeared started all 30 games he's appeared in while guarding the oppositions top offensive threat and each game holding the opponent's top scorer below their season scoring average. In the process he picked up two steals per game and averaged 7.4 rebounds to go along with 34 blocked shots. On the offensive side of the ball he averaged 8.2 points per game. Stratton, the mastermind behind the resurgence of the Northern Essex basketball team since rejoining the program in the spring of 2020 led the Knights to their second consecutive unbeaten conference season and an overall record of 30-1, with a national ranking as high as two at the seasons midpoint, before finishing the season ranked third in the country. The Knights became the first men's program to win back to back region championships since Springfield Tech in 2003 and 2004.

Second year Luis Reynoso (Lawrence) of the Northern Essex Community College men's basketball has been named the NJCAA Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week ending January 28th. This is Reynoso's second career player of the week honor as he earned the recognition in November of 2022.

Northern Essex Community College volleyball's freshman setter Vielka Sanchez (Lawrence) was named an NJCAA Volleyball All-American as announced today by the NJCAA Volleyball Committee. Sanchez, the Region 21 volleyball Player of the Year becomes the second All-America selection in the history of the Knights volleyball program. She was one of 30 student-athletes honored across two All-America teams and honorable mention selections.

Northern Essex Community College freshman men's soccer standout Jadiel Bonfim (Nashua, NH) has been named a First Team NJCAA All-American as announced today by the NJCAA Soccer Committee. The Region 21 Player of the Year becomes the first, First Team All-America selection in the history of the men's soccer program for the Knights. 22 total players were named All-Americans, 11 on both the first and second teams. The 22 players selected represented 13 different teams. Bonfim was one of two players from Region 21 named to the All-America teams.

In order to be selected for The Region 21 Fall Semester Athletic Directors Honor Roll students must have been enrolled in a minimum full-time program of studies and achieved a semester GPA of 3.2 or higher.