LOWELL, Mass. – Junior David MacKinnon was named America East Player of the Year and nine others received recognition from the conference, it was announced Tuesday at the annual America East Awards Banquet. MacKinnon becomes the first player in program history to win conference Player of the Year honors since Jeff Bagwell in 1989.
 
MacKinnon was joined on the America East All-Conference First Team by senior outfielder Chris DelDebbio, sophomore shortstop Ben Bengtson and sophomore third baseman T.J. Ward. Named to the All-Conference Second Team were senior pitchers Kyle Gauthier and Brian Murphy, senior second baseman Aaron Wilson and sophomore designated hitter Erik Ostberg.
 
Freshman outfielders Chris Sullivan and Ashton Bardzell were both named to the league's All-Rookie Team. Rounding out the honorees were the four selections to the America East All-Academic Team: Gauthier, MacKinnon, Ostberg and Ward.
 
MacKinnon joins Sean Newcomb (2014 Pitcher of the Year) as the only Hawks to earn major awards from the league. Hartford had garnered 10 First Team honorees from 1991-2015 and 20 Second Team honorees during that span.
 
Binghamton's Tim Sinicki collected Coach of the Year honors, while Mike Bunal was named Pitcher of the Year from the Bearcats. Stony Brook's Bret Clarke was named the conference's Rookie of the Year.
 
MacKinnon leads the America East in hitting (.390) this season, while also finding himself in the top 10 in slugging (.537, 5th), on-base percentage (.467, 2nd), runs (54, 1st), doubles (15, 3rd) and triples (3, 8th). He broke his own single-season record with 80 hits this season, and is currently fourth in Hawks lore with a .360 career batting average. He was a Second Team All-America East selection as both a freshman and a sophomore as well. Also a standout in the classroom, he was a CoSIDA Academic All-District I selection with his 3.94 GPA in accounting.
 
DelDebbio came on strong in conference play during his senior campaign to earn First Team recognition, his first conference recognition since being named to the All-Rookie Team in 2013. The Danbury, Conn., native hit .343 in conference play, slugging .614 with seven doubles and four home runs. He is four games and 16 hits shy of the all-time school records in those categories, while ranking as the program's all-time leader in at-bats and fielding percentage.
 
Ward collected his first conference recognition with a consistent season at the plate and an outstanding defensive campaign at the hot corner. He finished ninth in the league with his .321 average, while also registering in the league's top 20 in RBI, on-base percentage and slugging. He hit safely in 36 of his 47 starts, including a 3-for-5 day with seven RBI against UMass Lowell on May 13. In the classroom, he holds a 3.71 GPA in math and secondary education.
 
Bengtson posted one of the top seasons by a shortstop in program history, as the sophomore delivered a league-best 50 RBI on the season, including 25 in his 22 conference games. He finished sixth in the conference with a .531 slugging percentage, finishing in the league's top seven in doubles (13, 7th), triples (4, 4th) and home runs (6, 5th). He is only eight RBI shy of tying Jeff Bagwell's single-season Hartford record.
 
Gauthier finished fourth in the league in ERA (2.82) and eighth in innings pitched (67.0) despite missing a pair of starts during conference action. He earned four America East Pitcher of the Week laurels during the campaign, matching Newcomb's single-season record from 2014. The Lynn, Mass., native also placed sixth in the league in opponent batting average (.240) and 14th in strikeouts (42). In his career, he sits third on the Hawks' all-time list with 274.0 innings of work. A 2016 CoSIDA Academic All-District I selection, he recently graduated with a 3.72 GPA in insurance/finance.
 
Murphy, the other half of the Hawks' senior tandem on the mound, tied for the league's top mark with seven wins on the season, picking up six of those in conference action. He also finished in the America East's top-10 in innings (69.0, 6th), ERA (3.78, 10th) and opponent batting average (.250, 9th). Though he did not start a single game as a freshman, he still ranks eighth on Hartford's all-time list with his 35 starts, and will enter the top six with a start this weekend.
 
Wilson capped off a strong career with a tremendous senior season at second base. The Windsor, Conn., native is tied for the conference lead with MacKinnon with his 54 runs, while sitting third in stolen bases (20) and fourth in on-base percentage (.447). His five triples on the season are tied for second in the league and matched the program record in that category, while he sits in the Hawks' all-time top-five in stolen bases (3rd, 44).
 
In his sophomore campaign, Ostberg played principally at designated hitter while being among the league's leaders in batting average from the first game of the season. His .353 average places him sixth in the conference, while he ranks among the league leaders in on-base percentage (.460, 3rd), runs (41, 6th), runs batted in (46^, T-3rd) and hits (65, 4th). In conference action, only Bengtson had more RBI than Ostberg's 24. A communication major, he held a 3.34 cumulative GPA heading into the season and was a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection.
 
Sullivan was a unanimous selection to the All-Rookie Team after a debut campaign that saw him hit .319 with 25 runs and 25 RBI. After not seeing a bulk of action early in the year, he came on late to hit .286 in league play, delivering four doubles and scoring 11 runs. The Westfield, Mass., native had a solid season defensively as well, seeing time in both left field and at third base.
 
Bardzell earned All-Rookie Team laurels after a freshman season that saw him emerge as a strong power threat in the Hawks lineup. His five home runs placed him in a tie for 12th in the league, while he added six doubles for a .465 slugging percentage, driving in 26 runs and scoring 25. He also drew 22 walks with seven steals, proving a strong defensive presence in right field with his range and strong throwing arm.
 
The Hawks will embark on their quest for the program's first America East championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday. They will take on either No. 3 seed Stony Brook or No. 6 seed Maine in their first game of the America East Tournament. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m. in LeLacheur Park, with live coverage available on AmericaEast.TV and HartfordHawks.com.