The Albany Dutchmen are proud to announce the selection of three 2015 players as All-PGCBL honorees. The PGCBL Board of Directors named Zach Remillard (Coastal Carolina) as a first team selection as a designated hitter, and named Michael Fitzsimmons (Ole Miss) and Nick Cioffi (Towson) to the All-League second team.
Remillard earned first team All-PGCBL honors for the second time in his Dutchmen career, the first coming in 2012, entering Remillard’s freshman season at Coastal Carolina. During the 2015 season, the designated hitter clubbed 35 hits, driving in 20 runs and scoring 23. He tied for the team lead with three home runs, and his 14 extra-base hits were second on the team. Remillard had nine multi-hit games during the summer, and was the only member of the roster to be named Spotlight Player of the Week twice. Remillard is the team’s first selection as a first-team honoree since Tyler Orris (Millersville) and Dylan Collett (Saint Leo) were named as such in 2013.
Fitzsimmons was honored as a second team selection at third base, a position he played almost all season for the Dutchmen. Fitzsimmons joined Remillard in the middle of the Albany order to form a formidable duo that led the Dutchmen offensively. The Ole Miss redshirt freshman set team records with 36 runs batted in and 19 extra-base hits, while becoming one of just five Dutchmen hitters all-time with at least 49 hits in a season. He recorded a .301 batting average, and made his greatest mark on the final night of the regular season, driving in four runs as the Dutchmen claimed the final PGCBL East playoff spot.
Cioffi put together arguably the best season for a pitcher in Albany Dutchmen history, and was so honored as a second-team All-PGCBL selection, which marks him as one of the four best pitchers in the league. In his 59 innings on the mound, Cioffi went 5-1 with a 1.67 ERA, striking out 52 hitters and walking just 19. He worked three complete games, all in the final month of the season. The final four starts of Cioffi’s campaign were nothing short of spectacular in three wins over Glens Falls and a win over Saugerties. Cioffi allowed just one earned run in 29 innings with 25 strikeouts. That stretch included the win over the Dragons on July 30, where he did not allow a run in seven innings of the work, joining Fitzsimmons in leading the Dutchmen to a 7-1 victory.
The Dutchmen extend congratulations and thanks to Remillard, Fitzsimmons, and Cioffi on excellent seasons in the Capital City, and wish them, as well as the rest of the 2015 roster, on excellent seasons this coming spring.
