Del Castillo, Cecconi Named Freshman All-Americans

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – A pair of University of Miami baseball student-athletes were recognized with Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, the publication announced Wednesday.
 
Starting pitcher Slade Cecconi and designated hitter Adrian Del Castillo were honored by Collegiate Baseball for outstanding first seasons with the Hurricanes, naming them to the 2019 Freshman All-American Team.
 
Cecconi struck out 89 batters with 18 walks over 80 innings and posted a 5-4 record and 4.16 ERA in his debut season with the Hurricanes. The right-handed pitcher served as Miami’s midweek starter for most of the season and had several strong outings for the Canes.
 
A native of Oviedo, Fla., Cecconi’s most impressive outing in 2019 may have been his last. The freshman started for Miami in the Starkville Regional final and threw three perfect innings to open his first NCAA postseason start, racking up five strikeouts in the process. Cecconi finished the game allowing three runs on six hits and striking out six over seven innings. 
 
Del Castillo has earned a host of awards after his collegiate debut season, including Second Team All-ACC, ACC All-Freshman Team and all-regional at the 2019 Starkville Regional. He finished the season batting .331 with 78 hits, 22 doubles and 72 RBI, all team-bests. Del Castillo also scored 58 runs and clubbed 12 homers, while striking out just 24 times in 236 at-bats.
 
The Miami native finished the season tied for the team lead with 22 multi-hit games and second on the team with 18 multi-RBI performances. A versatile player who started all 61 games in 2019, Del Castillo made starts at catcher, right field, designated hitter and third base. Del Castillo was outstanding is his first NCAA postseason, hitting .353 with two doubles, three homers and seven RBI over four games at the Starkville Regional.