BOSTON -- After completing its best America East Regular Season slate in history, seven members of the UMBC Baseball team were named to the All-Conference Team.

Junior Luke Johnson (Lewes, Delaware) was named America East Pitcher of the Year, while record-setting freshman Leewood Molessa (Pullman, W.Va.) earned Rookie of the Year honors.

Johnson is the second Retriever ever to be named America East Pitcher of the Year (Conrad Wozniak, 2015), while Molessa is the third Retriever to be named Rookie of the Year, and first since Christian Torres (2017).  It is only the second time UMBC earned both the America East Pitcher and Rookie of the Year (2015). 

In Conference play, Johnson went 4-0  led the America East with a 2.65 ERA and 58 strikeouts. In 51.0 innings pitched, he allowed just 15 earned runs, while opponents batted a paltry .196 against him. He also pitched a pair of complete games. 

Molessa burst on to the scene by setting a UMBC record for RBI in a season (65), and blasted 16 homers (one shy of the school-record). In Conference play, he slashed .305/.642/1.029 with 30 RBI, and tied for the AE lead with nine homers. Molessa was also selected to the All-Rookie Team and earned a spot on the All-Conference Second Team. 

Johnson was named to the All-Conference First Team and was joined on it by catcher Tony Krueger (Appleton, Wisc.) and outfielder Justin Taylor (Reston, Va.). 

In America East play, Krueger batted .371 with 15 RBI and walked more than he struck out (12/11). He was also the best defensive backstop in the league, throwing out eight of 21 attempted base stealers, while making no errors and having 16 assists, Taylor batted .409 in America East play, the third-best total in the AE. In 24 AE games, he added two homers, 17 RBI and had more walks (15) than strike outs (13). He also was sensational in center field, making several incredible defensive plays.

Molessa was joined on the Second Team by reliever Connor Kelly (Cumberland, Md.), outfielder Christian Easley (Collinsville, Va.) and designated hitter Luke Trythall (Poolesville, Md.)

Kelly went 2-1 and had a Conference-best six saves during AE play. He also a had a league-best nine saves overall, and held AE opponents to a .192 batting average. Easley batted .337 in the AE play, with a home run, 12 RBI, 10 doubles and was a perfect 14-14 on stolen bases. Trythall blasted four homers, seven doubles and racked up 28 RBI in league contests, while batting .302

For UMBC, this was the first time with multiple first team selection since 2016 (four), and the most overall all-conference selections since 2015 (10)

It was a season to remember as the 16-8 record was UMBC's best AE record ever (14-10 in 2015 was previous best). The 16 wins were the most AE wins ever (14 in 2015) , while eight were the fewest losses ever in AE (9 in 2017).

The Retrievers are the No.2 seed and will receive a bye to the double-elimination portion of the tournament on Thursday. 

They will face No. 3 Binghamton at 3 p.m. in Binghamton. 

For all information on the America East Tournament, including a bracket and schedule, go to the America East Baseball Championship Central.