URI’s Raphael Cerrato Named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, Six Rams Earn Postseason Honors Wednesday

University of Rhode Island Press Release

KINGSTON, R.I. – Rhode Island Baseball, which won the 2025 Atlantic 10 Baseball regular-season title, raked in postseason recognition from the league office on Wednesday morning.

Highlighting the awards was head coach Raphael Cerrato, who was named Conference Coach of the Year for the third time in his career and first time since 2016.

URI placed six total student-athletes on postseason teams, with third baseman Anthony DePino and designated hitter Jack Hopko leading the way on the First Team. Shortstop Reece Moroney, starting pitcher Trystan Levesque and relief pitcher Joe Sabbath earned spots on the Second Team, while Hopko and outfielder Eric Genther were tabbed to the All-Academic Team.

Rhody’s five all-conference selections are the most for the team since 2017, when three Rams earned First team recognition and two were placed on the Second Team.

Cerrato was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year after helping URI bounce back from a 2024 season that saw the team miss the playoffs. In a historic 2025 campaign, Rhode Island won the eighth in program history, won its most games since 2013 and is closing in on the program record of 37 victories (2009). As a team, Rhody has already set single-season records in team runs scored (510), runs batted in (464), home runs (79), walks (330), batters hit by a pitch (108), slugging percentage (.512) and fielding percentage (.972). To go along with the team’s success, Cerrato became the winningest coach in program history when he recorded his 269th victory on the road at Saint Joseph’s. Now in his 11th year, Cerrato is a URI graduate and played for the Rams from 1989-93.

One of the best hitters in program history, this marks the first Atlantic 10 selection for DePino since being named to the league’s All-Rookie Team in 2022. With at least two games left as a Ram, his name is already scattered throughout the URI record book. After taking over the lead in career home runs last season, the Madison, Conn. native has more than doubled previous record holder Mike Le Bel’s effort of 30 (2009-13) and enters postseason play with 63 jacks. With 18 homers in 2025, DePino needs just two more to overtake Mike Corin (19; 2017) for Rhode Island’s single-season record. In addition to where he ranks in his ability to hit the long ball, DePino is at the top of the record book in career runs scored (197), career RBI (176), career total bases (459), career extra-base hits (114) and career walks (149). Within the conference, DePino is in the top five this year in runs (first, 81), walks (first, 53), home runs (second, 18), doubles (third, 19), on-base percentage (third, .507), slugging percentage (third, .727) and total bases (fourth, 149). He has a .938 fielding percentage in the hot corner this season with 98 assists.

The nation’s leader in RBI with 80, Hopko is undoubtedly playing the best baseball of his career. A career .233 hitter in his first two seasons, Hopko is batting .348 in 2025 with seven doubles, two triples and 15 home runs. He belted out three of those homers in a victory over George Mason, becoming just the third player in program history to hit three or more in a game. Only Tony Hill (4; vs. Campbell; March 15, 1985) and Jason Chamsarian (3; vs. Fairfield; March 25, 1998) have previously done so at URI. In addition to leading the nation in runs batted in, Hopko is at the top of the Rhode Island record book, breaking Dan Rhault’s 16-year-old record of 60 in a midweek win over Brown. Within the Atlantic 10, Hopko is seventh in the conference in home runs (15), 10th in slugging percentage (.614) and 11th in total bases (115).

A two-year starter for the Rams, Moroney was named to the All-Rookie Team in 2024. As a sophomore, he is batting a team-best .366 and has started all 53 of the games that he has played in. The shortstop is in the team’s top five offensively in triples (first, 3), hits (second, 76), walks (second, 43), runs (third, 53) and doubles (fourth, 10). He leads the Rams from the middle infield with 121 assists and has helped the team turn 29 double plays. The Fair Haven, N.J. product also leads URI with 24 stolen bases, the fifth-most in the program’s single-season history.

A graduate student, Levesque is one of the most dependable arms in Rhode Island history and ranks in the program’s career top 10 in strikeouts (second, 295), games started (second, 50), wins (second, 23) and innings pitched (third, 291.2). In his final collegiate season, Levesque has pitched his way to a 7-1 record in 80.1 innings of work and leads the Rams with 80 strikeouts. To go along with his 3.47 ERA, he is holding opposing batters to a .251 average. He is one of six arms that finished the regular season in a tie for the conference lead with seven victories.

Sabbath has established himself as the Rams’ closer in his sophomore season, leading the pitching staff and the Atlantic 10 with six saves. He is just one stop away from checking into the top 10 on Rhody’s single-season list. In 24 appearances out of the bullpen, Sabbath has earned a 7-2 record and is tied with Levesque for the team lead in wins. He owns a 3.37 ERA through 34.2 innings of work and has struck out 36 batters.

Genther, who just graduated from URI with a degree in finance, landed on the All-Academic Team for the second time in his career after earning the recognition as a junior. Also awarded the 2025 URI Finance Award and the Department of Athletcs’ Elizabeth Holmes Award, Genther had a 3.88 GPA. The only player that has started in every one of Rhody’s games this season, Genther is tied for second in program history with 209 games played. The program’s leader in career times hit by a pitch (56), he also checks into the Rams’ top 10 in numerous other categories, such as career runs scored (third, 181), career home runs (fourth, 25), career doubles (fourth, 51), career RBI (fourth, 157) and career hits (seventh, 241). As a senior, he is second in the Atlantic 10 with 77 runs scored, seventh in hits with 77, eighth in on-base percentage at .473 and is the eighth-toughest player to strike out.

Along with Genther, Hopko also landed on the All-Academic Team with a 3.82 GPA as a general business administration major. This is the first time Rhode Island has had multiple all-academic selections since 2006.