BENNINGTON, Vt. — Southern Vermont College freshman Joe Braim (Schuylerville, N.Y.) has been named the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Baseball Rookie of the Week for the period ending April 3, 2016 as announced by the league on Monday.

Braim had a great week for SVC, providing valuable playing time at both first base and on the mound. He picked up his first collegiate win from the bump at Eastern Nazarene College on Wednesday, going eight strong innings with the start while allowing just one run on eight hits and striking out four Lion batters. He then went 2-for-3 at the plate at MCLA on Thursday with a double, two RBIs and a run scored; the rookie was also perfect at first as he converted on each of the seven total chances he saw defensively during the Mountaineers' 16-4 win over the Trailblazers. This is Braim's first Conference recognition in his young collegiate career.

Along with Braim, Mountaineer sophomore John Arancio (Oradell, N.J.) reeled in NECC honors as he was selected as the Baseball Player of the Week for the second straight time.

Arancio is repeating as the league's top player as he continued his hot hitting last week to help extend the Mountaineers' winning streak to four games, now having hit safely in eight of SVC's last nine matchups. The sophomore shortstop went 4-for-8 (.500) across the team's two contests, scoring three runs and batting in four more. He knocked out his second homer of the year at Eastern Nazarene on Wednesday to slug .875 on the week, adding a walk for a .600 on-base percentage. The sophomore didn't strikeout at all in 10 total plate appearances, and he was perfect in 17 total chances at short.

Braim, Arancio and the Mountaineers are next in action on Saturday, visiting Becker College for a doubleheader to start the three-game weekend league series. That twin bill in Leicester is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m.