GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – The North Eastern
Athletic Conference (NEAC) has announced its 2012 Baseball NEAC
West Division All-Conference Team selections, with first and second
team honors being awarded to the top 24 players as selected by the
conference coaches, regardless of position.
The NEAC has also announced its individual award winners.
Gallaudet University sophomore outfielder William Bissell
(Brewer, Maine) has been selected as the Player of the
Year for the second straight year after another excellent
season. Bissell, a D3baseball.com Preseason All-American
honorable mention, batted .393 through 37 games this season,
registering 48 hits with six home runs, 31 RBIs, 42 runs scored and
five sacrifice flies to land in the top 10 in the conference in
each of those categories. He also led the conference and is
currently second in the nation in triples with seven, while also
producing nine doubles, swiping 15 bases, drawing 15 walks and
registering a conference-best 89 total bases to post a .451 on base
percentage and a .731 slugging percentage.
Penn State Berks senior Matt Emrick (Bethlehem,
Pa.) was named the Pitcher of the Year after an
outstanding season on the mound. In three conference starts,
Emrick allowed just two earned runs in 21 innings pitched, while
going the distance in all three contests and recording
complete-game shutouts in two of those starts. Emrick gave up 10
hits and walked just three batters in conference play, while
registering seven strikeouts and holding the opposition to a .139
batting average to post a 0.86 ERA. For the season, Emrick
allowed two runs or fewer in five of his six appearances while
limiting opposing batters to four hits or fewer in those games, and
finished the season with 11 strikeouts and a NEAC West
division-best 2.57 ERA.
Penn State Abington’s Matt Lawson (Voorhees,
N.J.) has been named the conference’s inaugural
Rookie of the Year after a tremendous freshman campaign.
Batting out the three-hole for the Nittany Lions, Lawson registered
the second-most hits in the conference with 54 while driving in a
West division-best 41 runs and scoring a conference-high 42 runs.
Lawson also finished the regular season in the top 10 in doubles
(12), total bases (74), batting average (.388) and on base
percentage (.470) throughout the conference, while being 14th
overall in stolen bases (12).
The Coach of the Year award went to Gallaudet University’s
Curtis Pride. Pride led the Bison to a
program-best 22 wins this season as well as a spot in this
weekend’s NEAC West divisional playoffs, as Gallaudet
clinched the third seed with a 10-4 division record.
The All-Conference Team selections are as follows:
|
West Division All-Conference
First Team
|
| Name |
Institution |
Yr. |
Pos. |
Hometown |
|
Paul Greco
|
Lancaster Bible College
|
Sr.
|
SS
|
Brooklyn, N.Y.
|
|
William Bissell
|
Gallaudet University
|
So.
|
OF
|
Brewer, Maine
|
|
Mike Kerns
|
Penn State Abington
|
Jr.
|
C/1B
|
Warminster, Pa.
|
|
William Chapman
|
Gallaudet University
|
Sr.
|
P/OF
|
Los Angeles, Calif.
|
|
Frank DiFilippo
|
Lancaster Bible College
|
Jr.
|
OF
|
Lititz, Pa.
|
|
Kyle Hartman
|
Penn State Berks
|
So.
|
1B/P
|
Mohnton, Pa.
|
|
Bill Parave
|
Penn State Abington
|
Jr.
|
1B/OF/P
|
Merchantville, N.J.
|
|
Dustin Kology
|
Penn State Abington
|
Jr.
|
OF
|
Philadelphia, Pa.
|
|
Adam Wiley
|
Cazenovia College
|
Sr.
|
INF
|
Marathon, N.Y.
|
|
Casey Hicks
|
Gallaudet University
|
So.
|
C
|
Henderson, Nev.
|
|
Matt Lawson
|
Penn State Abington
|
Fr.
|
OF/P
|
Voorhees, N.J.
|
|
Matt Emrick
|
Penn State Berks
|
Sr.
|
P/INF
|
Bethlehem, Pa.
|
|
West Division All-Conference
Second Team
|
| Name |
Institution |
Yr. |
Pos. |
Hometown |
|
Kevin Heilman
|
Penn State Berks
|
Sr.
|
INF/P
|
Easton, Pa.
|
|
Keith Prestano
|
Keuka College
|
Jr.
|
OF
|
Queens, N.Y.
|
|
Tommy Barksdale
|
Gallaudet University
|
Jr.
|
SS
|
Brookeville, Md.
|
|
Joseph O’Rourke
|
SUNY Institute of Technology
|
Fr.
|
OF
|
Camden, N.Y.
|
|
Connor Corson
|
Penn State Berks
|
So.
|
OF
|
Mohnton, Pa.
|
|
Brian Gaskell
|
Cazenovia College
|
Jr.
|
P
|
Sauquoit, N.Y.
|
|
Marcus Smith
|
Gallaudet University
|
So.
|
P
|
Baltimore, Md.
|
|
Jamie Barr
|
Cazenovia College
|
Jr.
|
INF/P
|
Frankfort, N.Y.
|
|
Sam Quinn-Loeb
|
SUNY Institute of Technology
|
Sr.
|
C/OF
|
Hamburg, N.Y.
|
|
Daniel Wiecek
|
SUNY Institute of Technology
|
Jr.
|
P
|
Fort Plain, N.Y.
|
|
Patrick Baker
|
SUNY Institute of Technology
|
Sr.
|
P
|
Ronkonkoma, N.Y.
|
|
Colton Houseal
|
Penn State Harrisburg
|
So.
|
OF
|
Maytown, Pa.
|
***************************************************************************************************************************************************************
The North Eastern Athletic Conference has thirteen NCAA
Division III member institutions which include: Cazenovia College,
College of St. Elizabeth, Gallaudet University, Keuka College,
Lancaster Bible College, Pennsylvania State University - Abington,
Pennsylvania State University - Berks, Pennsylvania State
University -Harrisburg, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Institute of
Technology, SUNY Morrisville State College, Wells College, and
Wilson College. Associate members are: Hilbert College (M
Lacrosse), Medaille College (M&W Lacrosse) and Rutgers
University - Camden (M Golf).
*Beginning with the 2010 season, the North Eastern Athletic
Conference (NEAC) has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference
(NAC) in the sports of baseball, women’s lacrosse,
and men’s and women’s tennis. The NEAC will
compete as associate members of the NAC in women’s lacrosse
and men’s tennis, while the NAC will compete as associate
members of the NEAC in baseball and women’s tennis.
Members from each conference will be divided into an East and West
Division for each sport, with each division holding a championship
and the two divisional champions then facing off to determine the
conference champion. The conference winner for each sport will earn
an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships. For
baseball and women’s lacrosse, this partnership will end
following the 2012 season.
A breakdown of the NEAC/NAC baseball partnership is as
follows:
Baseball: NAC members Castleton,
Colby-Sawyer, Husson, Lyndon State, Maine-Farmington, New England
College and Thomas will play in the NEAC as associate members in
the East Division. The West Division will consist of NEAC
members Cazenovia, Gallaudet, Keuka, Lancaster Bible, Penn State
Abington, Penn State Berks, Penn State Harrisburg and SUNY
Institute of Technology. A three-game series between the two
divisional winners will be used to determine the conference
champion.