Chris Taylor led the A-10 with 18 homers and 66 RBI and was the third Niner ever named Conference Player of the Year. |
|
|
Chris Taylor Nets Atlantic 10 Player of the Year; Corey Shaylor Named Rookie of the Year
May 20, 2008
Philadelphia, Pa. - Senior catcher Chris Taylor of Charlotte has been named Atlantic 10 Baseball Player of the Year in voting conducted among the league's head coaches. Second baseman Corey Shaylor of Charlotte was named Rookie of the Year. Taylor becomes the third Charlotte baseball athlete named Conference Player of the Year (Tim Collie, 1995 and James Matan, 1998) and Shaylor is the third freshman named as the Rookie or Freshman of the Year (Mike Taylor, 2000 and Aaron Bray, 2006)
Charlotte placed nine players on the first and second teams and another on the All-Academic team. The nine players on the first and second teams are a school record. Charlotte has placed 93 players all-time on an All-Conference team and has had at least one player awarded an All-Conference honor in 26 straight seasons (since 1983 campaign).
Taylor leads the A-10 in home runs (18), runs batted in (66) and total bases (148) and ranks second in the league in slugging percentage (.679) and is fifth overall in hits (76). The catcher from Mt. Pleasant, N.C., hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the tenth inning of the 49ers' 2-1 win over Rhode Island on May 17 to give Charlotte a share of the A-10 regular season title and the second seed in this week's Championship. His 18 homers place him in a tie for third on the school's single-season list, while his five consecutive games with a home run established a program record. A two-time Player of the Week selection, Taylor was a second-team All-Conference and All-Championship team honoree in 2007 and is on the watch list for the Johnny Bench Award, given to the nation's top catcher.
|
|
 |
Taylor shares the honor with senior catcher Derek Mechling of Duquesne. This marks the first time in league history that two student-athletes were named Players of the Year.
Tom Davis, a senior righthander from Fordham, earned Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year honors. In that same vote, Xavier's Scott Googins was tabbed the Coach of the Year.
Additionally, for the second consecutive year, St. Bonaventure senior Randy Moley was named Student-Athlete of the Year in voting among the Conference's sports information directors.
Joining Mechling, Taylor and Davis on the All-Conference first-team are Aaron Janusey of Duquesne; La Salle's John Rickards; Brad McElroy, Rob Lyerly and Kelly McLain of Charlotte; Rhode Island's Shaun Hagey; Rich Goulian of Fordham; George Washington's Charlie Kruer; Randy Moley from St. Bonaventure; and Xavier's Michael Lucas. Kruer and McElroy are making their second straight appearance on the All-Conference first-team.
The second-team consists of Xavier's Zac Richards and Jordan Conley; Corey Shaylor, Aaron Bray, Shayne Moody, O'Brien Taylor and Joe Yermal of Charlotte; Duquesne's Mike Carroll; Hank Coogan from Richmond; Zach Zaneski of Rhode Island; Temple's Byron McKoy; and Cody Vincent of St. Bonaventure.
Shaylor has enjoyed an impressive rookie campaign for Charlotte. Hailing from Charlotte, N.C., the second baseman leads the 49ers with a .373 batting average which ranks second overall in the A-10. He was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for the week of Mar. 31 and over the course of the season had only 15 strikeouts in 158 total at-bats while his on-base percentage (.506) is fourth-highest on the squad.
Along with Shaylor, the All-Rookie team includes teammate Joe Yermal; Billy Barber and Mike Mergenthaler of Richmond; Temple's Byron McCoy; Mike Coleman of Saint Joseph's; George Washington's Eric Cantrell; Kevin Fuqua of La Salle; and Dayton's Burny Mitchem.
St. Bonaventure's Randy Moley repeats as Student-Athlete of the Year and is a member of the Academic All-Conference team for the third consecutive season. Moley is joined on the Academic All-Conference team by Quinn Haselhorst and Kevin Miller of Dayton; Duquesne's Aaron Janusey and Derek Mechling; Alex Burt of Charlotte; Fordham's Eric Reese; Mitchell Eilenberg of Massachusetts; Casey Moore of Saint Louis; and Xavier's Michael Lucas.
Charlotte earned a bye and begins Atlantic 10 Tournament play on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Campbell's Field in Camden, N.J. and will face the winner of Wednesday's Duquesne-St. Bonaventure contest.
