Spencer Steedley is the first Charlotte 49er to make the first-team All-Conference list as a player and position player. |
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Charlotte Puts Five on First-Team Atlantic 10 Roster
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May 22, 2007
Philadelphia, Pa. - Charlotte's Spencer Steedley is the first-ever Atlantic 10 player ever to make first-team all-conference as a position player and a pitcher and Adam Mills is Charlotte's second-ever conference Pitcher of the Year, with Charlotte's Loren Hibbs netting Coach of the Year Honors as the Atlantic 10 All-Conference teams were announced today.
Steedley was a first-team outfielder in 2006 and was selected as a first-team starting pitcher in 2007. This is a first for Charlotte as a program.
Mills joins John Maine as the only other conference pitcher of the year (C-USA in 2001). Former Niners James Matan and Tim Collie, who was a pitcher, are Charlotte's only Conference Players of the Year.
Loren Hibbs has now won Coach of the Year honors in three different conferences (Metro, 1994; C-USA, 1998) and it is the fourth time that a Charlotte head coach has been named coach of the year (Gary Robinson in the Sun Belt Conference in 1984).
St. Bonaventure senior first baseman Brian Pellegrini was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year for the second straight season in voting conducted among the league's head coaches. In that same vote, freshman starting pitcher Matt Zielinski of Richmond was named the A-10 Rookie of the Year.
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Pellegrini joins Fordham's Bobby Kingsbury (2001-02) as the lone players in league history to repeat as A-10 Players of the Year. His 15 home runs are a program single-season record, while his 48 career homers are tops in St. Bonaventure history. A native of Willoughby, Ohio, he enters the A-10 Championship batting .392, good for second in the league, and leads the A-10 in on-base percentage (.502), slugging percentage (.819) and doubles (24).
Mills leads the nation with a 1.06 earned run average and enters this week's A-10 Championship ranked first in the Conference in wins (12), strikeouts (132), innings pitched (127.2), complete games (eight) and shutouts (four). A semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, presented by the NCBWA to the country's most outstanding player, and one of ten candidates for the Roger Clemens Award, Mills ranks first in program history in victories (30), starts (49) and shutouts (five). The Big Pool, Md., native pitched 127.2 innings and posts a 12-2 record in helping the 49ers to the top seed in the A-10 Championship.
Joining Pellegrini and Mills on the All-Conference first-team are Charlotte's Aaron Bray, Brad McElroy, Kris Rochelle and Spencer Steedley; Michael Parker and Charlie Kruer of George Washington; Fordham's Eric Reese; Sean Barksdale of Temple; Eric Larson of Rhode Island; and La Salle's Gerard Breslin.
The second-team consists of Richmond's Joe Mahoney, Alex Wotring, Alex Hale and Brian Alas; Cory Lane and Chris Taylor of Charlotte; Temple's Ryan Weber; Fordham's Jordan Lert and Tom Davis; Joe Rizzo from St. Bonaventure; Ben Wendle of Saint Joseph's; and Xavier's Jordan Wolf.
Zielinski has enjoyed an impressive rookie campaign for Richmond. Hailing from Southampton, Pa., the starting pitcher leads the Spiders with a 3.47 earned run average and is second on the staff with 66 strikeouts and six wins on the season. The left-hander is a two-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week selection and boasted a 12-inning scoreless streak toward the end of the season, along with a complete game.
The All-Rookie team includes Zielinski, TJ Chism and John Malloy of La Salle; Rhode Island's Tim Boyce; Curtis Eward and Tom Zebroski of George Washington; Charlotte's Bryan Hamilton; and Drew Smith and David Valesente from Saint Joseph's.
Additionally, St. Bonaventure junior Randy Moley was named Student-Athlete of the Year in voting among the Conference's sports information directors.
Moley garners Student-Athlete of the Year honors and earned Academic All-Conference accolades for the second straight season. The junior centerfielder from Lancaster, N.Y., is the leadoff batter for the Bonnie offense and ranks fourth on the team in batting average (.297), hits (51) and RBI (27). He is second on the team in doubles with 13 on the season and leads St. Bonaventure in stolen bases with nine in 11 attempts. Off the field, he was named to the 2006 and 2007 CoSIDA Academic All-District teams and posts a 3.98 GPA in management sciences.
Moley is joined on the Academic All-Conference team by teammate Kieran Malone; Duquesne's Aaron Janusey, Derek Mechling and Alex Sharick; Billy Kern and Dan Waters of La Salle; B.J. Rodrique and Eric Rohr of Saint Louis; and Dayton's Joe McSoley.
Hibbs earns his first A-10 Coach of the Year award after leading Charlotte to the top seed in the 2007 Atlantic 10 Conference Championship. His team enters the A-10 Championship ranked a program-best 20th nationally in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll, and has won 10 of its last 11 games. The 49ers lead the nation with a 2.29 earned run average while boasting a league-best .311 batting average and are vying for their first A-10 crown in their second year as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. A 1984 graduate of Wichita State, Hibbs coached the Niners to a school-record 44 wins this season and boasts a 447-383-3 career record in 15 years at Charlotte.
