Ave Maria Highlights 2013 Baseball Honor Roll
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The 2013 Sun Conference Baseball Tournament was unofficially kicked off on Monday night with the All-Conference Awards Banquet where the 2013 edition of the league honor roll was announced. 34 student-athletes from eight of the conference’s 10 baseball teams were represented on the All-Conference teams. In addition, the league’s Coach of the Year, Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year and Champions of Character award winners were announced. The awards were nominated and voted upon by the league’s baseball coaches.
Conference regular season champion and tournament No. 1 seed Embry-Riddle placed 10 on the All-Conference teams while second-seeded Ave Maria totaled seven honorees.
The Sun Conference Player of the Year award went to Ave Maria’s Alex Sanchez. The Gyrene shortstop from Hialeah, Fla. posted fantastic numbers in his senior season, leading the country and conference in four different offensive categories and ranking in the top 12 in three others. Sanchez has struck for 95 hits in 232 at-bats for a .409 average and a 1.8 hits-per-game clip. He has 162 assists, 119 total bases and has scored 55 runs in 54 games.
League Pitcher of the Year honors went to Ave Maria'a Joe Bocchino. Bocchino went 10-1 with a 1.81 ERA with four complete games in 94.1 innings of work. He struck out 62 batters while holding opponents to just a .198 batting average.
Shawn Summe of Ave Maria claimed the Sun Conference Coach of the Year award after leading his team to a program-best 37-17 record, including an 18-9 conference record, finishing as the league’s regular season runner-up. The Gyrenes qualified for the conference tournament for the first time, winning six league series and boasting a win over then-NCAA I No. 17 Florida Gulf Coast on Mar. 17.
The league’s Champions of Character award went to Southeastern’s Daniel Mims. Mims Ccrries a 3.84 GPA in Practical Theology and has been a two-time NAIA Scholar-Athlete and two-time Academic All-Conference selection. The senior outfielder has attended multiple missions trips, traveling to third world countries andorganizes a weekly athletic mentor group (called Grassroots). The second team All-Conference volunteered at a local church as a youth pastor for the past three years and has helped develop the Athletic Leadership Institute for student-athletes to be mentored on how to be true servant-leaders on and off the field. Mims worked with Big Brother/Big Sister for three years and was the recipient of the Hank Burbridge Award from the NCCAA for making a difference both on campus and throughout the community.
The conference tournament begins on Tuesday when top-seeded Embry-Riddle takes on sixth-seeded University of South Carolina Beaufort at 11 a.m. Ave Maria will play Southeastern at 3 p.m. before St. Thomas and Webber International play in the nightcap at 7 p.m. All the games of the 2013 Sun Conference Tournament will be played at the City of Palms Park.
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First Team All-Conference
C- Angel Garcia, Northwood
C- Adam Cellini, Embry-Riddle
DH- Austin Aubuchon, Webber International
1B- Bryan Muniz, Southeastern
2B- Alexis Batista, Northwood
3B- Jeff Lemon, Embry-Riddle^
SS- Alex Sanchez, Ave Maria
INF- Ramon Sanchez, Webber International
OF- Billy Farrell, Webber International
OF- Ozney Guillen, St. Thomas
OF- Kevin Lindheim, Embry-Riddle
OF- Gabe Loweree, Ave Maria
P- Joe Bocchino, Ave Maria
P- Kevin Maloney, Embry-Riddle*#
P- Stetson Nelson, Embry-Riddle
P- Johnnie Kirkland, Southeastern
RP- Phillip Kish, Southeastern#
Second Team All-Conference
C- Giovanni Zayas, St. Thomas
C- Conor Sullivan, Ave Maria
1B- Richie Reilly, Northwood
2B- Aaron Pigna, Ave Maria
3B- Trace McDermott, Ave Maria
SS- Jordan Romero, Embry-Riddle
INF- Jordan Johnson, Embry-Riddle
OF- Blake Cilwick, USCB
OF- Brandon Kirby, Warner^
OF- Kyle Chastain, Embry-Riddle
OF- Daniel Mims, Southeastern
P- Eddie Cody, St. Thomas
P- Andrew Yanes, Warner
P- Ethan Striz, Ave Maria
P- Chris Garcia, Webber International
P- Chad Modomo, Embry-Riddle
RP- Eric Green, Embry-Riddle
*2012 First Team All-Conference
^2012 Second Team All-Conference
#2011 Second Team All-Conference
Player of the Year: Alex Sanchez, Ave Maria
Pitcher of the Year: Joe Bocchino, Ave Maria
Coach of the Year: Shawn Summe, Ave Maria
Champion of Character: Daniel Mims, Southeastern
Academic All-Conference
Adam Cellini, Embry-Riddle
Chad Modomo, Embry-Riddle
Blake Martinez, Florida Memorial
Justin Helms, Northwood
Austin Davis, Southeastern
Daniel Mims, Southeastern
Joseph Hall, Warner
Harvey Perez, Warner
Fernando Escarra, St. Thomas
Nicholas Perez, St. Thomas
Christian Olivia, St. Thomas
Christopher Kitlas, Thomas
Erik Armstrong, USCB
Carlos Gonzalez, Warner