The Sun Conference Announces 2011 Baseball Honor Roll
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The 2011 edition of The Sun Conference honor roll was announced at the conference tournament banquet on Monday evening. A first and second team made up of 17 and 16 players respectively, as well as Coach of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Player of the Year and Champion of Character awards winners were nominated by and voted on by the conference coaches.
Eight schools were represented among the 33 student-athletes named to the All-Conference team. Conference regular season champions and No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, Embry-Riddle, totaled 10 honorees, while third-seeded Southeastern had five players selected.
Embry-Riddle also swept the four special awards for the season, including Pitcher of the Year, Tucker Jensen. Jensen, a senior from Ormond Beach, Fla., boasts an 11-1 overall record (8-0 in Sun Conference play) with a 1.98 ERA and five complete games, including three shutouts and one combined shutout. Jensen has surrendered just 21 earned runs in 95.1 innings of work while fanning 72 batters. Opponents are hitting just .212 off of Jensen on the year. He becomes the third consecutive Eagle to win the award.
ERAU’s Steve Sabins was named the conference Player of the Year after posting a .425 batting average in league play and a .384 average overall. Sabins has collected 76 hits in 198 at-bats, including 29 extra-base knocks. The senior from Austin, Texas is slugging .626 for the year with 51 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. He strung together an 18-game hitting streak earlier in the season and has drawn 25 walks in 52 contests for the Eagles.
Blue and Gold skipper Randy Stegall took home his third Coach of the Year award in four seasons as ERAU’s coach. Stegall led the Eagles to a 43-9 overall record and a 24-3 conference mark, the best conference record since 2004. Stegall has his team ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time since April of 2005.
The Champion of Character award recipient was ERAU’s R Rodriguez. Rodriguez, a senior from Miami, Fla., has accumulated over 40 hours of community service this season, including assisting Habitat for Humanity finish construction on a house just this past Friday as a member of the ERAU Student Athlete Leadership Team, all while maintaining a 3.25 GPA in Communications. Awarded the “Chris Herring” award that goes to the Embry-Riddle baseball player that exemplifies the five core character values of the NAIA. Named the 2010 recipient of the Kenneth J. and Shirley Sliwa Memorial Scholarship that is given to an Eagle baseball player that leads his team through his example of academic commitment, tenacity, work ethic, enthusiasm, selflessness and hustle.
The conference tournament gets under way tomorrow morning at City of Palms Park in Ft. Myers, when No. 1 Embry-Riddle takes on No. 6 South Carolina-Beaufort at 11 a.m. Second-seeded St. Thomas and fifth-seeded Webber International will play at 3 p.m., and the nightcap will feature No. 3 Southeastern and No. 4 SCAD Savannah at 7 p.m.
First Team All-Conference
C- Herb Sickler, Warner
C- Kevin Kunnen, Southeastern
DH- Keaton Stroud, Embry-Riddle
1B- Spencer Jackson, South Carolina-Beaufort
2B- Hunter Pope, SCAD Savannah
SS- Ben Kline, Embry-Riddle
3B- Steve Sabins, Embry-Riddle
INF- Chris Page, Embry-Riddle
OF- Hunter Ovens, Webber International
OF- Robbie Jones, Northwood
OF- Ty Main, South Carolina-Beaufort
OF- Shane Casey, Southeastern
P- Tucker Jensen, Embry-Riddle
P- Ryan Vigue, Embry-Riddle
P- Dexter Price, South Carolina-Beaufort
P- Jake Pettit, Warner
RP- Phillip Reamy, Embry-Riddle
Second Team All-Conference
C- Jamison Sweat, SCAD Savannah
C- Nate Goldstein, Webber International
DH- Ryan Osenton, Northwood
1B- Shane McIntyre, Webber International
2B- Hector Bello, St. Thomas
SS- Patrick Braswell, SCAD Savannah
3B- David O’Neil, South Carolina-Beaufort
INF- Tyler Robbins, Embry-Riddle
OF- Ricky Claudio, St. Thomas
OF- Aaron Glaum, Embry-Riddle
OF- Tyler Ruelhman, Southeastern
OF- Mike Hines, SCAD Savannah
P- Kevin Maloney, Embry-Riddle
P- Rob Lane, Webber International
P- Justin Mauldin, Southeastern
RP- Phillip Kish, Southeastern
Champion of Character
R Rodriguez, Embry-Riddle
Pitcher of the Year
Tucker Jensen, Embry-Riddle
Player of the Year
Steve Sabins, Embry-Riddle
Coach of the Year
Randy Stegall, Embry-Riddle