ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College placed six players on the All-Commonwealth Conference baseball team, the conference office has announced.
Ryan Barrett was a first-team selection as a relief pitcher, with five other players named to the second team.
Earning second-team status were catcher
Steve Motika, outfielders
Rodney Francis and
Brian Kiernan, designated hitter
Dillon Tagle and shortstop/pitcher
Matt Vinagro, who was selected as a utility player.
Barrett finished 2-0 with two saves and a team-best 1.35 earned run averages in 13 relief appearances. In 20 innings of work, Barrett allowed 14 hits and struck out 14 while holding opponents to a .194 average. Barrett picked up saves in both of the Blue Jays' wins in the Commonwealth Conference playoffs.
For his career, Barrett finished with a 3-2 record and three saves in 41 games, striking out 39 batters in 62 1/3 innings of work.
Motika led the Blue Jays in batting with a .368 average, finishing with 17 runs batted in and 21 runs scored. He had 12 multi-hit games and made just two errors in 105 chances behind the plate. In two seasons, Motika has a .358 average (53-for-148) with 26 runs scored and 21 RBIs.
Francis batted leadoff and played center field in all 40 games, finishing with a .291 average and team highs 38 runs scored. Francis ranked second in the Commonwealth Conference with 23 stolen bases and had a 12-game hitting streak from March 24 to April 10.
A second-team All-Commonwealth honoree in 2008, Francis finished his career ranked among the program leaders in several offensive categories, including runs scored (135, second), hits (165, fifth), doubles (40, tied for fourth), runs batted in (107, seventh), stolen bases (69, third) and games played (151, fifth).
Kiernan, a first-team All-Commonwealth pick last season, started all 40 games in right field and hit .344 with 13 doubles, five home runs and a team-high 32 runs batted in, along with a team-best 53 hits. He stole six bases, hit five sacrifice flies and handled 76 chances without an error, including five assists. Kiernan finished his career with a 14-game hitting streak.
In his career, Kiernan finished tied for the ninth-highest batting average in program history at .362 along with 11 home runs, 82 runs batted in and 122 hits in 97 games. In the outfield, he accepted 159 chances without an error including seven assists.
Tagle hit .363 while making 24 of his 38 starts at designated hitter and 13 more starts behind the plate. He led the Blue Jays with 14 doubles and a .438 on-base percentage, and finished with 45 hits and 17 runs batted in along with 18 walks. He will carry a 12-game hitting streak into the 2011 season.
Vinagro, a second-team All-Conference choice as a sophomore, set career highs in several offensive categories, including batting average (.358), runs batted in (27) and doubles (nine), and made 28 starts at shortstop and fashioned a .952 fielding percentage. On the mound, Vinagro led the Blue Jays in wins with a 5-4 record and two saves in 12 games (10 starts) with a 4.96 earned run average. In 61 2/3 innings, Vinagro struck out 39 and walked just 18 and threw four complete games including a pair of shutouts.
In his career, Vinagro hit .278 with 127 hits, 75 runs batted in and 92 runs scored as a hitter, and in two years as a pitcher he finished 14-5 with a 3.78 earned run average in 25 games (22 starts) with eight complete games and three shutouts. In 140 1/3 career innings, Vinagro walked just 35 batters and struck out 95.
Tom DeAngelis of conference champion Widener University was named Commonwealth Conference Player of the Year, while his coach Steve Carcarey earned Coach of the Year honors. Alvernia University took the league's other two major awards as Shane Zellers was named Pitcher of the Year and Chris Ray was voted Rookie of the Year.