After previously being named the NCBWA East Region Player of the
Year, senior catcher Mike Russo of St. Thomas Aquinas has been
named both the American Baseball Coaches Association and Daktronics
East Region Player of the Year. In addition, eight other
student-athletes from the East Coast Conference earned All-Region
honors.
Russo, a senior catcher from Boca Raton, Fla., led the ECC in
homeruns (11) and RBI (62) for the second year in a row, while also
hitting .343 on the year. He also helped the Spartans to their
first ever ECC Championship and appearance in the NCAA Tournament
by ranking in the top five in the ECC in nearly every offensive
category with 47 runs, 62 hits, 17 doubles, four triples, 120 total
bases, 27 walks, a .425 on-base percentage, and a .663 slugging
percentage.
Russo was one of five Spartans to be named to both the ABCA and
Daktronics All-Region teams with senior second baseman Effrain
Bautista as the only other player to join Russo on both First
Teams. Kenny Kirshner, Rich Baerga, and Stanley Susana were both
Second Team selections by the ABCA while Baerga and Susana earned
First Team honors from Daktronics.
Bridgeport catcher Tim Bickford was a Second Team All-Region
honoree by both listings while ECC Pitcher of the Year, Tyler
Badamo of Dowling (First Team), John Ascenzia of Bridgeport (Second
Team) and Joe Salanitri of Queens (Second Team), were selected to
the Daktronics All-Region squad.
To view the ABCA All-Region teams, click here.
To view the Daktronics All-Region teams, click here.
