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Thursday, May 24, 2007
GILBLAIR SHARES NATIONAL PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR AWARD
Sophomore pitcher/DH joined on All-America baseball team by teammates Re and Castillo
APPLETON, Wis. – Sophomore pitcher/designated hitter Shawn Gilblair (Windham, CT) shares the award as NCAA Division III national Player-of-the-Year and has been joined on the American Baseball Coaches’ Association (ABCA) All-America team by senior centerfielder Randy Re (Danbury, CT) and freshman shortstop Melvin Castillo (Danbury, CT).
Gilblair repeated first-team All-America honors – being named at the utility position this year, and as a pitcher a year ago -- and was joined on the first team by Re. Castillo becomes the program’s third freshman All-America – following Gilblair last year -- by earning third-team accolades.
Gilblair shares the national Player-of-the-Year award with Chapman University sophomore utility player Kurt Yacko. Yacko is batting .400 with six home runs and 45 RBI and as a pitcher is 5-1 with nine saves, 93 strikeouts and 16 walks and a 1.38 ERA in 71 2/3 inning for the nation’s No. 1-ranked team. Gilblair becomes the program’s second national Player-of-the-Year, following Basilio Ortiz in1991.
Re was additionally honored as the New England region’s Gold Glove winner. Re has fielding flawlessly this year, having collected 100 putouts and two assists in starting all 48 games this season in center field.
Last year, Gilblair became the program’s second All-America, first since current assistant coach Len Reed of Willimantic earned second-team NAIA All-America honors in 1970. Gilblair becomes only the second player in program history to be named first-team All-America as many as two times in a career, joining Ortiz (1990-91).
A left-handed pitcher and hitter, Gilblair repeated as a first-team All-New England Region selection this year at the utility position and was named Little East Conference Pitcher-of-the-Year, first-team all-conference at pitcher, second-team all-conference at designated hitter, conference tournament MVP for the second straight year and to the New England Regional Tournament all-tournament team.
Gilblair (11-1, 2.01) is ranked ninth nationally in wins and also leads the staff in starts (12), innings, (85.0), strikeouts (75) and complete games (2). He has won nine straight decisions since absorbing a 5-3 loss to Kean University in the northern-opener March 27. Offensively, he is second on the team in batting average (.395) and third in hits (62) total bases (92), runs (45) and RBI (50).
In 26 career pitching appearances, Gilblair has won 19 games and lost only two with a 1.84 ERA, 163 strikeouts and only 21 walks in 166 2/3 innings. With one more win in 2007, Gilblair will be on the pace of Steve Thomas, who won a program record 40 games in a four-year career.
Re was a first-team All-New England Region and first-team all-conference selection in the outfield this year and was also named to the New England Regional Tournament all-tournament team. Bidding to become the program’s 25th player to bat as high as .400 in a season, Re is batting a team-leading .411 and also tops the Warriors in hits (76), on-base percentage (.496), walks (30), stolen bases (17), at-bats (185) and shares the team lead with 55 runs scored. Re has hit safely in 18 of his last 19 and 22 of his last 24 and has not been under .400 since April 28. To date, only six players have exceeded the hit total of Re, who needs five hits to record the second-most hits in a season, behind Dwight Wildman (93 in 2004).
Appearing in his third national tournament in four years, Re is ranked sixth all-time in hits (225) and runs (161), tied for sixth in stolen bases (63), seventh in total bases (357), tied for seventh in home runs (24), eighth in doubles (40) and tied for eighth in fielding (.988).
Earlier this year, Castillo was named a first-team All-New England and first-team all-conference pick at shortstop, and conference Rookie-of-the-Year. Last weekend, he was named MVP of the New England Regional Tournament by batting .462 with three home runs and nine RBI.
Having appeared in all 48 games, Castillo leads Eastern in total bases (135), slugging (.752), RBI (56), home runs (14), doubles (16), assists (102) and shares the team lead in runs (55). He has broken a number of freshman records this season, with his freshman-record home runs total equaling the fourth-highest total in a season by any Eastern player behind Brian Mercado and Dwight Wildman (20 each) and Don Fusari (17). His total bases are the sixth-most in a season and his RBIs equal the eighth-highest total in a season in program history.
Castillo has had hitting streaks of ten and nine this year and enters the nationals having hit safely in ten of his last 11 games.
The three All-Americas give Eastern 50 such honorees (18 first-teamers) since 1970 and marks the second time in four years that the Warriors have received three All-America selections. The program now has 45 NCAA All-Americas (17 first-teamers) since 1976.
Ranked fifth in Division III, Eastern (38-10) opens play in its 14th national tournament (12th in the NCAA) Friday at 2:15 p.m. ET against Carthage College at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, WI. Gilblair is expected to open on the mound, looking for his first national tournament decision.
