Hernandez, Morris Highlight Miami's All-ACC Selections
May 19, 2008
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Miami, the top seed in this week’s Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship, led all schools with eight selections on the 2008 All-ACC Baseball Team and also claimed a pair of individual superlatives, as announced today by Commissioner John Swofford. The honors are selected by a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
Freshman left-handed pitcher Chris Hernandez earned ACC Freshman of the Year and head coach Jim Morris was named ACC Coach of the Year. All four of Miami’s starters in the infield – first baseman Yonder Alonso, second baseman Jemile Weeks, shortstop Ryan Jackson and third baseman Mark Sobolewski – earned first team All-ACC honors. Junior centerfielder Blake Tekotte also earned first team honors along with Hernandez as Miami led all member schools with six players selected to the first team.
Sophomore lefty Eric Erickson earned All-ACC honors for the second consecutive year. He and junior closer Carlos Gutierrez were named second team All-ACC.
Hernandez started in 13 games for the Hurricanes and boasts a perfect 10-0 mark as a starter in his first season at UM. The southpaw from Miami, Fla., leads the ACC in wins (10) and stands in second with a 2.67 earned run average. He also ranks second in opponent batting averaging holding teams to a .216 batting clip and fourth in innings pitched (84.1) and strikeouts (87). Hernandez, who also is a semifinalist for the Roger Clemens Award and on the Brooks Wallace Award Revised Watch List, received his first national recognition as Pitcher of the Week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association on April 29.
Morris was voted by his peers for Coach of the Year honors after leading the Hurricanes to a 23-5 ledger in the Coastal Division for both their first overall and divisional titles. Miami, which has been ranked No. 1 in the nation since April 7, will enter this week’s ACC Championship for the fourth year in a row seeking its first league crown. Earlier this month, Morris became the sixth head skipper to reach a coaching milestone this year as he recorded his 200th ACC victory on May 9 defeating Virginia Tech 12-4 on the road.
Alonso led the ACC with 19 home runs and 62 walks while tying for third with 62 RBI. He homered 14 times in league play and has homered in 13 of Miami’s last 21 games. His 37 RBI in ACC games this season were a league-best. He enters the ACC Championship hitting .393 while slugging .816 with a .556 on-base percentage.
Weeks batted .385 in league play with 17 extra-base hits including eight doubles, two triples and seven home runs. He became UM’s all-time career leader in triples (18). He finished the regular season hitting .376 with 29 extra-base hits and is tied for the team-lead in hits (71). He drove in 31 runs in conference play and has 50 RBI on the season.
Jackson hit .359 overall and .339 in ACC games. But most impressively, he committed just six errors in 243 chances and leads Miami with 164 assists. He has a team-high 19 doubles and is fourth on the team with 43 RBI.
Sobolewski batted .337 overall and .327 in ACC games. He led all ACC third baseman with 51 RBI. He has 11 doubles, a triple and seven homers on the season.
Tekotte is tied for the team-lead with 71 hits from his leadoff spot. He ranked second in the ACC in stolen bases (22) and sixth in on-base percentage (.482). He finished the regular season hitting .376 with 68 runs scored, which was third in the ACC. He added 22 extra-base hits including 10 doubles, three triples and nine home runs. In ACC play, he ranked seventh while hitting .377 with a team-best 43 hits. He also had 40 runs, seven doubles and seven home runs.
Erickson turned in another solid campaign for Miami in his sophomore season. The lefty is 7-1 with a 3.79 ERA. He has 55 strikeouts in 59.1 innings while opponents hit just .246 against him. He went 4-1 in seven starts in the ACC.
Gutierrez recorded six saves in ACC play, which tied for the league lead. He has 10 saves on the season while posting a 3-2 mark with a 2.95 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .206 against him and he has 53 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings.
The top-seeded Hurricanes open up the 2008 ACC Baseball Championships at 1 p.m. against No. 8 seed Clemson.
2008 ALL-ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASEBALL TEAMS
FIRST TEAM
Name Cl. Position School
Yonder Alonso Jr. First Base Miami
Tim Fedroff So. Outfield North Carolina
Jimmy Gillheeney So. Relief Pitcher NC State
Chris Hernandez Fr. Starting Pitcher Miami
Ryan Jackson So. Shortstop Miami
Greg Miclat Jr. Shortstop Virginia
D.J. Mitchell Jr. Starting Pitcher Clemson
Kyle Parker Fr. DH/Utililty Clemson
Buster Posey Jr. Catcher Florida State
Jack Rye Sr. Outfield Florida State
Clayton Shunick Jr. Starting Pitcher NC State
Mark Sobolewski So. Third Base Miami
Blake Tekotte Jr. Outfield Miami
Elih Villanueva Jr. Starting Pitcher Florida State
Jemile Weeks Jr. Second Base Miami
Alex White So. Starting Pitcher North Carolina
SECOND TEAM
Name Cl. Position School
Dustin Ackley So. First Base North Carolina
Charlie Blackmon RS-Jr. Outfield Georgia Tech
Tony Delmonico Jr. Shortstop Florida State
Derek Dietrich Fr. Shortstop Georgia Tech
David Duncan Jr. Starting Pitcher Georgia Tech
Eric Erickson So. Starting Pitcher Miami
Matt Fairel So. Starting Pitcher Florida State
Tim Federowicz Jr. Catcher North Carolina
Brad Feltes Sr. Third Base Georgia Tech
Carlos Gutierrez RS-Jr. Relief Pitcher Miami
Alex Hassan So. DH/Utility Duke
Marcus Jones Jr. Outfield NC State
Pat McAnaney Sr. Starting Pitcher Virginia
Matt Payne Sr. Outfield NC State
Kyle Seager So. Second Base North Carolina
Rob Wooten Sr. Relief Pitcher North Carolina
Player of the Year – Buster Posey, Florida State
Pitcher of the Year – Alex White, North Carolina
Freshman of the Year – Chris Hernandez, Miami
Coach of the Year – Jim Morris, Miami
