WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? Seven Monmouth University baseball players were honored by the New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association (NJCBA) on Thursday, being named to All-State Teams, while Ryan Terry was named the 2008 NJCBA Rookie of the Year.
Seniors Brad Brach, Justin Esposito, Andy Meyers and Kyle Higgins, along with sophomore Ryan Buch and freshman Nick Pulsonetti were added to the NJCBA First-Team, while junior Brett Holland was named to the Second Team squad. Head coach Dean Ehehalt earned Coach of the Year honors.
Brach, a two-time NJCBA Pitcher of the Year award winner, is one of two Monmouth starting pitchers named to the first-team. Brach, the school's all-time leader in career wins, strikeouts and innings pitched, leads the team with a 2.61 ERA, which is good for second in the Northeast Conference. The senior has fanned 60 batters in 69.0 innings of work this season.
Buch owns a 6-1 record including two complete games in 2008. The 2007 NEC Rookie of the Year and NJCBA Rookie Pitcher of the Year, leads the conference in opponent batting average with .189. Buch is currently ninth in the country in strikeouts per game, striking out 63 batters in 47.0 innings pitched.
Esposito rounds out the first-team pitchers for the Hawks. With 22 career saves, including his conference-leading 11 saves this season, Esposito is now just three away from tying the all time Monmouth record of 25.
Meyers, the first-team first baseman, became the all-time Monmouth leader in doubles with 61 this season, as he has connected on 17 two-baggers this year. The senior also ranks second all-time with 182 RBI, just five from tying the all time record.
Higgins currently leads the NEC in four categories, as the shortstop tops the league in hits (80), runs scored (47), triples (4) and batting average (.388).
Pulsonetti, who has earned NEC weekly honors five times in his rookie campaign, rounds out the first team selection for the Blue and White. Pulsonetti became the first Hawk to record double-digit home runs (10) since Jay Law's 16 and Jeff Toth's 13 round trippers in 2001.
Holland, named to the second-team outfield, is having a career year, batting .331 with 42 hits, 33 runs, 30 RBIs and 16 stolen bases.
Terry is the second Monmouth freshman to achieve this award, the first being Marc Weres in 2003. Batting .336 with 51 hits, 14 doubles, 37 runs and seven home runs, Terry has helped the Blue and White clinch its league-record 12th appearance in the Northeast Conference Tournament.
Ehehalt earned his sixth NJCBA Coach of the Year honors, as he has guided the Hawks to a program-record 34 regular season wins with one week of action left. Ehehalt, who lead the Hawks to a school-record 36 wins last season, earned his 400th career win earlier this season.
The Hawks will play their final regular season series this weekend at Long Island University, before heading to Atlantic City, N.J. to defend their Northeast Conference Championship.
