Eight Rams Named All-Conference for Baseball

Posted: May 04, 2011

Eight Rams Named All-Conference for Baseball

- Bula, Curtis, Cruz, Bohonan, Phelan, McAllister, Rubenstein and Zilnicki named All-Skyline -

The Skyline Conference released the 2011 All-Conference Baseball selections on Wednesday, May 4th. Senior Melvin Simmons of Old Westbury has been named the 2011 Skyline Baseball Player of the Year in voting conducted by the league's nine head coaches.

The Skyline coaches also selected Albert Baez of Purchase as Pitcher of the Year, Old Westbury's Tyler Levine as Rookie of the Year and Rod Stephan of Old Westbury as Coach of the Year. In addition, NYU-Poly received the Team Sportsmanship Award.

Simmons leads the league in hits (58), runs scored (41) and steals (40) and ranks sixth in batting with a .377 average. The Bronx, N.Y., native has 27 RBI and leads the Panthers with a .413 on-base percentage. He was tabbed the Skyline Player of the Week on Apr. 4.

Baez is 4-1 with a 2.77 earned run average and ranks second in the Conference with 57 strikeouts in 55.1 innings pitched. Twice named the Skyline Pitcher of the Week this season, the senior rigthhander has registered three complete games while limiting opposing hitters to a .216 batting average.

A resident of East Meadow, N.Y., Levine boasts a 4-1 record with a 3.12 earned run average in 49 innings pitched. A two-time Rookie of the Week selection, the freshman righthander has surrendered just 15 extra-base hits and tossed 8.2 strong innings on Apr. 30 to lead Old Westbury past Mount Saint Vincent, 8-3, in the semifinals of the 2011 Skyline Championship.

Now in his fifth season with the program and first year as interim head coach, Stephan led Old Westbury to a 9-7 mark (22-19 overall) in league play and the fifth seed in the 2011 Skyline Championship. The Panthers posted wins over Mount Saint Mary (10-7), St. Joseph's-L.I. (12-3) and Mount Saint Vincent (8-3) to reach the finals before falling to Farmingdale State on May 1, 10-1. Stephan is a graduate of Queens College.

The All-Conference first-team consists of Farmingdale State teammates Terrence Bohonan, C.J. Bula, Brandon Cruz and Kevin Curtis; Joe Benkert, Dennis Nover and Prateek Thaman of St. Joseph's-L.I.; Old Westbury's Anthony Orsano and Josef Schaetzle; Austin Groves and Kevin McQuade of Purchase; Mount Saint Vincent's James Labartino; and Anthony Finch of NYU-Poly. Curtis was recently named the Most Valuable Player of the Skyline Championship.

The second-team All-Conference includes Mark Donahue and Matt Paz of Purchase; Mount Saint Mary's Vinnie Carminati and Max Tecce; Joey Semler of Maritime; Old Westbury's Joe Guido; Mike Pope of Mount Saint Vincent; and Farmingdale State's Ryan McAllister, Chris Phelan, Ryan Rubenstein and David Zilnicki.

SKYLINE BASEBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

Player of the Year: Melvin Simmons, Old Westbury

Pitcher of the Year: Albert Baez, Purchase

Rookie of the Year: Tyler Levine, Old Westbury

Coach of the Year: Rod Stephan, Old Westbury

Tournament MVP: Kevin Curtis, Farmingdale State

Team Sportsmanship Award: NYU-Poly

First-Team:

Joe Benkert - St. Joseph's-L.I. - Sr. - P - Lindenhurst, N.Y.

C.J. Bula - Farmingdale State - Jr. - P - Bronx, N.Y.

Anthony Orsano - Old Westbury - Jr. - C - Williston Park, N.Y.

Kevin Curtis - Farmingdale State - Sr. - 1B - Riverhead, N.Y.

Dennis Nover - St. Joseph's-L.I. - Jr. - 2B - Fresh Meadows, N.Y.

Brandon Cruz - Farmingdale State - Sr. - SS - Bronx, N.Y.

Anthony Finch - NYU-Poly - So. - 3B - Manhattan, N.Y.

Terrence Bohonan - Farmingdale State - So. - OF - Patchogue, N.Y.

Austin Groves - Purchase - Sr. - OF - Stratford, Conn.

James Labartino - Mount Saint Vincent - Sr. - OF - Holbrook, N.Y.

Prateek Thaman - St. Joseph's-L.I. - Jr. - OF - Hauppauge, N.Y.

Josef Schaetzle - Old Westbury - Sr. - DH - Bellmore, N.Y.

Kevin McQuade - Purchase - Jr. - UT - Mamaroneck, N.Y.

Second-Team:

Matt Paz - Purchase - So. - P - Bridgeport, Conn.

Chris Phelan - Farmingdale State - Jr. - P - Patchogue, N.Y.

Joey Semler - Maritime - So. - C - Kirkland, Wash.

Mike Pope - Mount Saint Vincent - Sr. - 1B - Massapequa, N.Y.

Joe Guido - Old Westbury - Jr. - 2B - Baldwin, N.Y.

Max Tecce - Mount Saint Mary - Jr. - SS - Glen Cove, N.Y.

Ryan McAllister - Farmingdale State - Jr. - 3B - Miller Place, N.Y.

Vinnie Carminati - Mount Saint Mary - Fr. - OF - Huntington, N.Y.

Mark Donahue - Purchase - Jr. - OF - Brookhaven, N.Y.

Ryan Rubenstein - Farmingdale State - Sr. - OF - Deer Park, N.Y.

David Zilnicki - Farmingdale State - So. - DH - Riverhead, N.Y.

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