The University of Vermont took home two of the top four America East baseball honors as junior outfielder Jeff Barry was chosen the recipient of the Len Harlow Award, given to the conference's Player of the Year and Bill Currier was selected Coach of the Year. It was the first time a Catamount had won any of the four major annual awards given by the conference. University of Maine sophomore right-hander Mike MacDonald was named Pitcher of the Year. Stony Brook University right-hander Jon Lewis was chosen the Rookie of the Year. The awards, which are determined by voting of the conference's head coaches, were announced at the annual banquet at Memorial Gymnasium on the Maine campus.
Barry leads America East in batting (.408), hits (UVM single-season record 69), triples (5), and stolen bases (UVM single-season record 32). He currently ranks 17th in the nation in stolen bases per game (.68). The right-handed hitting centerfielder batted .394 with 19 RBI in 22 America East games and was a perfect 13-of-13 in stolen base attempts. He enters the America East Championship with a 12-game hitting streak.
Currier, now in his 15th year as head coach at his alma mater, has guided the Catamounts to the No. 2 seed in the America East Championship with a 14-8 conference mark and a 27-20 overall record. He holds the Vermont record for career wins with a mark of 317-289 (.523).
MacDonald is 6-2 overall with a 3.25 earned run average. He has struck out 55 and walked 26. MacDonald was even better in conference games, compiling a 4-1 mark with a 0.79 earned run average. He had three complete-game shutouts in his six America East starts and is the second-straight Black Bear to win the Pitcher of the Year Award, following Rusty Tucker, who is now pitching in the San Diego Padres organization. MacDonald is the fifth Maine pitcher to win the honor since 1991.
Lewis is 8-3 with a 3.50 earned run average for the Seawolves, who recently completed their first regular season in America East and enter the conference championship as the No. 4 seed. He leads America East in both strikeouts (86) and innings pitched (79.2) and is tied for the lead in wins. Among his efforts this season was an 11-inning no decision in the Seawolves' 13-inning win over Vermont on April 7.
MacDonald was joined on the first team by sophomore teammate Mike Collar, a right-handed pitcher, and junior catcher Luke Carlin of Northeastern University. The infield consisted of rookie Ryan Cuscovitch of University of Hartford at first base, junior Mike Grasso of University at Albany at second base, sophomore Ron Acabbo of Hartford at third base and rookie Bobby Tewksbary of Vermont at shortstop. The outfield included Barry, sophomore Simon Williams of Maine and senior Eddie Scott of Albany. Rookie Aaron Izaryk of Maine was the designated hitter.
Collar is 8-2 with a 2.80 earned run average, third in America East. He has struck out 66, walked 17 and has thrown nine complete games to tie for the Maine single-season record. It marks the first time since 1998 that one school has had both first-team all-conference pitchers. Carlin is hitting .363, third in America East, and has 17 stolen bases in 21 attempts.
Cuscovitch batted .323 with five home runs and 35 RBI. Grasso hit .344 with 28 stolen bases in 35 attempts, second in America East. Acabbo led the Hawks with a .349 average and had a Hartford single-season record 20 doubles. Tewksbary is batting .340 and ranks fourth in America East with a .463 on-base percentage.
Williams is batting .380, second in America East, and leads the conference with a .520 on-base percentage. He has 21 stolen bases in 23 attempts. Scott hit .339 with 27 RBI and 15 stolen bases in 21 attempts. Izaryk is batting .384 with 18 RBI.
The second-team pitchers were Albany sophomore right-hander Steve Emmerthal, who is 6-1 and second in America East with a 2.38 earned run average, and Vermont junior left-hander Brian Robinson, who is 6-3 and ranks fourth in America East with a 2.89 earned run average. Junior Alain Picard of Maine, who is fifth in America East with a .350 average, was the second-team catcher.
The second-team infield included Binghamton University sophomore Jamie Boyer at first base, Stony Brook junior Rich Graham at second base, Maine junior Joe Drapeau at third base, and Stony Brook rookie Matt Devins at shortstop. The second-team outfield consisted of rookie Tony Vallone of Albany, senior Mike Ross of Maine and senior Dwayne Whitaker of Stony Brook, who is tied for the America East lead with nine home runs. The second-team designated hitter was rookie Jason Carey of Vermont.
Drapeau, who is tied for the conference lead with nine home runs, and Ross are the only repeat selections on the all-conference teams. Drapeau was a first-team selection in 2001 after being named to the second team in 2000. Ross earned second-team honors in 1999 and 2000.
Lewis, Cuscovitch, Tewksbary, Izaryk, Devins, Vallone and Carey were joined on the all-rookie team by Northeastern right-hander Devin Monds, who leads America East with a 1.93 earned run average, and teammate Miguel Paquette, a designated hitter/first baseman.
Seven of the first-team selections and eight of the second-team honorees will be in action this week at the America East Baseball Championship at Mahaney Diamond in Orono, Maine. The four-team, double-elimination tournament begins Thursday when No. 2 Vermont plays No. 3 Northeastern at 3:30 p.m. and No. 1 Maine meets No. 4 Stony Brook at 7 p.m. The championship continues with three games Friday and the title game(s) Saturday.
First Team
Player School Cl. Pos. Hometown/High School
Mike Collar Maine So. RHP Scarborough, Maine/Scarborough
Mike MacDonald Maine So. RHP Camden, Maine/Camden-Rockport
Luke Carlin Northeastern Jr. C Ayler, Quebec/Philemon Wright
Ryan Cuscovitch Hartford Fr. 1B South Windsor, Conn./East Catholic
Mike Grasso Albany Jr. 2B Albany, N.Y./Bishop Maginn
Ron Acabbo Hartford So. 3B Bethany, Conn./Notre Dame
Bobby Tewksbary Vermont Fr. SS Hudson, N.H./Alvirne
Jeff Barry Vermont Jr. OF Essex Junction, Vt./Essex
Simon Williams Maine So. OF Portland, Maine/Portland
Eddie Scott Albany Sr. OF Kingston, N.Y./Kingston
Aaron Izaryk Maine Fr. DH Markham, Ontario/Markham
Second Team
Steve Emmerthal Albany So. RHP Jewitt City, Conn./St. Bernard
Brian Robinson Vermont Jr. LHP Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth
Alain Picard Maine Jr. C Ste. Foy, Quebec/St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.)
Jamie Boyer Binghamton So. 1B Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township
Rich Graham Stony Brook Jr. 2B Rocky Point, N.Y./Rocky Point
Joe Drapeau Maine Jr. 3B Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford
Matt Devins Stony Brook Fr. SS Utica, N.Y./Notre Dame
Tony Vallone Albany Fr. OF Greenwich, N.Y./Greenwich Central
Mike Ross Maine Sr. OF Foxboro, Mass./Worcester Academy
Dwayne Whitaker Stony Brook Sr. OF St. James, N.Y./Smithtown
Jason Carey Vermont Fr. DH Colchester, Vt./Colchester
All-Rookie Team (regardless of position)
Tony Vallone Albany Fr. OF Greenwich, N.Y./Greenwich Central
Ryan Cuscovitch Hartford Fr. 1B South Windsor, Conn./East Catholic
Aaron Izaryk Maine Fr. DH Markham, Ontario/Markham
Devin Monds Northeastern Fr. RHP Ottawa, Ontario/Nepean
Miguel Paquette Northeastern Fr. DH Casselman, Ontario/Casselman
Jon Lewis Stony Brook Fr. RHP Queens, N.Y./Francis Lewis
Matt Devins Stony Brook Fr. SS Utica, N.Y./Notre Dame
Bobby Tewksbary Vermont Fr. SS Hudson, N.H./Alvirne
Jason Carey Vermont Fr. DH Colchester, Vt./Colchester
Len Harlow Player of the Year: Jeff Barry, Jr., OF, Vermont
Pitcher of the Year: Mike MacDonald, So., RHP, Maine
Rookie of the Year: Jon Lewis, Fr., RHP, Stony Brook
Coach of the Year: Bill Currier, Vermont