ISLANDIA, N.Y.-- Eleven America East baseball all-conference nominees were also recognized for their academic achievement as members of the 2008 America East Baseball All-Academic Team. These awards were handed out at the annual championship banquet Wednesday night at the Marriott Islandia in Islandia, N.Y. Click here for full release and list of award winners in PDF.
The All-Academic Team, which honors the conference’s top athletes with a 3.0 grade-point average or higher, was highlighted by the 2008 Pitcher of the Year, Joe Serafin from Vermont. Also honored were Binghamton’s Ryan James, Joe Charron, Hartford’s Adam Grap, UMBC’s Will Delawter, Ryan Morse, Steve Russo, Tom Meaney, Stony Brook’s Mike Stephan, Steve Mazzurco, and Vermont’s Ethan Paquette. Three members of the All-Academic Team were first-team all-conference, one was a second-team pick and seven appeared on the ballot. Morse led all honorees with a 3.79 GPA.
The All-Academic team is a product of the June 2005 Athletics Director meetings. Faculty representatives and athletics directors from each of the conference’s nine member institutions decided to honor some of the league’s top athletes that are also quality students.
The All-Academic Team has been selected based on the student-athlete’s academic and athletic accomplishments. Academic achievement for consideration requires student-athletes to have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 entering the season. Athletically, student-athletes are required to be a nomination on the postseason awards ballot, which is determined by the league’s head coaches. Team size for team sports is based on the number of athletes recognized on the all-conference team (e.g., 12 honored in baseball). Freshmen are not eligible for the all-academic teams and grade-point averages are taken from the semester prior to the competing athletic season.