ALL-BIG 5 BASEBALL TEAMS ANNOUNCED
PHILADELPHIA – Temple junior third baseman Steve Nikorak (Stroudsburg, PA / Stroudsburg) and La Salle senior righthander Kevin Fuqua (Derwood, MD / Avalon School) were named the Philadelphia Big 5 Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, in voting conducted by the city’s head coaches and sports information offices.
In that same vote, Temple freshman Will Remillard (Cohoes, NY / La Salle Institute) was named the Rookie of the Year, La Salle sophomore Pat Christensen (La Jolla, CA / La Jolla) and Villanova senior Dain Hall
(Barrington, IL / Barrington) were named the Student-Athletes of the
Year, and La Salle’s Mike Lake was named the Coach of the Year. La Salle, which won 28 games and qualified for the Atlantic 10 Tournament, was named the Team of the Year.
Nikorak led the city in doubles (23), home runs (11) and RBI (58) for the Owls this season. The second team all-Atlantic 10 selection also batted .359 and scored
56 runs. Nikorak picked up four wins on the mound and recorded three saves for
Temple. Fuqua was 6-4 with a 3.01 ERA for the Explorers and struck out 75 batters in 104.2 innings pitched. Also a second team All-Atlantic 10 pick, he ended his career as the all-time leader at La Salle in strikeouts and innings pitched. Remillard was Temple’s starting catcher as a freshman, batting .321 with 10 doubles, three home runs and 26 RBI. He also threw out 28 runners trying to steal. Christensen saved a school record 13 games and posted a 1.24 ERA for La Salle, while earning a 3.60 GPA in the classroom as an accounting major. Hall batted .266 with 19 RBI and 13 steals for Villanova and had a 3.68 GPA as a finance major.
Lake repeats as the Big 5 Coach of the Year after leading the Explorers to 28 wins, yhe most since a school record 31 in 1985, and a return trip to the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
Also on the All-Big 5 team are La Salle’s Fuqua, Christensen, Jeff Flax (North Potomac, MD/St. John’s), and Marc Schoch (Montoursville,
PA/Montoursville); Penn’s Spencer Branigan (Ross, CA / The Branson School), Paul Cusick (Wilmington, DE/Salesanium), and
Will Davis (Atlanta, GA/Marist); Saint Joseph’s Kyle
Mullen (Berwyn, PA / St. Joseph’s Prep) and Greg Kumpel (Cornwall, NY /Cornwall); Temple’s Nikorak, Ryan Ferguson (Glen
Mills, PA / Garnet Valley), Byron McKoy (Charlotte, NC / Independence), and Adrian Perez (Woodland, CA / Yuba CC); and Villanova’s Matt Fleishman (East Northport, NY / Commack).
2011 PHILADELPHIA BIG 5 TEAM
Name School Pos. Hometown AVG HR RBI
Will Davis Penn C Atlanta, GA .304 6 27
Spencer Branigan Penn 1B Ross, CA .296 7 23
Jeff Flax La Salle 2B North Potomac, MD .311 1 32
Adrian Perez Temple SS Woodland, CA .342 4 50
Steve Nikorak Temple 3B Stroudsburg, PA .359 11 58
Ryan
Ferguson Temple OF Glen Mills, PA .316 10 48
Matt Fleishman Villanova OF East Northport, NY .325 5 42
Greg Kumpel Saint Joseph’s OF Cornwall, NY .384 3 32
Byron McKoy Temple OF Charlotte, NC .365 3 39
Marc Schoch La Salle DH Montoursville, PA .288 4 32
Name School Pos. Hometown ERA W-L K
Paul Cusick Penn SP Wilmington, DE 2.70 5-3 80
Kevin Fuqua La Salle SP Derwood, MD 2.76 6-4 69
Kyle Mullen Saint Joseph’s SP Berwyn, PA 3.45 6-5 68
Pat Christensen La Salle RP La Jolla, CA 1.24 2-2 13SV
Be the first to comment