Cooper and Ponte to play in NEIBA All-Star game at Fenway Park

May 31, 2005

NORTON, MA- Wheaton College baseball standouts Keith Cooper (Swampscott, MA/The Pingree School) and Matt Ponte (Fairhaven, MA/Fairhaven) have been selected to play in the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) All-Star game on Sunday, June 5 at Boston's Fenway Park. Following Sunday's game, the Lyons will have sent seven players to compete in a NEIBA All-Star game since 2002.

Fifteen seniors from New England Division III college baseball teams will join a team of Division II All-Stars and play in the 31st NEIBA All-Star game at approximately 7:00 p.m., following a Red Sox-Los Angeles Angels contest that is scheduled to begin at 2:05 p.m. The team of Division II and III All-Stars will face a squad of Division I All-Stars. The University team holds a 19-9-1 lead in the series, but the College team has won three of the last four games.

Cooper and Ponte were both voted to the NEIBA All-New England second team. Cooper picked up All-New England honors for the second consecutive season from left field, while Ponte garnered regional accolades for the first time in his career as a pitcher. Cooper was voted New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Player of the Year for the second straight season, while both Cooper and Ponte were named to the conference's first team.

Cooper batted .368 with team-high totals of 68 hits, 49 runs scored, three triples and 27 stolen bases. One of only two players to have started in all 45 games, Cooper finished in a tie for second on the team with 12 doubles and also drove in 26 runs as the team's leadoff hitter.

Ponte posted a 2.13 earned run average, seven complete games, 88.2 innings, seven wins and 63 strikeouts. He started 11 games and finished with a 7-4 record. Ponte set a new school mark for complete games in a season and tied the all-time record with 10 games in a career.

Cooper and Ponte helped lead Wheaton to its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance, reaching the regional championship game for the second time in their careers. Wheaton amassed a 33-12 record with a 10-2 standing in the NEWMAC. Ranked 12th in the country, the Lyons collected their seventh straight NEWMAC regular season championship and sixth conference tournament title. The 33 victories resulted in the program's second-most wins in a season.

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