Lyon baseball wins three major NEWMAC awards, five named all-conference

May 1, 2007

WORCESTER, MA- After wrapping up its eighth New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament title over the weekend, the seventh-ranked Wheaton College baseball team had a successful showing at Tuesday's coaches meeting at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), as the Lyons won three major awards and garnered five all-conference selections. Ranked first in New England by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), Wheaton sent three players to the all-conference first team.

Senior catcher Adam Laplante (Harwich, MA/Harwich) became the third Lyon to be voted NEWMAC Player of the Year in consecutive years and is the fourth Wheaton player overall in the conference's nine-year history, while junior southpaw Chris McDonough (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) brought home Wheaton's first NEWMAC Pitcher-of-the-Year honor, as the conference began recognizing the award in 2006. Head coach Eric Podbelski was named NEWMAC Coach of the Year for the seventh time since 1999.

Laplante, McDonough and senior shortstop Brandon Leonard (Brockton, MA/Brockton) provided the Blue and White with at least three all-conference first teamers for the third straight year. Junior pitcher Louie Bernardini (Gray, ME/Gray-New Gloucester) and sophomore first baseman Nick Pecora (Highland Park, NJ/Immaculata) rounded out Wheaton's honorees after being named to the second team. Laplante, Leonard and McDonough earned the second all-league awards of their careers, while Bernardini and Pecora nabbed their first.

Laplante, who is a three-year starter and one of Wheaton's top all-time catchers, is tied for fifth in the league with eight doubles and tied for eighth with 26 runs. Second on the team in doubles and slugging (.452), he is fourth in average (.323) and tied for fourth in runs. Recording a .988 fielding percentage in 258 chances, Laplante recently came off a season-best 10-game hitting streak. He has nine multiple-hit games.

McDonough has been a force as a starter this spring, surrendering just two earned runs in 46 innings with 41 strikeouts. Allowing just one earned run during his last 41.2 innings, including tossing a pair of complete-game shutouts against WPI in the conference finale and Babson College in the tournament, McDonough is ranked first in the NEWMAC with a 1.50 ERA. He is fourth in strikeouts (50) and tied for fourth in wins (5). Just 13 strikeouts away from tying the program's all-time mark, McDonough has yielded three extra-base hits in 54 innings.

Leonard has been a four-year starting fixture with the Lyons, moving up the career charts in several categories, as he is currently tied for second in stolen bases (59), fourth in runs (140), sixth in hits (188) and ninth in RBI (96). Leading the team in runs (39) and stolen bases (17) while tying for first in triples (3) this season, Leonard has 10 multiple-hit games. He paces the league in runs and is tied for second in each stolen bases and triples.

Bernardini has joined McDonough as a tough one-two punch, winning all six of his decisions to tie for the league lead in victories while ranking fifth with a 2.72 ERA and tied for eighth in strikeouts (28). Posting a 5-0 record against league competition, he has given up a mere two extra-base hits in 35.1 innings against those teams. Bernardini carried a no-hitter into the seventh against Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on April 7 and didn't allow an earned run in two wins over MIT and a victory over the United States Coast Guard Academy.

Pecora leads the NEWMAC with 34 RBI while ranking ninth in the league and second on the team in hitting with a .377 average. Pecora stands second on the squad with 49 hits and third with a .432 on-base percentage. During league play, he led Wheaton in RBI and was tied for first in hits and doubles. Recently on a nine-game hitting streak, Pecora has a team-leading nine multiple-RBI contests and 16 multiple-hit games.

Podbelski has led the Lyons to a 27-10 record and ninth straight regular season conference championship.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 5/1/07.
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