BEREA, OHIO -- Six Baldwin Wallace University baseball players have been named to the 2014 All-Ohio Athetic Conference team by the league coaches. The six had a profound impact on this year's team which has been selected to play in this weekend's eight-team NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Region Tournament at host Misercordia College in Dallas, Pennsylvania starting on Wednesday, May 14.
Yellow Jackets selected to the first-team are senior third baseman Brad Gugliotta (Twinsburg), junior first baseman Kyle Chontos (Pickerington/ North), sophomore second baseman Mark Zimmerman (Akron/ Green) and sophomore designated hitter Hunter Handel (Akron/ Green). Junior pitcher Cory Waite (Willoughby/ South) was named to the second-team and senior catcher Joe Hiller (Twinsburg) received third-team accolades. It was the second OAC honor for the trio of Gugliotta, Chontos and Zimmerman.
Gugliotta, who carries a 3.47 grade average and also is both two times Academic All-OAC and CAPITAL ONE Academic All-District 7, advanced to the first-team after making the second-team a year ago. He is batting a team-leading .384 following an OAC Tournament weekend where he had a single-game record-tying five base hits in an 11-9 win versus John Carroll University. Gugliotta has single-season records of 185 at-bats and 71 base hits. He also has scored 48 runs with 13 doubles, two triples, one home run, 30 runs batted-in and six stolen bases.
Chontos also advances to the first-team after being a second-team pick in 2012. He is tied for second with a .381 batting average (64-for-168) with 41 runs scored, 17 doubles (one shy of a school-record, one triple, team-leading totals of five homers and 43 RBI and 10 steals in 11 attempts.
Zimmerman was named to the first-team for the second straight year. He is fourth with a .370 batting average (68-for-184) with 44 runs scored, 14 doubles, two triples, three homers, 41 RBI and six steals in nine attempts.
Handel is making his first appearance on the All-OAC first-team. He is tied with Chontos for second on the squad with a .381 batting average (53-for-139) with 24 runs scored, seven doubles, three triples, three homers, 41 RBI and one stolen base.
Waite, is making the All-OAC team for the first time and is the ace of the Yellow Jacket pitching staff. In 16 appearances, including eight starts, he has a team-best six wins and 6-2 record with a team-leading 2.63 earned run average, one complete game and one shutout. He has struck out 33 batters in a team-leading 68 and one-third innings pitched.
Hiller also is making the All-OAC squad for the first time. He is having his best season as a collegian this spring Hiller is batting .304 (28-for-92) with 18 runs scored, four doubles, 14 RBI and six steals in six attempts.
BW has compiled a 25-18 overall record and advanced to the OAC Tournament championship game. The Yellow Jackets will open NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Region play on Wednesday, May 14 versus host Misercordia at a time yet to be determined.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
