 Valichka
Named CAA Baseball Co-Defensive Player of
the Year Award; Tsakonas Earns Second Team
Honors
DATE: May
24, 2005
WILMINGTON,
NC -- University of Delaware senior
catcher Brian Valichka (right) was named
the 2005 Colonial Athletic Association
Co-Defensive Player of the Year while
freshman Adam Tsakonas was selected to the
All-CAA second team at the CAA Baseball
Awards Banquet Tuesday night.
Outfielders
Brandon Menchaca and Dan Richardson along
with pitcher Mike McGuire represented the
Blue Hens on the All-Rookie
Team.
Valichka
(Frederick, MD/Urbana), who shared the
defensive award with Towson catcher Pete
Farina, is Delaware's first Defensive
Player of the Year winner in school
history. He has appeared in 52 games and
started 49, all but three behind the
plate, for the Blue Hens, committing just
four errors and recording a .991 fielding
percentage.
Valichka
has also picked eight runners off base and
has thrown out 19 potential base stealers
on the year. Additionally Valichka has had
a solid season at the plate, batting .274
with 54 hits and 30 runs scored while
tying for second on the team with 16
doubles.
Tsakonas
(Pottstown, PA/Boyertown Area) was named
to the second team as a utility player
after starting 27 games at first base and
18 at third base for the Blue Hens this
season. He has appeared in 50 games while
ranking second on the team with a .306
batting average, and hit a grand slam
against Hofstra on March 26. Tsakonas is
also among Delaware's leaders with 55
hits, 34 runs scored, 11 doubles, three
triples, seven home runs, and 34 runs
batted in this year.
Menchaca
(Wilmington, DE/Concord), who was twice
named the CAA Rookie of the week this
season, has appeared in 51 games while
starting 47 in centerfield for Delaware.
The team's leader with eight home runs,
Menchaca has batted .298 this year while
ranking third on the Blue Hens with 56
hits and 35 RBIs. Menchaca is also tied
for the team lead with 18 stolen bases and
has committed just two errors in the
outfield this season.
Richardson
(Bear, DE/Caravel Academy), who was
selected the league's Rookie of the Week
on April 18, has batted .304 this season
while appearing in 42 games with 39 starts
in rightfield. He has posted 45 hits, 32
runs scored, 13 doubles, and six home runs
while knocking home 27 this year, and hit
a grand slam against Towson on April 3.
Richardson had a big series at regular
season champion UNC Wilmington, hitting a
home run while driving in four on April 15
and adding three singles two days
later.
McGuire
(Swarthmore, PA/Ridley) has gone 5-4 with
a 4.73 earned run average while making 11
starts this season, second most on the
team. The CAA Rookie of the Week on April
24, McGuire leads the Blue Hens with 72.1
innings pitched and ranks second with 61
strikeouts this year. He struck out nine
in 4-2 wins over Hofstra on March 24 and
Old Dominion on April 22, and had 10
strikeouts in a season-high eight innings
of work during the 7-1 victory over
William & Mary on April 29.
Towson
outfielder and pitcher Casper Wells was
named the CAA Player of the Year, while
Virginia Commonwealth shortstop Sergio
Miranda was selected the league's Rookie
of the Year and UNC Wilmington's Mark
Scalf was tabbed the Coach of the
Year.
Delaware,
which went 26-29 overall and finished in
fifth place in the CAA with a 13-11 mark,
opens play in the CAA Tournament on
Wednesday at 12 noon when the Blue Hens
take on second-seeded George Mason at UNC
Wilmington's Brooks Field.
2005
All-CAA Baseball First Team
C - Mike
DeCarlo, William & Mary; 1B - Jason
Maxey, Towson; 2B - Scott Sizemore,
Virginia Commonwealth; SS - Sergio
Miranda, Virginia Commonwealth; 3B - Matt
Poulk, UNC Wilmington; OF - Tim Preston,
UNC Wilmington; OF - Matt Cooksey, George
Mason; OF - John Raynor, UNC Wilmington;
DH - Tim St. Clair, Virginia Commonwealth;
UT - Casper Wells, Towson; SP - Stacen
Grant, George Mason; SP - Ronald Hill, UNC
Wilmington; RP - Adam Paul, UNC
Wilmington
Second
Team
C - Chris
Hatcher, UNC Wilmington; 1B - Chris Looze,
George Mason; 2B - Will Rhymes, William
& Mary; SS - Shane Justis, Towson; 3B
- Ricky Caputo, Hofstra; OF - Mark
Chiccini, Towson; OF - Adam Heffron,
Towson; OF - Josh Stewart, Hofstra; DH -
Matt Kougasian, Hofstra; UT - Adam
Tsakonas, Delaware; SP - Harold Mozingo,
Virginia Commonwealth; SP - Chris Rhoades,
Towson; RP - Jason Mills, George Mason; RP
- Jeff Denlea, Hofstra
All-Rookie
Team
SS -
Sergio Miranda, Virginia Commonwealth; OF
- Kellen Kulbacki, James Madison; OF -
Jason Appel, UNC Wilmington; OF - Kwan
Evans, Virginia Commonwealth; OF - Brandon
Menchaca, Delaware; DH - Matt Kougasian,
Hofstra; P - Allen Flood, UNC Wilmington;
P - Mike McGuire, Delaware; P - Jake Rule,
William & Mary; OF - Dan Richardson,
Delaware; P/OF - Ryan Reid, James
Madison
Player
of the Year: Casper Wells, OF/P,
Towson
Co-Defensive
Players of the Year: Pete Farina, C,
Virginia Commonwealth; Brian Valichka, C,
Delaware
Rookie
of the Year: Sergio Miranda, SS,
Virginia
Commonwealth
Coach
of the Year: Mark Scalf, UNC
Wilmington
Copyright,
© 2005, University of Delaware. All
rights reserved.
Please direct Athletics questions to the
Athletics
Media
Relations
office.
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