Division III ECAC New England Baseball Team
Centerville, MA --- Junior Corey McDonald was selected an ECAC Division New England All-Star yesterday in a vote by the regions head coaches. McDonald was tabbed to the first-team as a utility player as he helped the baseball team capture their fourth MASCAC Tournament and reach the Division III Baseball Tournament.
McDonald, who hails from Hudson, MA was also honored on the first-team of the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) as a designated hitter and a first-team All-MASCAC utility player. McDonald was the only first teamer from the MASCAC tabbed to the first team of the NEIBA squad while he was the only player from the confernce to earn the accolade as an ECAC All-Star.
McDonald primarily was the team's DH, but he also saw 10 games in left field, four at first base and a pair of games patrolling right.
McDonald ended the season leading the MASCAC in batting (.410), slugging (.691) and total bases (96). McDonald's eight home runs tied for the league lead while he was second in on base percentage (.517), third in RBIs (42), fourth in runs scored (41) and tied for fourth in total hits (57).
McDonald also tied WSC Hall of Famer Jason Akana's (1994-96) 22 game hit streak. McDonald fanned three in two innings of work out of the bullpen.
The Lancers finished the season leading the NCAA Division III in homers (50) and 19th in team slugging percentage (.528) as McDonald was a big part in both of those rankings. Individually, McDonald was also 22nd nationally in being hit by the pitch as he was plunked 16 times which was six off the school mark set by Zach Attaway in 2005.
Senior Tim Sweeney (Walpole, MA) of Curry was named the ECAC New England Player of the Year as sophomore James Dalton (Apoka, FL) of UMass Boston was honored as the Pitcher of the Year. First-year Oliver Van Zant (Westport, CT) of Bowdoin was the Rookie of the Year for fanning 51 in 39 innings while Tufts skipper John Casey was the Coach of the Year.
McDonald was recently featured along with classmate Corey Abbascia and sophomore teamates Tyler McElman and Phil Recco in the Boston Globe West Notebook.
Worcester State ended the season with a 31-11-1 record under the direction of 14th year head coach Dr. Dirk Baker. After a 10-4 opening round loss in the New England regionals to Eastern Connecticut the Lancers were eliminated from the NCAA Division III Baseball tournament in a 5-4 setback to St. Joseph's of Maine in 12 innings.