Classroom: academic achievements and successfully progressing in regards to earning a degree

Transcription

1 Lowe's Senior CLASS Awards Criteria In addition to the core requirement that the candidate be a NCAA Division 1 senior, the finalists and eventual winner will be selected based on personal qualities that define a complete student athlete. These areas of excellence are defined under the categories of,, and. : academic achievements and successfully progressing in regards to earning a degree : attributes that define the candidate's personal character, including leadership skills, work ethic and integrity : involvement in community and charity activities, utilizing the candidate's status as a college athlete to make an impact in worthwhile causes : achievements within the athlete's respective sport and their role in the success of the team Baseball 2010 Athletes: Daniel Bibona Shane Brown Stephen Cardullo Ian Choy Wes Cunningham Devon Dageford Blake Dean Mike Donato Michael Fabiaschi Jeremy Gould Clay Jones Jim Klocke Cory Kovanda Francis Larson Drew Lee Tyler Lyons Clint McKeever

2 Russell Moldenhauer Kevin Nieto Matt Payton Eric Pettis Tony Plagman Derek Poppert Kenneth Roberts Kyle Roller Mike Sodders Josh Spence David Towarnicky Corey Valine

3 Daniel Bibona (UC Irvine) Bibona was the 2010 Big West Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a 2009 UCI scholar-athlete. He has a 3.25 GPA and will be graduating June of 2010 with a sociology major and minor in education. Bibona, a team captain in 2010, struggled as a freshman, pitching just 26 innings; however, he worked hard and had success during fall ball prior to his sophomore season. One day before his first start against USC at home, he was informed that his mom was in the hospital and was diagnosed with cancer again. "When I received this news, I did not know what to do. My mom did not want anyone to know, not even me because she did not want me to be affected by the situation. She did not want the coaches to find out in case they would not let me play. I feel as though I got a lot of strength from her during that time and this is why I am the way I am to deal with difficult situations." Bibona has visited with and played with the children at Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). He has worked the youth baseball camps at UCI every year and also coaches a youth team with 2009 finalist, Ben Orloff. He is a member of a non-profit organization called American Home Dream, which is an organization that helps terminally ill children. Bibona was the 2009 Big West Pitcher of the Year and a Collegiate Baseball Louisville Slugger first-team All-American. He garnered National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Baseball America second-team All-America honors and was a CollegeBaseballInsider.com All-America first-team selection. He was a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist and Collegiate Baseball Foundation National Player of the Week. Bibona was a 16th-round draft pick by St. Louis and posted a 12-1 record as a junior, tying for second in the UCI single-season records with a.923 win percentage. He is eighth in the UCI career annals with 22 victories, 12th with 36 career starts, and seventh with 230 strikeouts. He was undefeated in Big West games, posting a 7-0 mark and recorded his first career complete game against UC Davis to give the Anteaters the conference title outright. He concluded the season as the Big West leader in ERA (2.63), strikeouts (108) and wins (12) and was second in opposing batting average (.209), batters struck out looking (30) and fourth in innings pitched (106). He ranked 5th in the country in wins and 20th in ERA and ended the season 22nd in the nation in strikeouts and 15th in hits allowed per nine innings at He was named to the Irvine Regional All-Tournament Team after recording a career-high 14 strikeouts against Fresno State in the first game of the postseason. He registered the win against then-no. 1 Cal State Fullerton, shutting out the Titans through eight innings. He enters this season as a Collegiate Baseball Louisville Slugger preseason third-team All-American, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason third-team All-American.

4 Shane Brown (University of Central Florida) Brown is a member of the UCF athletic director's honor roll six times in his career, and has made the dean's list as well. He has been nominated twice for the William Callarman Award, which is one of three of UCF's academic achievement awards and he is a favorite to win it this year. A preferred walk-on with no scholarship as a freshman, Brown did not lose hope and persevered to ultimately become one of the best student-athletes on the team. He eventually earned scholarship money as a junior, and was drafted by the New York Yankees in He now enters 2010 as UCF's top player. Brown lives by the motto, "Always remember be thankful for who you are, how you got to where you are today, who helped you along the way, and where you're headed. Be proud of who you are and give back to others unselfishly." In the summer of 2008, Brown worked in the Washington D.C. area for the RBI program, Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities, sponsored by Major League Baseball and KPMG. He helped increase participation and interest in baseball where the sport is dying due to lack of fields, funds, etc. He also increased academic participation and achievement with the young players, taught the value of team work and helped promote greater inclusion of minorities into the mainstream of the game. He also spends time with Orlando little leagues to teach the fundamentals of baseball, along with Support Families at Holidays, which works with autistic children. Brown has served with the Miracle League and disabled children, as well as the UCF Knights Give Back forest clean up. Brown has led UCF's offense in several categories the previous two seasons, including batting average and on-base percentage. He recorded a 22-game hitting streak in 2009, the second-longest streak in UCF history, and at one point reached base in 18 straight plate appearances. That helped him be named the national hitter of the week by three different organizations. At the end of the year, he was selected to the All-Conference USA second team. Not only an outfielder, Shane started his career at catcher and has also played second base and third base. He owns a.335 batting average with the Knights and has belted out 15 homers while driving in 105 runs.

5 Stephen Cardullo (Florida State University) Cardullo is a two-time member of the ACC Academic Honor Roll ( , ) and a member of the 3.0 GPA Club following his fall 2009 semester at Florida State. He is majoring in finance with a cumulative GPA of and a graduation date of the summer of Cardullo's future aspirations outside of playing baseball professionally is to become a financial advisor. Head coach Mike Martin says, "Stephen Cardullo is basically the epitome of what college baseball can do for a young man. He came in here as a walk-on and a good student and has taken that to another level, becoming a full-time starter on our ball club and a very hardworking student. Stephen has accumulated a 3.0 cumulative GPA on a regular basis and has just done a great job of performing in the classroom, on the field and in the community. It has been fun to watch the young man get better and better each day." Cardullo has participated in a variety of community service projects ranging from the Relay for Life sponsored at Florida State, the Wolfson Children's hospital visit in Jacksonville, Fla., the Charity Vision Walk sponsored by Delta Gamma sorority at Florida State and Give-A-Day - Jump Start Program where Cardullo will spend a whole day with kids participating in a variety of activities picked by the kids themselves. Cardullo begins the season as a third team preseason All-American selection by Collegiate Baseball. In 2009, he was a Baseball America first team All-American at shortstop, becoming just the second shortstop in school history to earn first team All-America accolades since Dick Howser (1957 & 1958). He was named a semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award presented to the nation's top shortstop and he earned second team All-ACC accolades. He was named to the NCAA Tallahassee All-Region Team. Cardullo finished the season hitting.376 in 62 games with 20 doubles, 10 home runs and 51 RBI in his first year as an everyday starter. He ranked second on the team in hits (89), runs (76) and stolen bases (20), while tying for the team lead in triples with three. He finished the year ranked in eight offensive categories in the ACC including runs scored (t-2nd), walks (t-4th), stolen bases (t-5th), on-base percentage (6th), hits (7th), batting average (7th), doubles (t-7th) and total bases (t-9th). He ranked nationally in runs per game, runs, hits and walks and had a record-setting performance against Ohio State in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional championship final, going 7-for-9 with five RBI, five runs, three doubles and a triple. He set the NCAA Tournament single-game record for hits and at-bats and finished the series with a.600 average and 12 hits, recording multiple hits in all three games, 10 RBI, four doubles and 18 total bases. He has a career.374 batting average and.610 slugging percentage.

6 Ian Choy (Canisius College) Choy was an ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Selection in He has a cumulative GPA of 3.52 in economics with concentration in finance. Choy is a two-time MAAC All-Academic Team Selection. He will graduate in the spring of 2010 and may pursue an MBA following graduation. Choy is a co-captain of the Canisius baseball team. He is also a representative on his school's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and a squad leader during the baseball team's ROTC training. Choy has participated in several community service projects, including working on a Habitat for Humanity build and delivering meals to the elderly and shut-ins through Meals on Wheels. He is a certified trainer in TIPS (training for intervention procedures) and has also worked at hometown church of St. Hilary's. Choy was an all-maac first-team selection in 2009 and 2007 and begins this season as a preseason All-MAAC Selection in He was the 2007 MAAC Rookie of the Year and a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. He has a.335 career batting average (11th all-time) with 173 hits (third all-time) and a.438 career on-base percentage. His.478 on-base percentage from 2009 ranks fifth all-time in school history.

7 Wes Cunningham (Murray State University) Cunningham has maintained above a 3.0 GPA all four years with an overall 3.35 average. He was named an ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-District selection in 2008 and He is majoring in history with a minor in archaeology, and will graduate in August after completing an archaeology excavation class over the summer. His career interests are to continue playing baseball for as long as possible, but then pursue a master's degree and eventually a doctorate in history or archaeology and continue with a career in that respective field, teaching at the college level and writing. Cunningham has been a part of a team for many years and operates very well with the teamwork approach. Although Murray State does not officially name captains of the team, as a senior, Wes is considered one of the leaders. There have been many times he has played ill or injured so as not to let the team down. Whether it be on the field, in the weight room, or in the classroom, his work ethic is strong. Because baseball requires traveling during the season, he has consistently done papers and homework early. He will also work while on the trips to write papers. He often takes more classes during the season because he finds that the down time on the road trips, in the hotels and on the bus, is perfect for getting work taken care of. He is always prepared in the class room and on the field. As a team, the Racers have put on clinics for kids, participated in food drives and walked in an ALS walk to benefit a former Murray State player who is ill. He was one of the players picked to address the Rotary Club last year to let the community leaders know of some needs that the baseball team had. His summer team also provided opportunities to work with children to improve baseball skills. He has worked at multiple camps for children in Louisville, and also driven around Louisville in order to collect furniture and other things for a refugee family that his church brought to America. He also participated in the canned food drive for the Student Athlete Advisory Counsel at Murray State, and spent one month in Arizona as a summer worker for a YoungLife camp. Cunningham is a two-time First-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection at two different positions and is a preseason first-team selection in He is rated as the 87th best player according to the College Baseball Blog. He ranks as Murray State's career leader with a.393 career batting average. Over the summer, he helped the El Dorado Broncos capture the NBC World Series and was selected by Baseball America as the top prospect in the Jayhawk League.

8 Devon Dageford (Louisiana Tech University) Dageford holds a 3.50 grade point average as a senior finance major at Louisiana Tech. "Devon (Dageford) is a coach's dream," Louisiana Tech head coach Wade Simoneaux said. "He is a very hard worker and a real humble guy who won't let awards get to his head. He is very deserving of any honor he receives." Dageford has been a large part of the Ruston community ever since he stepped on the Louisiana Tech campus in the fall of Dageford and the team have been very active with the Lions Club as they held a BBQ for the organization this year. The Lions Club says, "When it comes to meeting challenges, our response is simple: We serve" and that is just what Dageford has been doing. In addition to helping with the Lions Club, he has played a major role in the past two Methodist Children's Home Christmas parties in Ruston. Also Dageford is very involved with the community outreach program, which includes reading to local elementary school students and putting on a Halloween carnival on the university's campus for the children in the community. In 2009, Dageford was a second team NCBWA All-American, first team All-WAC, WAC All-Tournament team and first team All-State. He is a 2010 NCBWA Preseason first team All-American. As a junior, Dageford set new school records in both single-season home runs and total bases with 23 and 168, respectively. He concluded his first season in the WAC by leading the league in slugging percentage (.862) and placing second in home runs (23) during all games. Dageford also led Tech with 68 RBI and recorded an impressive.385 batting average as he was the team's triple crown winner, leading the Bulldogs in HRs, RBI and batting average. He was no slouch in the field either as he only recorded two errors in 51 games started in the outfield.

9 Blake Dean (Louisiana State University) Dean is a general studies major at LSU and is working toward finishing his degree requirements this year. Though he was drafted in the 10th round last season by the Minnesota Twins, Dean elected to return to LSU for his senior season. He is the acknowledged leader of an LSU team seeking to defend its national title in Dean regularly participates in philanthropic events, including the Buddy Walk in support of people with Down Syndrome, and the ALS Walk in support of people with Lou Gehrig's disease. He also participates in hospital and school visits in the Baton Rouge area. Dean is a 2008 first-team All-American and a 2009 first-team All-Southeastern Conference performer. He is recognized as one of the top sluggers in LSU's rich baseball history.

10 Mike Donato (University of Massachusetts) Donato is not only one of the top performers on the field for the Minutemen, but also holds one of the team's highest grade point averages. As a history major at UMass, Donato has excelled in the classroom, boasting a 3.41 GPA. He has been a member of the Dean's List and is a part of Chi Alpha Sigma (National Collegiate Athlete Honor Society). Donato's "blue-collar" work ethic is present in all that he does. Though quiet in nature, Donato's true ability to lead comes through his actions and is recognized and respected by his peers who elected him a team captain for the 2010 season. The UMass coaching staff praises him as a hard working person of high character and a great listener who never cuts corners and always gives a 100% effort in whatever he does, on the field and off. He is a self-motivated individual who aspires to be a teacher and desires to work in low-income communities such as the one he grew up in. Donato hopes to use his past experiences, coming from a like situation, to help children succeed, no matter how they define success. His goal is to help contribute to closing the achievement gap, in his words, "using education as a tool for success, rather than a burden that prohibits children from reaching their goals." Donato has a strong passion for giving back and has been involved in various endeavors to better the community since coming to UMass. He is volunteering at a local elementary school this semester as a teacher's aide, working with 5th and 6th grade students in social studies as well as reading/language arts with children with special needs. He has also worked as a mover for the Trash to Treasures organization and participated in a National Walk to School Day visit as a part of a group from various UMass athletic teams. As the SAAC representative from the baseball team, Donato brought toys from the SAAC toy drive to children in Shriner's Hospital in Springfield. Over the summer of 2008, Donato worked a community baseball camp in North Adams, Mass., as well. After seeing regular playing time over his first two seasons at UMass, Donato took his success to a whole new level as a junior in 2009 after working hard over the previous summer, making adjustments to his swing, etc. In a talent-stocked Atlantic 10 Conference that saw a record number of players taken in the 2009 MLB draft, Donato was one of 12 players throughout the league's 14 teams to earn an All-Atlantic 10 first team selection last season. He posted career highs in virtually every offensive category, including lifting his batting average nearly 100 points from A fixture in right field, Donato was one of just two Minutemen to play in all 53 games in He posted a.336 batting average and scored 36 runs, drove in 40 and belted 13 doubles, two triples and five home runs. He led the team in hits (73) and tied for 10th in the A-10, the sixth-most hits in a season in school history. In conference play, Donato batted.386, tied for ninth in the league, while ranking third in hits with 44. He totaled 21 multiple-hit games and six multi-rbi games last season as a junior, as well.

11 Michael Fabiaschi (James Madison University) Fabiaschi has a GPA in his major - and is a fall 2007 President's List and Dean's List member. He received the CAA Commissioner's Academic Award (4 times) and is a JMU Athletic Director Scholar-Athlete. His career goal is to work in the finance field, possibly within baseball or possibly as a financial analyst or financial consultant. Fabiaschi is a two-year member of JMU's SAAC (Student-Athlete Advisory Committee) and a two-year team captain. He completed the Dukes BALL Program (Building a Lifelong Leader) and was voted by teammates as the top "team-first guy" in After missing the first half of summer ball in the NECBL in 2007 because of an emergency appendectomy, Fabiaschi struggled throughout the second half of the summer but returned to the same league last summer (2009) and was named an all-star. Fabiaschi lost his starting position and had minor shoulder problems about halfway through his sophomore year at JMU but maintained a positive attitude and supported teammates throughout the remainder of the season and into the CAA tournament (which JMU won) and the NCAA Regionals. In a letter to the team, head coach Spanky McFarland said: "The team chose Mike Fabiaschi, Brett Garner, and Justin Wood as captains. I think it is worthy to mention that Fabs had twice as many votes as any other player. Here is a guy who lost his starting job the last third of the season, understood the decision, continued to be positive and continued to put the team first. The players recognized his outstanding leadership during personal adversity and put their trust in him to captain the team.: Fabiaschi has completed more than 50 hours of community service at the Pleasant Valley Boys & Girls Club, helping children with homework, exercise, and playing games after school. He is a member of the Aletheia church in Harrisonburg, attending weekly Bible studies. He is a participant in the Challenger game every spring at JMU helping a little league for handicapped kids. He is an active member of adopting Justin Brown to the JMU baseball team through the "Friends of Jaclyn" Foundation. Fabiaschi was a first team All-CAA at second base as a junior after losing the starting shortstop job as a sophomore. He started all 54 games in 2009 with 32 RBIs, 13 steals, and nine doubles. He is an honorable mention preseason All-CAA for his senior year. He has an 18-game hitting streak in 2009 and emerged in the first week of his freshman season to earn CAA Rookie of the Week and Buckeye Baseball Classic All-Tournament honors after hitting.500 (7-14) with six runs, six RBIs, a homer and two steals in four games. He has a.287 career average heading into his senior season with 119 starts in 141 total games.

12 Jeremy Gould (Duke University) A three-time ACC Academic Honor Roll Selection and a member of the All-ACC Academic Baseball Team, Gould boasts a GPA as a psychology major while also pursuing a certificate in markets and management studies. He has held at least a 3.00 GPA every year he has been at Duke. Gould has emerged as one of the key leaders of the Duke baseball team. He has shown time and time again his willingness to do whatever is necessary to help the team. He has played in the outfield, at first base, as a designated hitter and has even pitched during his tenure at Duke. Additionally, he is a solid representative of the team in the classroom with a GPA and in the community where he and his teammates have undertaken numerous community service projects every year. Gould has been a key part of a Duke baseball program that is heavily involved in the Durham community. Each year, the team undertakes numerous community service projects, including volunteering at the Miracle League of the Triangle, the Duke Children's Hospital, Habitat for Humanity and the Martin Luther King Jr. "Million Meals" Event, among other outings. This year, Gould and his fellow seniors organized a trip to the Duke Children's Hospital where they visited with children in the Intensive Care Unit. Gould has also spent time showing orphans from the Oxford Housing Authority around at Duke football games and volunteering at the Urban Ministries Soup Kitchen. An All-ACC Second Team choice in 2009, Gould is Duke's top returning hitter with a career.337 batting average, 85 RBI and a.474 slugging percentage. He has been just as good against ACC pitching, hitting.327 for his career against conference teams. Last year, Gould hit a career-high seven home runs, all of which came against ACC teams. As a junior, Gould logged a team-best hitting streak of 21 games after opening the season with a 20-game tear that began during his sophomore season. Gould has started 132 games in his career at Duke, including all 59 games as a junior. Gould will switch to first base this year after playing in the outfield during his first three years at Duke. Gould has hit at least.340 in each of the last two seasons and last year led Duke with 82 hits, 25 multi-hit games and 20 doubles.

13 Clay Jones (University of Alabama) Jones sports a 3.48 GPA in human performance exercise science, kinesiology and is expected to graduate in spring Jones was a member of the 2009 SEC Academic Honor Roll and was twice named to the Dean's List (2008 and 2009). Jones lost his father when he was eight years old and he and his younger brother, Ben, have been raised a by a single mom. His father was killed in helicopter crash while working for the Alabama Forestry Commission. Jones always loved sports and he made a vow to be a successful athlete in memory of his dad. He played four years at Bibb County High School, winning one state title, and two years at Shelton State before signing with the Crimson Tide. He played on two NJCAA World Series teams at Shelton State and was named to the All-Tournament team after his freshman season. His brother, Ben, is a starting offensive lineman at the University of Georgia. Jones, along with the rest of the Alabama baseball team, spent much of the fall working out and preparing for the upcoming season, but in their spare time the team was very active in the Tuscaloosa area with numerous community service projects. The team visited many schools and nursing homes and hosted Halloween and Christmas parties for a number of school-aged children, all a part of head coach Mitch Gaspard's plan of being visible and giving back to a community that has supported the Crimson Tide for many years. The baseball team spent numerous hours with students and the elderly this fall, but the highlight of the semester took place at the Sprayberry Education Center, where the team hosted a Christmas party for the students and faculty. Sprayberry is the special education facility for the Tuscaloosa County School System and serves the needs of children in five different programs, including preschool, multiple disabilities, autism, alternative and TARGET, for gifted education. The Christmas party at Sprayberry was just one of many community service projects the baseball team participated in during the fall. Other events included visiting a retirement center and spending 30 minutes each walking with the retirees; assisting with the golf tournament to benefit persons with Down's syndrome; and collecting canned foods for the Beat Auburn, Beat Hunger Canned Food Drive. UA collected more than 175,000 pounds of canned goods to beat Auburn for the third straight year. In addition, members of the team spent two hours at Brookwood Middle School to talk about the importance of education and the dangers of drugs and alcohol. They also participated in the Athletic Department's annual Halloween Extravaganza in the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility. This provides children with a safe place to go and trick-or-treat in Tuscaloosa. The baseball team spent time working a booth that allowed children to see just how fast they could actually throw a baseball with a speed gun. And the team spent a Monday night in Northport serving as coaches, officials and administrators for the annual Turkey Bowl, sponsored by Davis-Faucett Elementary School. In addition, the team raised money for gifts for children whose parents are incarcerated and hosted a party at Coleman Coliseum. Former Alabama All-American and current New York Yankees relief pitcher David Robertson also attended the event and gave the Angel Tree a $1,500 gift card to Toys r us to assist in this year's project.

14 A solid hitter, Jones returns for his senior season and is the front-runner to win the starting job at first base, a position he shared with Wes Henderson last season. The senior can hit for average and power and is coming off an excellent summer in the New England Collegiate Baseball League. He hit.336 in the wooden bat league with two doubles and 16 RBI and led the Vermont Mountaineers in on-base percentage (.442) and walks (20). He also ranked second in hitting (.336) and third in hits (40) and RBI (16). He is coming off a solid junior season, where he hit.336 with seven home runs and 37 RBI in 41 games. He was one of UA's top pinch hitters with a.571 (4-for-7) average with one home run and three RBI. Jones was a talented and highly decorated junior college hitter, who played on back-to-back National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) World Series teams in 2007 and 2008 at Shelton State College.

15 Jim Klocke (Southeast Missouri State University) Klocke has a grade point average in business administration with an emphasis in finance. He won the OVC Medal of Honor ( ), was named to the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American Second Team ( ) and the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll ( , , ), and was the Southeast Scholar Athlete ( ). Klocke has shown tremendous leadership since his arrival to the team as a freshman. On and off the field, Klocke is a class act. He is extremely coachable and is everything you want out of a player, as he leads by example. On the field, he shows leadership on offense and defense, as he competes as a pitcher and catcher and consistently ranks among the league's best in hitting. Off the field, he makes sure that he performs at the same high level in the classroom and in the community. There is no better all-around student-athlete than Klocke. Klocke participates in the following community service activities: Cape Girardeau Middle School Family Reading Night, SEMO SAAC "Deck the Halls" Holiday Fundraising and the St. Francis Medical Center Cancer Awareness Walk. Klocke also helped move elderly to new residence in Cape Girardeau and gave out Halloween candy at St. LaCroix Church in Cape Girardeau. In 2009, Klocke was drafted in the 46th round (1,389th overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. He was named a Louisville Slugger third-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball, becoming just the second player in Southeast history to earn All-American honors in multiple seasons. He was voted first-team All-OVC catcher for the second consecutive season and was an All Ping! honorable mention selection. He became the team's closer and finished 75th nationally with seven saves. His seven saves rank third in Southeast single-season history. He had a 15-game hitting streak from April 18 - May 16 in which he hit.569 (33-for-58) with eight doubles, five home runs, 16 RBIs, 56 total bases, 25 runs scored, 10 walks, a.966 slugging percentage,.638 on base percentage and only two strikeouts during that span. As a sophomore, Klocke was named first-team All-OVC catcher after leading the team and finishing seventh in the conference with a.357 batting average. During his freshman season, Klocke was named OVC Freshman of the Year and a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American.

16 Cory Kovanda (Ohio State Univeristy) Kovanda is on track to graduate while majoring in early childhood development. Kovanda was voted by his teammates to be a team co-captain as a senior. He is quick with a smile and he always seems to be making good things happen. Life hasn't been easy for him. He lost his mother, Linda, to pancreatic cancer two weeks before the start of the 2009 baseball season. At age 12 he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. He heard the swimmer Gary Hall Jr., who also has Type 1, say the disease would not run his life. Kovanda lives by that rule, too. He keeps extra food and insulin wherever he is. He checks is blood sugars repeatedly during games. He has collapsed prior to games and come close to it during games. But he gets back up and he takes care of himself. Kovanda has a twin sister, Kimberly. She was born with Down syndrome. Kovanda knows what it means to be responsible for someone with special needs. He knows what unconditional love is. He loves Kimberly. And Kimberly loves him. She likes to tell Kovanda he is her favorite brother, but then she goes and tells their older brother, Chris, that he is her favorite. Kovanda is a favorite to a lot of people around Columbus, Ohio. Kovanda has done everything from raise and give money to the pancreatic cancer society to take part in diabetes walks for life. He takes time to go to the elementary schools in Columbus and talk to children about the importance of being good people and good teammates. He also has visited cancer patients at Columbus Children's Hospital. And this year he and his teammates are working to "adopt" a cancer patient and make that individual a part of the team. This effort is still in the planning stages, but it is going to happen. Kovanda will see to it that it does. Kovanda was Ohio State's Big Ten Conference Sportsmanship honoree in He is the most experienced Buckeye, having started 157 games. He will become a four-year starter this season. He sports a.320 career batting average and he is one of the most clutch players on the team, batting.415 with runners in scoring position in He has 185 career hits and he has scored 125 runs. Last year he was second-team all-big Ten Conference. He made the Big Ten all-tournament team in And in 2007 he was a freshman All-American.

17 Francis Larson (UC Irvine) Larson is a philosophy major with a specialization that includes the philosophy of social science, biology, language and mind. He has a cumulative GPA, which puts him in the 10% of his class in the Department of Humanities. He is expected to graduate Cum Laude in Humanities. He has made the Dean's List all but one quarter of his college career. He has a 3.8 GPA within the Department of Philosophy and his expected graduation date is June Larson is a three-time Big West scholar- athlete and a member of the ESPN the Magazine District VIII All-Academic first-team in 2008 and He was the 2007 GPA Award winner at the College World Series and would like to pursue his doctoral degree within philosophy or social science fields. He has already taken the LSAT and is also considering law school. He would like to pursue a mixed academic/professional career, e.g. in consulting, politics, public policy, government or international business. He intends to work/attend school overseas. Larson is a perfect example of what it means to be a student-athlete. He has excelled in both venues to the highest level. On the baseball field, Larson was the leader of a team in 2009 that was ranked #1 in the country for 6 weeks and ended the season with a record and ranked #9. In addition to Larson's physical attributes of being one of the best catchers and hitters in the country, he has tremendous leadership qualities and off-the-chart character. In the classroom Larson falls nothing short of spectacular. He received his undergrad degree in philosophy in three years. Now in his senior year, he has passed his LSAT in the 90th percentile and continues to attend UCI in post-graduate courses in political science and philosophy. Larson has participated in many team-sponsored activities within the community. He has visited with and played with the children at Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). He has worked the youth baseball camps at UCI every year. Larson is a Johnny Bench Award semi-finalist, an All-Big West first-team choice and a two-time Big West Player of the Week. He led UCI with 43 RBI and nine home runs and is third in the career records with 17 home runs. He is tied for fourth in the season records in home runs and is third on the team with 68 hits, second with 14 doubles and first with four triples. He tied for third with 18 multiple-hit games and posted a 12-game consecutive hit streak.

18 Drew Lee (Morehead State University) Lee has a career GPA of as an engineering technology major. He is a second team CoSIDA Academic All-American. Lee is a two-year team captain, which speaks volumes about his character and respect from his peers. Lee is a member of Morehead's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and works with the following projects: sponsors families for Thanksgiving and Christmas with Project Impact by the Morehead Family Resource Center; donates blood to the Kentucky Blood Center as a part of the MSU Blood Bowl, participates in the community leaf-raking project, and helps with freshman Move-In Day. In addition, he is a coach for Eagle free youth baseball camps and participates in an athletic Halloween party for the community. Lee is a two-year team MVP. He holds MSU records for hits in a season and is on pace to break career records for hits, total bases and RBI. He was a first-team All-OVC selection and was a Brooks Wallace Award semifinalist. Lee was a Louisville Slugger All-American and led MSU in batting average (.413), HRs (17), and RBI (67). He is a member of a middle infield that ranked first nationally in double plays.

19 Tyler Lyons (Oklahoma State University) Lyons is a member of the Oklahoma State President's Honor Roll for achieving a 4.0 grade point average. Three times he has won the OSU Academic Achievement Award and he is a three-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll. He has been on both the first and second teams of the All-Big 12 Academic Honor Roll and was an ESPN the Magazine Academic all-district team. Lyons is a great leader on the team who is tough and wants the ball in his hands in the big games. He was a 10th round draft pick of the New York Yankees in June and decided to return to school for his senior year, bypassing thousands of dollars, to help his team and continue to work towards his degree. For the Humane Society, Lyons volunteered and did things such as help care for the animals, clean up, walk dogs, etc. He helped with fundraising efforts with Relay for Life here on campus. He's also volunteered with the Into The Streets program, which does volunteer work in the Stillwater community helping people fix up their houses. He and his teammates have also recently volunteered with Coaches vs. Cancer by spending time and mentoring several children with cancer. Lyons' baseball awards include: all-big 12 Second Team in 2008, Honorable Mention All-Big 12 in 2009 and NCAA Clemson Regional All-Tournament Team in 2009 and Stillwater Regional All-Tournament team in He led OSU in wins in 2008 (12) and 2009 (7) and has led OSU in innings pitched each of last two seasons. His 12 wins in 2008 ranked fourth nationally and was eighth-most in a single season in school history. Lyons pitched for Team USA during the summer of 2008 and was 2-0 with 17 strikeouts in 14 innings. He made 11 appearances for Team USA and did not allow an earned run. He was part of a Team USA club that led the United States to a 24-0 record and a gold medal at the FISU World Championships. Lyons enters his senior season with 19 career wins, three shy of entering the top 10 on OSU's all-time list. He won his first three starts of the 2009 season, giving him a win in 13 straight decisions dating back to the 2008 season.

20 Clint McKeever (Wichita State University) McKeever was named first team all-valley Scholar-Athlete in 2009 and honorable mention in He was named to the AD's honor roll eight times and to the Dean's list six times. He has a cumulative GPA of 3.64 and is majoring in biology. His career goal is to be a nurse anesthetist and he is expected to graduate in May McKeever came to Wichita State as a raw baseball player and has developed into one of WSU's best players. He is a quality guy with good character and is an outstanding student. He is dependable, kind and courteous to everyone he meets along with coaches and teammates. He tried to walk on at Oklahoma State as a freshman and after he was cut, he transferred to Wichita State and has become an all-conference player. McKeever helped with the Koyie Hill's Big Wish/Make a Wish Foundation Fundraiser. He was a guest kid's reader at Barnes and Noble. He works the Shocker Baseball Camps to learn to teach children baseball skills and to watch them improve. He read to kids in the Valley's Just Read program and has volunteered for Big Brothers/Big Sisters. He helped build houses in Greensburg, Kan., that were destroyed by a tornado. A two-time participant in Shocks, Cops and Kids event with the Wichita Police Department and the Wichita Public Schools, McKeever has also participated in the WSU Rock with the Shocks event with the Wichita Public Schools and Wichita Collegiate School Shocker Day. He also volunteered at the Shocker Athletic Scholarship Organization Ice Cream Social. McKeever heads into the 2010 season as preseason all-valley at first base. As a junior, he was named first team all-valley at first base and a first team all-valley Scholar-Athlete. He was named the MVC Player of the Week once. For the season, he hit.333 with 34 runs, 72 hits, 18 doubles, one triple, six home runs, 43 RBI and six stolen bases. As a sophomore, McKeever was named second team all-valley as the designated hitter and an honorable mention all-valley Scholar-Athlete. He hit.328 with 34 runs, 14 doubles, five home runs, 39 RBI and two stolen bases. He was named to the Stillwater all-regional Team, hitting the game-winning grand slam in the 10th inning of the Regional championship game.

21 Russell Moldenhauer (University of Texas) First-Team Academic All-Big 12 in 2008 and ESPN The Magazine Second-Team Academic All-District VI in Member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll all seven semesters at UT.ddd Selected in the third round of the 2006 MLB First-Year Player Draft, but elected to pursue an education... Injured in the 2008 NCAA Regional, spent entire offseason and beginning of 2009 season rehabbing. Slumped badly at the plate before erupting at the College World Series with a tournament record four home runs over six games. Member of the Texas Cowboys, an honorary service orginazation at the University of Texas... Volunteers with students with severe disabilities at the Rosedale School... Volunteers at the annual Marathon Kids Kickoff to promote physical fitness among elementary school kids... Read to children as part of summer reading program at the Cape Cod League. All-Big 12 Honorable Mention as a sophomore in Batted a team-high.355 with 16 doubles, one triple, one home run and 39 RBI in 55 games in 2008 before being injured in the NCAA Regional... Named to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship All-Tournament team in Named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention as a freshman in Hit.278 with nine doubles, one triple, six home runs and 32 RBI in 2007.

22 Kevin Nieto (Manhattan College) Nieto will graduate with a bachelor's degree in finance in May He holds a 2.7 grade point average and is planning on a career in business. Nieto enters his second year serving as the team captain for the Manhattan College baseball team. During his time on campus, he has organized teammates to support fellow student-athletes from other sports by attending competition to cheer on their classmates. Nieto has also displayed an incredible work ethic on and off the diamond. His numbers have significantly improved each year since he stepped on campus in Riverdale and most of this improvement can be attributed to his incredible work ethic. In the offseason, Nieto trains tirelessly with his older brother Eric, who is Manhattan's all-time hits leader, as the brothers develop and execute their own workout plan in their efforts to be the very best. Additionally, he has also showed his leadership by assisting in the preparation of the field hours prior to each home game. Home games are played at Van Cortlandt Park, a public park in the Bronx. Nieto is a key figure in helping to line the diamond and prepare the infield. He also volunteers his time in other areas of the Manhattan College Athletic Department during home athletic contests, whether he is coordinating parking, assisting security or helping with game day set up. Nieto has participated in several charitable activities during his time at Manhattan and has helped to organize his teammates in volunteering their time. Kevin helped organize a group of teammates to spread holiday cheer to children at St. Augustine Elementary School in the Bronx last December. He also helped fundraise $500 to purchase gifts for over 50 children to be delivered at the "Breakfast with Santa" event. In his spare time while playing summer ball last year with the Vermont Mountaineers of the New England Collegiate Baseball League he volunteered to teach baseball to children ages 5 to 11 through coaching and holding clinics. Nieto is the 2010 MAAC Preseason Player of the Year and a member of the 2010 Louisville Slugger Preseason All-America Third Team and PING!Baseball All-America Third Team. He has been a three-time All-MAAC selection, including as a 2009 First Team honoree. In 2009 the American Baseball Coaches Association named his All-American Third Team and Northeast Region First Team. He led NCAA Division I in 2009 averaging 1.57 runs per game while setting a MAAC record for runs in a single season scoring 72. He also led the MAAC with.754 slugging percentage in 2009 and ranked in the top-5 of the MAAC in triples (2nd - 6), on-base percentage (2nd -.480), batting average (2nd -.396), stolen bases (3rd - 25), home runs (4th - 13) and total bases (4th - 141). Nieto broke the MAAC single season runs record (72) and tied his own single season program triples record (6). He is a.344 career hitter who has started 141-of-143 appearances. He is the Manhattan career triples leader (16), 5th on the program's career runs list (159) and is on pace to break the record, as well as to shatter the program's career hits record where he is currently standing in the top-10 with 188. He has 15 home runs over his career which ranks on the program's top-10 career list. His 39 career doubles also rank in the program's top-10.

23 Matt Payton (Western Kentucky University) Payton has excelled in the classroom in his three-plus years at Western Kentucky University. He holds a 3.82 cumulative GPA as an exercise science major and plans to graduate in spring A two-time CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection, Payton is also a President's Scholar at WKU. He is a member of the National College Athlete Honor Society Chi Alpha Sigma. Payton plans to open a sports-specific training facility after graduation. Payton is a tireless worker, both on and off the field, which is evident by both his athletic and academic achievements. He plays baseball with a tremendous amount of desire and heart and leaves everything on the field. He has been one of the leading factors in the rise of WKU baseball, as the team has made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and finished the 2009 season ranked 23rd in the nation. He leads the team with his actions and his words and the players listen to him as he says the right things at the right times. The coaching staff really appreciates having a leader on the field with the character and leadership qualities Payton possesses. Payton also finds time to be actively involved in the community. He has over 200 hours of community service working mainly around his hometown of Louisville, Ky. He has spent time at the famous Churchill Downs racetrack working with the church to minister to jockeys and workers. He has also spent time cleaning the living quarters of the jockeys. Payton has also volunteered with the Wayside Christian Mission feeding the homeless and cleaning dishes. Payton has manned second base and the middle infield for WKU for much of his first three seasons. As a junior in 2009, Payton made 53 starts and led the team with five triples while hitting.307 and reaching base at a.404 clip. His infield defense is well-known around the conference, as he made just six errors in 275 chances in 2009, good for a.978 fielding percentage on a team that finished third in the nation in fielding percentage. His consistent performance and reliability in the WKU lineup has helped the team to two straight NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2009 Sun Belt Conference championship.

24 Eric Pettis (University of California, Irvine) Pettis was the 2009 Big West Male Scholar Athlete of the Year and a two time scholar athlete. The Psychology major owns a cumulative GPA and is expected to graduate in June He is interested in pursing a career in law. Pettis is a hard-working and competitive player who leads mostly by example but can step in and be a vocal leader as well. He is very determined to do what he can to help the team win, mentors the younger players and offers advice when asked. He has great presence on the mound and is a highly confident and self-assured student-athlete. Pettis has been involved with the community through team-sponsored events such as visiting patients at the Children's Hospital of Orange County and working with children at UCI camps. Pettis is a Collegiate Baseball preseason All-American, a NCBWA preseason first-team All-American, the NCBWA Stopper of the Year finalist two consecutive years, two-time Collegiate Baseball All-American and two-time All-Big West first-team. He is the Big West leader in saves with 17 and games finished with 27 and is tied for third in the conference in appearances and games in relief with 29. Is 5-2 on the mound with a 3.86 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 42 innings. In that time he walked just seven and allowed 18 earned runs. He finished the season third in the nation in saves. He has twice been named Collegiate Baseball "Louisville Slugger" Preseason second-team All-America and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason first-team All-American two straight years.

25 Tony Plagman (Georgia Tech) Plagman has been named to the Academic All-ACC baseball team and the ACC Academic Honor Roll three consecutive years at Georgia Tech. He has also been on the Academic Dean's list every semester since he became eligible. He carries a 3.36 cumulative GPA while majoring in Management and is on pace to graduate in May of When he finishes playing baseball, Tony would like to own his own sports marketing firm. Plagman began his career as a non-scholarship player, walking onto the team in His hard work immediately became evident as he went on to start 48 games his freshman season and earned a scholarship the very next year. He has started all but three games since, and his character was soon recognized by not only his teammates but also others in the baseball world. Tony has been elected as 2010 team captain and represents the baseball team on the Student-Athlete Advisory Board. In 2009, Plagman was selected by the New York Yankees in the MLB draft but chose to return for his final season at Georgia Tech to not only receive his degree in management but to help lead his team to a conference championships and possibly make a trip to the College World Series. Plagman has worked in the community at numerous events during his time at Tech. He recently completed his third year as an escort during the Georgia Special Olympics opening ceremonies and has twice volunteered at the Egleston Children's Hospital Halloween Patient Party. He was spent four years campaigning for the Michael Isenhour Toy Drive and three years serving at the St. Baldricks fundraiser for Cancer patients. He has recently begun his involvement in the L.E.A.D program with former Chicago Cubs baseball player C.J. Stewart to help inner city youth play baseball in high school. Plagman is a team captain and three-year starter at first base. He has played in 173 games while starting 161. He's been named 2010 Louisville Slugger and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Preseason All-American (third team) and 2009 second team All-ACC. Holds a career.317 batting average with 34 home runs and 141 RBI. His 34 career home runs are tied for the 18th-most in school history, 23 shy of the all-time record.

26 Derek Poppert (University of San Francisco) Poppert has a cumulative 3.76 GPA as an International Studies Major who is on track to graduate. Poppert is the team captain who brings balance to the group. He has seen and experienced what imbalance can do to people in his life and has learned how to develop as a whole to avoid that. He outworks everyone on the team to continue to drive the group forward with him. He has almost become a player/coach with his relationships with the younger guys on the team and his ability to have the integrity to back up what he says and what he expects of himself and of his teammates. Poppert has served with the team in many community service functions over his four years at USF. So far this year he has helped during the Thanksgiving Food Drive, Soles4Souls Shoe Donation, Pro and College Youth Challenge, the Nike Women's Marathon and the Pitching In For Haiti project among college baseball players. Poppert was a 2009 WCC First Team Selection after starting 55 games and playing 56 as a junior. He batted.352 (77-for-219) with 15 doubles, three triples, one homerun, 52 RBI, 41 runs, 24 walks, and 16 stolen bases while leading the team in RBI and triples, being second in doubles and walks and third in steals, Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 23rd round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

27 Kenneth Roberts (Middle Tennessee State University) Roberts owns a GPA and plans to attend physical therapy school upon graduation. Roberts is a quiet but effective and influential leader who is a hard worker on and off the field. Roberts spends time participating in a variety of community service events with the team and through his church. He participates in Reading Raiders, which is a reading program set-up by the athletic department with local elementary schools. He is also a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee which also does a variety of service projects during the year. Roberts received Third Team preseason All-American honors from Louisville Slugger and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. In 2009, he earned American Baseball Coaches Association and All-Ping! All-American honors. Roberts had a stellar junior campaign on the mound for the Blue Raiders posting an 11-1 record with a 3.04 ERA. He worked two complete games with 16 total appearances including a win over Vanderbilt at the NCAA Louisville Regional. In Sun Belt action, he had a 5-1 record with a 3.01 ERA in 10 appearances with 43 strikeouts in 68.2 innings of work. He was named Most Outstanding Player of the Sun Belt Championships after recording wins in his two appearances with a 2.08 ERA, allowing just three runs and one walk in 13 innings.

28 Kyle Roller (East Carolina University) Roller boasts a 3.23 cumulative GPA in business management. He is a four-time ECU Director of Athletics Honor Roll recipient and a three-time member of the Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. Roller is the 2010 team co-captain as voted on by the coaches and players. One of just two seniors he decided to return to East Carolina, despite being drafted by the Oakland A's in 2009 and winning the Cape Cod League regular season and post-season MVP, to help the Pirates reach their goal of playing in the College World Series. He has led by example on the field and in the class room since stepping foot on campus in Roller Since has been a fixture at several community service events since he stepped on campus. These include the Children's Miracle Network, ALS Walk to help fight Lou Gehrig's Disease, Challenger's League, Little League Day and Dowdy Student Store Holiday Sale. Roller has been named a preseason first-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball and second-team preseason All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Ping!Baseball. He was also named preseason first-team All Conference USA by the league's head coaches and was ranked as the sixth-best player in college baseball by TheCollegeBaseballBlog. In 2009 Roller was named first-team All-American by ABCA/Rawlings and Ping!Baseball, ABCA/Rawlings NCAA All-Atlantic Region, first-team All Conference USA. Following his selection to the NCAA Greenville Regional All-Tournament Team he was drafted in the 47th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by the Oakland Athletics. In 2009 Roller started 65 of 66 games as the designated hitter and one at first base. He also set career-highs in average (.336), runs (63), hits (86), doubles (12), home runs (16), RBI (75), walks (32) and hit by pitches (24). He had 24 multi-hit and 21 multi-rbi games.

29 Mike Sodders (New Mexico State University) Sodders received Wells Fargo Academic Honors from and owns a 3.00 cumulative GPA Sodders is a leader through example. Last spring he injured his knee and worked tirelessly to return to competitive status. When he returned to the line up, Mike continued to lead the WAC with his performance at the plate. His teammates rallied around him as he provided an unshakable confidence in the team's ability to win and his own ability to help get the team to the top. Sodders has volunteered time with several baseball camps and youth camps. Sodders was named to three preseason All-American Teams in He led the team with a.422 batting average in 2009 and was the first New Mexico State player to earn multiple all-american honors in a season. He was just the 23rd New Mexico State player to ever hit over.400. Had 69 RBI, 19 doubles, 13 home runs in Sodders was part of a team that broke the school record for home runs in a season, hits in a season, extra base hits in a season, RBI in a season

30 Josh Spence (Arizona State University) Spence is on schedule to graduate in May of 2010 with a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies degree with a focus on Sociology and Education. When his baseball career is complete, he wants to coach and be a teacher to younger athletes. He would like to become a college baseball coach and give the message that you can stay in school, graduate, and still be successful in your career. Spence was voted a team captain this season. When he arrived on campus the team immediately took to the Australian and he became the most popular player in the clubhouse. When he suffered a torn ligament in his pitching hand near the end of the season, he simply readjusted his grip and continued to pitch. His first true game back after his "rehab" appearances was in Game 2 of the Super Regional against Clemson. All he did was throw a dominating complete game, sending ASU to the College World Series. Quick with a smile, Josh always greets people with a hug and always wants to know how your day is going. Spence is very active in the ASU Sandlot program, a little league for underprivileged kids run by the ASU baseball team. The players serve as coaches and Josh has given his time to work with the children on building not only baseball skills, but life skills as well. He is a active member of Sparky's Tour, a group of athletes and coaches who visit local schools in the Phoenix Area and talk about the importance of a college education. He also has participated in Inner City Shadow Day, in which children from underprivileged neighborhoods spend a day at college with him. Spence is one of the most dominating pitchers in the nation. In his first season at Arizona State in 2009, Josh went 10-1 and an ERA of He struck out 125 batters in innings, helping lead Arizona State to a third straight Pac-10 title and a berth in the College World Series. He was named the National Newcomer of the Year by Rivals.com, a First Team All-Pac-10 selection and Third Team All-American honors from Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball.

31 David Towarnicky (Appalachian State University) Towarnicky has maintained a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average through his first seven semesters at Appalachian State University as a double-major in banking and finance and risk insurance management with an international business minor. He is a member of the Chancellor's and Dean's Lists, the ASU and Southern Conference Academic Honor Rolls, ASU's Walker College of Business Honors program and the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society. Towarnicky also serves as an Appalachian Ambassador, a select group of 42 ASU students dedicated to serving the Alumni Association, University Admissions and the Office of the Chancellor. For his efforts in the classroom and on the playing field, he was named a third-team CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American in Following his graduation in December, Towarnicky plans to put his career in finance on hold and continue his education overseas, where he would like to conduct research in the area of microfinance and the financial needs of poverty-stricken areas of the world. He then aspires to work for an international organization such as the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank to help bring capital and financial services to people and places that desperately need it. He would like to help bring green and renewable sources of energy to both developing areas and the rest of the world that would drastically reduce energy costs and result in a cleaner living environment. ASU head coach Chris Pollard says "There is no one that I have worked with in 17 years of college baseball that has more integrity than David Towarnicky." Towarnicky is an active member of the community through his work as an Appalachian Ambassador and with ASU's Student-Athlete Advisory Board and ASU baseball. As an Appalachian Ambassador, he helped spearhead the Chancellor for a Day program, which encourages ASU students to donate canned goods for an opportunity to switch roles with Chancellor Kenneth E. Peacock for a day. The drive raised over 6,200 cans of to help fight hunger in the High Country. As SAAB's external affairs committee chairperson, it is his responsibility to coordinate the organization's community service projects, most notably with the Crossnore School, a non-profit home and school for abused children. He calls his interaction with the Crossnore School "the most rewarding experience I have had through any of my extra-curricular activities at ASU." He has also participated in Samaritan's Purse's Santa's Toy Box campaign with his baseball teammates and coaches. Towarnicky has been the Mountaineers' starting first baseman since his arrival at ASU, playing in 152 games and making 138 starts at first base over the first three years of his career. The team captain is a.304 career hitter and, perhaps even more impressively, sports a.993 career fielding percentage with just nine errors in 1,291 chances at first base. He will most likely finish his career among ASU's all-time top 10 in hits, RBI and total bases. As a junior in 2009, he set career highs with a.328 batting average, 64 hits, 12 doubles, 90 total bases, a.433 on-base percentage and seven total sacrifices.

32 Corey Valine (San Jose State University) Valine is majoring in justice studies. After he graduates in December he is considering going to law school or entering the field of law enforcement, possibly for the California Highway Patrol. The two-time Academic All-Western Athletic Conference honoree and two-time San Jose State University Scholar-Athlete has maintained a cumulative GPA. Valine was named a team captain as a senior for the 2010 season and has served as one of two baseball team representatives on the Spartan Student-Athlete Advisory Committee since the start of the academic year. He attended the NCAA Leadership Council in San Diego, Calif., in the fall of Valine served as a presenter and helped stage the San Jose State University Student-Athlete Talent Show in December of 2008 and 2009 and the inaugural Sammy Awards in May of Valine has been involved in several community service projects as a member of the Spartan baseball program. He completed an internship during the 2009 fall semester at San Jose's Lincoln High School, tutoring youth in the special education department one-on-one on the subjects of math and science two or three days a week. This past summer, he volunteered to work youth camps, 20 hours a week for three weeks, in Bend, Ore., as a member of the Bend Elks summer league team. Valine has also served as a Eucharistic minister for his local Catholic church. Valine is a fourth-year third baseman can also fill in behind the plate if his offense is needed there. Chosen to the 2010 preseason All-WAC team he was also named a member of the 2009 second-team All-WAC. He enters the 2010 opener on an active hit streak of a career-long 21 games, currently second only to junior teammate Jason Martin's 23-game hit streak in the entire conference. Valine has struck out just 18 times in 374 career at-bats (20.7 at-bats per strikeout). He is San Jose State's active home run leader with 10 and has had 30 multi-hit and 21 multi-rbi games as a Spartan. Owns a career batting average of.332 and fielding percentage of.963 ( ).