July 10, 2006
BLACKSBURG,Va. -- Patrick Nichols (Chesapeake, VA.), Jimmy Miles (Orlando, FL.), Dana Arrowood (Woodbridge, VA.) and Jason Godin (Stafford, VA.) were selected to the Virginia Division I All-State Baseball squad as chosen by the Virginia Sports Information Directors. (VASID).
James Madison outfielder Kellen Kulbacki and Virginia head coach Brian O'Conner earned top honors on the 2006 University Division All-State Baseball team chosen by the Virginia College Sports Information Directors (VaSID). Kulbacki was selected as the Player of the Year while O'Conner won the Coach of the Year award. Additionally, Virginia's Sean Doolittle was chosen as the Pitcher of the Year and Cavalier teammate Jacob Thompson was selected as the Rookie of the Year.
Nichols, a first team selection tied for third in the CAA with 18 homeruns. The senior catcher hit .307 with 47 RBI. He was selected in the 16th round by the Washington Nationals. Junior outfielderJimmy Miles ranked second in the CAA in stolen bases with 39 and hit .348 for a second teamSelection. Righthander Jason Godin who was selected in the fifth round by Kansas City earnedSecond team honors after leading the CAA with 146 strikeouts in 115 innings. Godin fanned aSchool record 18 batters against Northeastern. He had six complete games with two shutouts.
ODU's all-purpose player, Dana Arrowood rounded out the Monarch all-state selections with aSecond team nod as a designated hitter. Arrowood, ODU's team MVP led the team in hittingAt .353 with seven homers and a team leading 53 runs batted in. On the mound Arrowood wasSecond in the CAA in saves with seven. He was 6-3 with a 3.17 earned run average which included 60 strikeouts in 48 innings.
Kulbacki, the Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger National Co-Player of the Year, a Collegiate Baseball and College Baseball Foundation First-team All-American and a semifinalist for the Dick Howser and Brookes Wallace Awards, hit .464 while setting school and CAA records for home runs (24) and tied the JMU single-season RBI mark with 75. He ranks first nationally in home runs and home runs per game (0.45), first in slugging percentage (.943), second in batting and third in RBIs per game (1.42).
O'Connor, in his third season at Virginia, was named the VaSID Division I Baseball Coach of the Year for the third straight year after directing the Cavaliers to a 47-15 season, including a trip to the NCAA tournament. O'Connor guided Virginia to the most wins in school history.
Doolittle, the 2006 ACC Player of the Year and a second team Collegiate Baseball All-America, posted an 11-2 record with a 2.38 ERA with 108 strikeouts in 90.2 innings. Thompson, a second team All-ACC selection and Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, was 10-4 with a 2.60 ERA for the Cavaliers.
Doolittle along with Phillip Laurent of Liberty and VCU's Sergio Miranda were the only repeat selections on the first team of the VaSID squad. Virginia and James Madison led the way with four players on the 12-man first team, while Liberty, Old Dominion, VCU and VMI each had one player selected. Including second team selections, Virginia had a total of seven players named followed by JMU and ODU with four each, Liberty with three, VCU and George Mason with two, Richmond, VMI and William & Mary with one each.
2006 VaSID UNIVERSITY DIVISION ALL-STATE BASEBALL FIRST TEAM
First Base: Nate Schill, JMU
Second Base: Michael Cowgill, JMU
Shortstop: Sergio Miranda, VCU
Third Base: Kelly Sweppenhiser, VMI
Outfield:Kellen Kulbacki, JMU
Phillip Laurent, LU
Brandon Marsh, UVa
Catcher: Patrick Nichols, ODU
Designated Hitter: Tom Hagan, UVa
Pitchers:Sean Doolittle, UVaRyan Reid, JMUJacob Thompsn,UVA
Coach of the Year:Brian O'Connor, UVAPlayer of The Year: Kellen Kulbacki, JMUPitcher of The Year: Sean Doolittle. UVARookie of The Year: Jacob Thompson, UVA
2006 VaSID UNIVERSITY DIVISION ALL-STATE BASEBALL SECOND TEAM
First Base: Sean Doolittle, UVA
Second Base: Michael Just, Liberty
Shortstop: Greg Sexton, W&M
Thirdbase: Chad Miller, Liberty
Outfielder: Ben Zeskind, RichmondJimmy Miles, ODUBrandon Guyer, UVA
Catcher: Robby Jacobson, George Mason
Designated HItter: Dana Arrowood, ODU
Pitchers: Harold Mozingo, VCUJason Godin, ODUMike Ballard, UVA