June 12, 2013
2013 NCBWA All-American Team
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - Old Dominion University junior outfielder Ben Verlander (Maiden's VA.) has been named Third Team All-American by National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. He was also named to the ABCA All East Region squad.
Verlander, who was selected in the 14th round (426 overall pick) of last week's Major League Baseball draft by the Detroit Tigers is a first team All-CAA selection, and was a semifinalist for the Gregg Olson Award which is awarded to college baseball's top player who elevates his game to an elite level throughout the season. Ben Verlander ranked eighth in the CAA in hitting at .367, third in homers with 11 and led ODU in runs scored with 46, along with four triples and 13 stolen bases.
Verlander also knocked in 37 runs and was the CAA Player of the Week three times this season as well as being named Louisville Slugger National Team of the Week after his three homerun performance against Northeastern on March 9. He hit .380 with eight homers and 24 RBI in 27 CAA games, and was named the team MVP.
Verlander is the first Monarch since Anthony Shawler in 2007 to earn All-America honors.
After two rounds of voting by the organization, 58 baseball student-athletes comprise the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's 18th Annual All-America first, second and third teams, as announced on Wednesday.
Nineteen different conferences are represented and 12 conference championships teams. The three All-America squads are also made up of 10 conference players of the year, eight conference pitchers of the year winners and nine first-round draft picks in the recent Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.
Members of this year's team lead or are tied for the lead nationally in 17 different categories, including batting average (Mike Tauchman, Bradley, .425), runs (Kris Bryant, San Diego, 80), walks (Bryant, 66), home runs (Bryant, 31), RBIs (Colin Moran, North Carolina, 88), slugging percentage (Bryant, .820), total bases (Bryant, 187), on-base percentage (D.J. Peterson, New Mexico, .520), stolen bases (Ben McQuown, Campbell, 54), victories (Tyler Beede, Vanderbilt, 14), saves (Tyler Rogers, Austin Peay, 23), strikeouts (Carlos Rodon, NC State, 170), fewest hits allowed per nine innings (Jeff Thompson, Louisville, 5.23), complete games (Kerry Doane, East Tennessee State, 12), strikeout to walk ration (Thomas Eshelman, Cal State Fullerton, 27.67), fewest walks per nine innings (Eshelman, .23) and whip (Eschelman, 0.77).
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. For more information about the NCBWA, visit the association's official Web site, www.ncbwa.com.