Komine Named District Player of the Year

Birmingham, Ala.- Nine student-athletes who form a mini-Who's Who in college baseball have been named as the second annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America District Players of the Year.

The group, divided into areas as follows: District I-Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania; District II: Connecticut, West Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, District of Columbia; III: Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida; IV: Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland; V: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin; VI: Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota; VII: Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana; VIII: Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Montana; District IX: California, Oregon, Washington, Hawai'i, Arizona, Alaska.

NCBWA District Players of the Year for 2000 include (I) Mike Campo OF, Penn State; (II) Darren Fenster, SS, Rutgers; (III) Todd Faulkner, 1B, Auburn; (IV) Mark Teixeira, 3B, Georgia Tech; (V) Aaron Heilman, P, Notre Dame; (VI) Shane Komine, P, Nebraska; (VII) Brad Cresse, C, LSU; (VIII) Aaron Sisk, 3B, New Mexico; (IX) Justin Wayne, P, Stanford.

Campo, who enjoyed a NCAA-2000-longest hitting streak of 41 games before Texas snapped it in the Austin Super Regional, led the Nittany Lions to one of their best finishes in school history with his .425 average, six homers and 48 runs-batted-in. Fenster, another member of the NCBWA first team 2000 All-America edition, produced similar results with a .433 average, four homers, 55 RBI, and a team-leading 101 hits. Faulkner joined LSU's Cresse as two of the dominant hitters in the Southeastern Conference. The Auburn star rifled 22 homers while driving in 103 runs-one behind LSU's District VII Player of the Year Cresse.

Teixeira not only led the Yellow Jackets in stolen bases with 13 in 14 attempts, but he also missed the Triple Crown in the Atlantic Coast Conference by three RBI to teammate Jason Basil with 83 ribbies. The ACC Player of the Year ended his sophomore season with 18 home runs, 80 RBI and a conference-high .422 average. He also joins Nebraska's Shane Komine as the only sophomores on the District Players of the Year listing. Notre Dame's Heilman who won 10 of his 12 pitching decisions and averaged better than one strikeout per inning while registering a 3.04 earned run average against some of the Big East Conference's toughest bats.

Komine had the second-highest strikeout total nationally behind Cal State Fullerton's Adam Johnson as the Huskers' ace averaged a Big 12 Conference-most 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings. The consensus first team All-America righthander closed his year at 11-4 with 159 strikeouts in 124 2/3 innings and pitched his final outing against Stanford with his cheek wired together after being broken in two places and requiring surgery from a line drive hit in a NCAA Regional win over Butler. Cresse has been equally impressive with 30 home runs to lead the nation along with a nation-topping 104 RBI entering the NCAA World Series against Texas in Game 4 Saturday at 6 p.m. (CDT). Cresse also batted .400 through 65 games as another consensus All-America choice in 2000.

Sisk, another outstanding third baseman among one of the richest crops of collegiate hot corner men, was the fourth-leading home run hitter in the country with an average of .43 (24 in 56 games) per contest. The Lobos' standout from the Mountain West Conference also finished ninth nationally in RBI each game with 1.45 (81 in 56 contests). Wayne tossed the Cardinal to their second seventh appearance in the NCAA World Series with a 14-3 record prior to activity Friday a 6 p.m. (CDT) against Louisiana-Lafayette. His 3.02 ERA and norm of better than one strikeout per inning of work have been a true asset in the Stanford drive to another berth in the national tourney.

Cresse, Faulkner, Fenster, Komine, Teixeira, and Wayne are six of the 12 finalists for the prestigious Dick Howser Trophy, which will be presented in a national news conference Saturday at 9:30 a.m. (CDT) in the Historic Lobby of the Courtyard by Marriott at 10th and Dodge Streets in downtown Omaha, Neb., prior to Game 3 of the NCAA World Series between Florida State and Southern California. The award is presented by the Greater St. Petersburg (Fla.) Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with BASEBALL AMERICA with balloting by the NCBWA.

NCBWA Announces 2000 All-America Baseball Teams
Omaha, Neb.-Paced by six student-athletes playing on five of the eight teams in the 2000 NCAA World Series at Omaha, the 14th annual All-America college baseball team as voted upon by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers was released Wednesday.

All 12 finalists for the prestigious Dick Howser Trophy (sponsored by the Greater St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with BASEBALL AMERICA and with balloting by NCBWA members), which will be presented to the Division I Baseball Player of the Year Saturday at 9:30 a.m. (CDT) at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Omaha on Saturday, June 10, in the Historic Lobby Room are members of this prestigious group. These youngsters include Kip Bouknight, P, South Carolina; Brad Cresse, C, LSU; Lenny DiNardo, P, Stetson; Ben Diggins, P-DH-UT, Arizona; Todd Faulkner, 1B, Auburn; Darren Fenster, SS, Rutgers; Mitch Jones, OF, Arizona State; Shane Komine, P, Nebraska; Casey Myers, C, Arizona State; Cory Scott, P, East Carolina; Mark Teixeira, 3B, Georgia Tech; Justin Wayne, P, Stanford.

World Series participant LSU landed Howser Trophy finalist Cresse (national home runs reader with 30) on the first unit while Arizona State, runnerup in the NCAA Tempe Regional to CWS hopeful Texas, had both catcher (voted as a utility player) Casey Myers and outfielder Mitch Jones (the No. 2 home run hitter in NCAA Division I with 27 behind Cresse) on the No. 1 unit.

Texas, making its way to Omaha for a NCAA-record 28th time and for the first time since 1993 (its first trip under Longhorns' fourth-year coach Augie Garrido), also placed relief ace Charlie Thames (school-record 19 saves) on the first team while Stanford in the CWS field had standout starter Justin Wayne on the second unit. Southern California pitching standout Rik Currier was named to the third unit after posting a 14-3 record prior to the CWS.

Numerous surprise showings such as OF Mike Campo of Penn State's 41-game hitting streak and a sterling 17-1 record (most wins in nation) by NCAA Columbia Super Regional runner-up South Carolina Kip Bouknight made the 2000 entry quite a bit different from several preseason All-America editions selected by leading national baseball news agencies.

Starting pitchers Lenny DiNardo of Stetson, Shane Komine of Nebraska and Bouknight combined for a 44-8 pitching mark with 443 strikeouts in 402 innings pitched while East Carolina first team A-A relief standout Cory Scott and Texas' Thames had 41 saves between them in 73 pitching appearances in 2000.

The first team position and utility players were among the elite hitters nationally with five youngsters hitting .400 or better, four possessing 20-plus home runs in a season where pitchers seemed to gain the upper hand, especially in NCAA playoffs, and came from all areas of the country. Among the three-team selections, there are 28 schools and 11 conferences represented.

Some of the notable repeat performers from the 1999 NCBWA All-America units include Cresse (second team in 1999, first in 2000), Georgia Tech third baseman Mark Teixeira (first unit in 2000), Jason Young (second team in '00) of Stanford, California 3B Xavier Nady (third team in 2000), utility man Taggert Bozied (third team) of San Francisco, and pitcher Kenny Baugh (third team) of Rice.

1999 Dick Howser Trophy winner and consensus national Player of the Year Jason Jennings of Baylor was a first round draft selection of the Colorado Rockies and has enjoyed solid success in the minor leagues as he nears completion of almost one year in the pro ranks. He led the 1999 NCBWA All-America team and capped his career by winning the prestigious 1999 Golden Spikes Award as Amateur Baseball Player of the Year.