The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference

2008 All-PSAC Baseball Teams & Awards

(May 8, 2008)

View Entire All-PSAC Teams - .pdf

West Chester University's Matt Cotellese and Shippensburg University's Justin Garber have been selected as the 2008 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern and Western Division Baseball Players of the Year, respectively. They join Pitchers of the Year Jason Bowman of West Chester and Matt Wright of Shippensburg as those receiving top honors for the current season.

Millersville's Derek Kline was named the Eastern Division Rookie of the Year while Randy Sturgill of California garnered the same honor for the Western Division. Chosen by their peers as PSAC Coaches of the Year were Millersville's Jon Shehan and Shippensburg's Matt Jones.

Cotellese, a junior from Boyertown (Boyertown HS), was one of many offensive threats in a West Chester lineup that ranks fourth in the league in hitting (.322). He has posted Golden Rams' bests with a .411 batting average (5th - PSAC), 48 runs scored, 17 doubles (3rd - PSAC) and 10 homeruns (3rd - PSAC) while recording 50 RBI (3rd - PSAC). In 190 at-bats, the junior struck out just 10 times and ranks 25th in the nation for toughest to strike out. A threat at the plate, Cotellese is also a threat on the base paths as he is a perfect 19-for-19 in stolen base attempts. As a freshman, Cotellese earned All-PSAC Second Team honors after leading the team in hitting with a .375 average and a .536 slugging percentage.

Garber, a senior from Elizabethtown (Elizabethtown HS), has had one of the best Red Raider careers in Shippensburg history. This season, Garber tied the school record for hits in a season (91) while recording the third-best batting average (.440). The senior also owns Shippensburg's career hits record with 274 while playing in a record-tying 196 contests for the Red Raiders. Garber's hits total leads the league, while his batting average ranks second. He has scored 54 runs (4th - PSAC) while adding 12 doubles, four triples and seven homeruns en route to the league's fourth-best slugging percentage (.643) and third-best on-base percentage (.496). The centerfielder has committed just one error this season, helping Shippensburg to one of the nation's best fielding percentages in Division II (5th - .971). Including this year's All-PSAC West First Team nod, Garber is a three-time first-team selection.

Bowman, who hails from Downingtown (Downingtown West), completed the regular season with a 2.43 ERA, which ranked fourth in the league overall, and recorded 66.2 innings pitched, which also ranked fourth in the league. The junior made 11 starts in 11 appearances and went 9-1, tying for the most wins in the league, with four complete games. He compiled 58 strikeouts compared to just four walks while holding opponents to a .237 batting average. Including this year's selection, Bowman is a three-time All-PSAC West honoree. He gathered first-team honors as a freshman and second-team honors a year ago.

Wright, a junior out of McLure (Mid-West), earns his second consecutive PSAC West Pitcher of the Year award. He owns a 2.81 ERA and a 6-4 record through 77.0 innings pitched. In 14 appearances, Wright started 12 games and completed four contests. He leads the nation in strikeouts per nine innings at 14.03, recording 120 total strikeouts on the year. This season, Wright became Shippensburg's career strikeouts leader (302) and is just one of three players in the league to reach the 300-strikeout plateau. Opponents are hitting a league-low .187 against Wright as he carries the 10th-best mark in Division II for hits allowed per nine innings (5.96). With this year's selection, Wright is now a three-time Western Division First Team selection as well as the 2006 Western Division Rookie of the Year.

Kline, a freshman from Cleona (Cedar Crest HS), finished second on the Millersville squad with a .364 batting average, collecting 67 hits in 184 trips to the plate. The rookie also posted 11 doubles, three homeruns and 38 RBI. On the basepaths, Kline was 6-for-8 in steal attempts. In addition to the postseason honor, Kline is the only rookie to be selected to the All-PSAC East First or Second Team.

Sturgill, a freshman from Leechburg (Leechburg HS), posted a 3.76 ERA and a 4-1 record in his rookie campaign. In eight appearances, Sturgill notched six starts and completed two contests. In 38.1 innings pitched, he fanned a team-high 39 batters and held opponents to just a .210 batting average.

In his first year at the helm of Millersville, Shehan guided the Marauders to the conference tournament for the first time since 2000. Millersville won 16 of its last 20 regular season games to overcome a 6-20 start, entering tournament play as the Eastern Division's No. 1 seed with its 12-8 mark divisional record. The Marauders went 2-2 in the championship tournament, falling one game shy of an appearance in the title game. Under Shehan's direction, freshman Derek Kline is the first Marauder to be named the Eastern Division's Rookie of the Year since Matt Knox in 1999. Shehan is also the first Millersville coach to be honored by his peers since Glenn Gallagher was awarded the honor in 2000. A season ago, Millersville finished in last place in the Eastern Division, posting a 9-37 record overall, 3-17 in the division.

A year after winning the 2007 PSAC Championship as the Western Division's No. 3 seed, second-year head coach Jones led his Shippensburg Red Raiders back to the conference tournament, this time as the division's No. 1 seed. The Red Raiders posted a 14-6 mark to earn the top seed, their best finish since the 2004 squad went 17-3 against the West. Shippensburg's 34-23 overall record is also the most wins in a season since the 2005 squad went 35-25. Though the 2008 campaign opened with five straight losses, the Red Raiders benefitted from two eight-game winning streaks and never lost more than two consecutives games the rest of the season. Ranked fifth in the latest NCAA II Regional poll, the Red Raiders hope to secure their second straight trip to the NCAA II North Atlantic Regional. A year ago, Jones guided Shippensburg to its first PSAC title in four years and its first NCAA appearance in three years.