MT. PLEASANT, Mich. --- Five Moravian College baseball players have been named to the 2014 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Division III Mid-Atlantic All-Region Teams with junior right fielder Matt Hanson highlighting the group on the First Team.
Sophomore first baseman Charles Savite, junior third baseman Ryan Luke and senior relief pitcher Chris Soltys garnered spots on the All-Region Second Team while junior shortstop Colin Case was selected to the Third Team.
The quintet helped the Greyhounds to one of the best seasons in school history as the squad won a school-record 32 games and was 32-12 overall while earning an at-large berth into the 2014 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament. Moravian earned its first-ever national ranking, and the program is currently ranked No. 21 in both the D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25 and the ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Top 30. The Hounds had a 14-4 regular season mark in Landmark Conference action to earn the top seed in the conference tournament for the fourth time in five years.
Hanson, who was on the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Third Team a year ago, has racked up a number of postseason awards this spring. He has been named the Mid-Atlantic Region Player of the Year by D3baseball.com and earned a spot on the D3baseball All-Mid-Atlantic Region First Team. Hanson was also selected as the Landmark Player of the Year and garnered a spot on the All-Conference First Team for a second straight year.
Hanson posted a .408 batting average this season (sixth in school history) while starting all 43 games he played in right field. Hanson and Luke tied for the team lead with 62 hits, which is also tied for second in a single season in the Moravian record books. Hanson, who led the Hounds with three homers this spring, scored 53 runs this spring, just one shy of the school record and his 48 RBIs are the third most in s single season. He also contributed 10 doubles and four triples for 89 total bases, the fifth most in a season, and a .586 slugging percentage, which is eighth in the record books. Hanson drew 25 walks and was hit by a pitch 13 times, one shy of the single season mark, for a .518 on-base percentage, second in the record books, and he also stole 13 bases. In the outfield, he recorded 72 putouts and three assists in 77 chances.
"I am happy to see that Matt earning all of these postseason awards," stated Head Coach Paul Engelhardt. "Matt is a great young man, that works hard all year to make our team the best it can be. He demonstrated all year that his ability was there for every game, and his results prove it. He is a rare player in that he possesses great hands to hit for average, but can drive the ball gap to gap and put some over the fence. His speed is a difference maker, and helps our team by being able to steal and take extra bases. This honor is well deserved for Matt, and I know he will work even harder to have a better year next year for his team and teammates."
Savite, who was a member of the Landmark All-Conference First Team after being the Landmark Rookie of the Year last season, was one of three Greyhounds to see action in all 44 games this year. He hit 343 for the season with 60 hits (fifth in a single season at Moravian) in 175 at-bats, and Savite became just the second sophomore in school history to reach 100 career hits with 108 after two seasons. He scored 38 runs and drove in another 47 (fourth in the Moravian record books). Savite had nine doubles and three triples for 75 total bases and a .429 slugging percentage, and he drew nine walks and posted a .376 on-base percentage to go with nine stolen bases and seven sacrifices. Savite broke his own school record in the field with 380 putouts this spring, and he added 27 assists in 414 chances in the field.
"Charles is very deserving of All-Region recognition," Engelhardt said. "He has been in our four hole in the lineup since his first game here. As a sophomore, he has shown greatness, and he certainly hasn't reached his full potential. I have no doubt he will continue to get better, and honor this award."
Luke, who was on the Landmark All-Conference First Team this spring after being on the Second Team in 2013, also played in all 44 games this season with a .367 batting average. Luke was one of five Greyhounds to reach 100 career hits this spring and his 62 hits in 2014 give him 120 hits heading into his senior campaign. Luke scored 38 runs this season and added 39 RBIs. He led the squad with 16 doubles and was one of three players with four triples for 86 total bases and a .509 slugging percentage. Luke drew 19 walks and was hit five times for a .437 on-base percentage, and he led the Hounds with nine sacrifices including five bunts to go along with 13 stolen bases. Luke was second on the squad with 90 assists in the field to go with 27 putouts in 130 chances at third base.
"Ryan is deserving of this award," commented Engelhardt. "He is a kid that gives 100% every day. When Ryan is on, there isn't a better third baseman in the country. His leadership and desire make him what he is. We are fortunate to have him and I look forward to seeing what he can do his senior year."
Soltys, who was on the D3baseball.com All-Mid-Atlantic Region First Team and the Landmark All-Conference First Team this spring, pitched in 19 of the Hounds' 44 games while posting a 6-1 record to go with four saves. Soltys allowed just four earned runs in 41.2 innings of action for a 0.86 ERA, the second lowest in a single season at Moravian. He also contributed 47 strikeouts and just 12 walks. Even though he was Moravian's closer, Soltys pitched more than one inning in 10 of 19 appearances including two stints of more than five innings. Soltys completed his career with an 11-3 record and his .786 winning percentage is fourth in school history. He is also second all-time with nine career saves and ninth with 116 career strikeouts in 120 innings on the mound.
"Chris was by far the most dominant pitcher we saw all year," Engelhardt said. "He had the ability to pitch one to five innings in relief for us at any given moment. If you took away one bad outing Chris had, he had only given up one run in 40+ innings pitched. Chris worked hard to become the best pitcher he could be, and wanted to be the guy on our team that we could go to at any time. His numbers weren't only great, but he pitched against some of the best teams in the country and shut them down routinely for multiple innings. Chris's off the field commitment to getting as strong as he could was a major reason he was successful, and he showed the team what it takes to be a top level player in college baseball. His leadership and devotion will be sorely missed."
Case started 39 games this season for the Greyhounds at shortstop. He hit .327 with 52 hits as he reached 100 hits for his career and has 107 hits heading into his senior year in 2015. Case was second on the squad with 40 runs scored, and he added 25 RBIs, six doubles, three triples, a home run, 67 total bases, a .421 slugging percentage, 12 walks, a .430 on-base percentage, five sacrifice bunts and eight stolen bases. Case made a team high 119 assists in the field, the second most in a single season in school history, to go with 55 putouts in 190 chances in the field. Case heads to his senior year fifth in school history with 269 career assists, just 96 shy of the school record.
"Colin is a very athletic shortstop," stated Engelhardt. "He makes plays that nobody else makes. He dealt with a lot of injuries this year, and played through all of them. His numbers would be even better had he not been injured since the fourth game of the year. Colin is also someone that I cannot wait to see what his senior year will be. His ceiling is limitless."
In addition to setting the school record for victories, the Greyhounds set four other school marks this season with 1,571 at-bats, 515 hits, 22 triples and 375 innings pitched.
To view the entire 2014 ABCA/Rawlings Mid-Atlantic Region Teams, visit http://moraviansports.com/sports/bsb/2013-14/releases/ABCAAll-Mid-AtanticRegion.pdf.
