MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. --- Moravian College junior right fielder Matt Hanson has been selected to the 2014 D3baseball.com All-America Second Team while senior relief pitcher Chris Soltys earned a spot on the All-America Third Team Thursday.
The duo, who become the first teammates to earn All-America honors in the same year in Moravian baseball history, helped the Greyhounds to a school-record 32 victories this season as the squad posted a 32-12 mark. Moravian also earned an at-large berth into the 2014 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament as the top seed in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The Hounds were 14-4 in the Landmark Conference regular season and the top seed in the Landmark Tournament where the squad finished as the runner-up. Moravian earned its first national ranking this spring, and is currently No. 21 in both the D3baseball.com/National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 25 and the American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball Top 30 while being ranked for the last five weeks.
Hanson and Soltys give the Greyhounds a total of four D3baseball.com All-Americans in the seven years the website has selected a team. They join Brendan Close '12, who was a First Team honoree in 2011, and Dave Zubia '12, who was a Third Team selection in 2012.
Earlier this week, D3baseball.com selected Hanson as the Mid-Atlantic Region's Player of the Year and named him to the All-Mid-Atlantic Region First Team. He has also earned a spot on the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-Mid-Atlantic Region First Team. Hanson was the 2014 Landmark Player of the Year and on the Landmark All-Conference First Team for a second straight year.
Hanson posted a .408 batting average this spring (sixth in school history) while starting all 43 games he played in. Hanson had 62 hits, which was tied for the team lead and also tied for second in a single season in the Moravian record books. He scored 53 runs this spring, just one shy of the school record and his 48 RBIs are the third most in s single season. Hanson also led the Hounds with three home runs this season, and he ripped 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 base on balls and was hit by a pitch another 13 times, one shy of the single season mark, for a .518 on-base percentage, second in the record books, and he stole 13 bases. In his right field position, Hanson made 72 putouts and three assists in 77 chances.
"This is a great honor for Matt and our program," stated Head Coach Paul Engelhardt. "For Matt to be named to the 1st team All-Conference, All-Region, and Player of the Year in both, and now to have been awarded a spot on the All American team, just puts an exclamation point on his season. Matt is well deserving of this award, and I am sure he would want to share it with his teammates, friends, family and college community. I couldn't be more proud of one of our 'Hounds."
Soltys, who has been named to the Landmark All-Conference First Team, D3baseball.com All-Mid-Atlantic Region First Team and the ABCA/Rawlings All-Mid-Atlantic Region Second Team this spring, saw action on the mound in 19 of the Greyhounds' 44 games. Soltys had a 6-1 slate, and he also recorded four saves. Soltys allowed four earned runs over 41.2 innings of work to post a 0.86 ERA, the second lowest in a single season at Moravian. He struck out 47 batters and allowed 12 walks. Listed as a closer, Soltys tossed more than one inning in 10 of his 19 appearances over the last three months including a pair of stints of more than five innings. Soltys completed his career with an 1103 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.
"I know that Chris is proud of this honor," commented Engelhardt. "He worked so hard to be the guy we relied on all year, and for him to have now been recognized by our Conference and Region on the First Teams, this All-American award absolutely cements his place as one of the greatest pitchers ever in Moravian baseball history."
To view the entire D3baseball.com All-America Team, visit http://www.d3baseball.com/awards/all-americans/d3baseball-allamericans-2014.
