DANBURY, Conn. --- The Moravian College baseball team has had three players honored by the ECAC with senior third baseman Alex Bull being named to the 2016 ECAC Division III South All-Star First Team, sophomore pitcher Ryan Kahn being selected to the All-Star Second Team, and freshman outfielder Mike Mittl being honored as the ECAC Division III South Rookie of the Year.
The Hounds, led by 10th-year Head Coach Paul Engelhardt, had a 22-21 record in 2016 while earning the program's eighth straight trip to the Landmark Conference Tournament. Moravian earned the second seed again this spring and hosted Elizabethtown College in a best-of-three semifinal series at Gillespie Field on May 8-9, falling 2-1 to end the year.
Bull, who was named to the Landmark All-Conference First Team and the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Division III All-Mid-Atlantic Region First Team, led Moravian this season with a .402 batting average. He reached base safely in the first 42 games of the year including hitting streaks of 17 games to start the season and another 21-game streak. Bull pounded out 66 hits on the year, one shy of the school record, and he also contributed team highs of 42 runs and 14 doubles to go with three home runs, 33 RBIs, 18 walks, six sacrifices and seven stolen bases. Bull made 78 assists in the field to finish his career tenth in school history with 206 assists, and he also had 134 career hits, which is tied for 12th in school history.
"Alex was very consistent at the plate all season and had the best year of his career this spring," Engelhardt said. "Alex was an outstanding teammate throughout his four seasons, and it was nice to see everything finally come together during his senior year."
Kahn, who was also on the Landmark All-Conference First Team, finished the 2016 campaign with a 4-3 record on the mound, winning his last four starts, and he led the squad with a 1.42 ERA. Kahn tossed three complete games and a pair of shutouts to give him four for his career, and he recorded 46 strikeouts and just 11 walks in 50.2 innings of action this spring.
"Ryan started this season with some arm issues at the beginning in the season that limited how much we could use him," noted Engelhardt. "Once he was ready to go, he showed he can be a front line pitcher both in conference and out of conference for us. We expect him to throw a lot of innings over the next two years and look forward to his continued improvement."
Mittl, who was the Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year and on the All-Conference Second Team, saw action in 40 games in his debut season, starting 37 contests for the Hounds. He hit .323 with 50 hits, 33 runs, seven doubles, a triple, five home runs and 24 RBIs. Mittl added 13 stolen bases, seven walks and six sacrifices to go with a .477 slugging percentage and a .354 on-base percentage.
"Mike is one of our very talented young players that was able to make his way into the lineup this spring," commented Engelhardt. "We are looking forward to the next three years and having Mike become a leader for our program."
To view the entire 2016 ECAC Division III South All-Star Teams, visit http://ecacsports.com/news/2016/6/4/BB_0604162605.aspx?path=baseball.
