CENTERVILLE, Mass. --- Three student-athletes from the Moravian College baseball team have been honored by the Eastern College Athletic Conference with freshman Chris Lansberry (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley HS) being named the Division III South Co-Rookie of the Year while senior shortstop Dave Zubia (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic HS) and senior pitcher Brendan Close (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom HS) earned spots on the All-Star Teams.
Zubia was named a First Team ECAC Division III South All-Star while Close garnered a spot on the Second Team. A year ago, Close was honored as the Pitcher of the Year and on the First Team.
Moravian completed its 2012 season under the direction of six-year head coach Paul Engelhardt with a 28-16 overall record, and the Greyhounds were 14-4 during the Landmark Conference regular season to finish in first place and host the conference tournament for the third straight season.
Lansberry, who was the 2012 Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year and earned a spot on the All-Conference Second Team, went 8-1 this spring with a 2.94 ERA in 49 innings pitched. He had two complete games and 26 strikeouts while holding his opponents to a .258 batting average.
Zubia, who was named to the 2012 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-America Second Team and the 2012 D3baseball.com All-America Third Team, has been collecting postseason honors since the Greyhounds closed out the 2012 season. Zubia has been honored as the 2012 Landmark Conference Player of the Year and on the All-Conference First Team. He also earned D3baseball.com All-Mid-Atlantic Region and ABCA All-Mid-Atlantic Region First Team accolades. Zubia was also named to the Landmark All-Conference Second Team in 2010. This spring, Zubia hit .432 from the plate with a season school record of 67 hits. He lead the team with a .613 slugging percentage, .536 on-base percentage, 54 runs scored, 22 walks, 14 hit-by-pitch and 20 stolen bases to go with his 39 RBIs, 13 doubles, three triples and three home runs
Close, who was a 2011 D3baseball.com First Team All-American and a member of the 2012 D3baseball.com All-Region Second Team, went 8-1 on the year with a 2.18 ERA in 66 innings. He had 53 strikeouts while allowing six walks and holding his opponents to a .247 batting average. Close, the 2012 Landmark Conference Pitcher of the Year and All-Conference First Team selection, also had eight complete games and one shutout. Close was named Landmark Pitcher of the Year in 2011 as well, and he was a four-time All-Conference selection with First Team honors in 2011, 2009 and Second Team honors in 2010. Last month, Close was honored with a spot 2012 Capital One Academic All-America Second Team.
The complete ECAC Division III South Teams can be found http://www.ecacsports.com/news/2011-2012/south_baseball_all-stars_2012.
