Baseball Has Three NCBWA All-Americans
6/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 16, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W. Va - Coastal Carolina University's baseball team had three players named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association (NCBWA) All-American teams, it was announced today (June 16). Sophomore Anthony Meo (Cranston, R.I./Cranston West) was a First Team selection as a starting pitcher. Senior catcher Jose Iglesias (Miami, Fla./St. John's) and junior outfielder Rico Noel (Lawton, Okla./Lawton) were named to the Third Team.
Meo is just the second Chanticleer to earn NCBWA First Team All-American honors, joining Mike Costanzo in 2005. Meo went 13-2 with a 2.61 earned-run average for the Chanticleers this season. He was the Big South Pitcher of the Year and had 94 strikeouts in 96.2 innings pitched. He led the conference in wins and tied Coastal's single-season wins mark with 13. Meo struck out a season-high 10 batters in a win over Radford May 20 and pitched 8.2 innings against San Diego March 28. Meo also was named the District IV Player of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
Iglesias hit .344 with 16 doubles with a team-best 16 home runs and 80 RBI for the Chants. He is a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award, given to the nation's best catcher, and had a slugging percentage of .629. Iglesias was named to the All-Big South First Team, hitting .333 with six home runs and 33 RBI's in conference play. He committed just five passed balls and threw out 16 runners trying to steal. Iglesias had three multi-home run games this season, including a pair in a win over Winthrop May 9.
Noel hit .349 with 18 doubles, 12 home runs and 63 RBI's for the Chants. He leads the country, heading into the College World Series, with 56 stolen bases and had a .466 on-base percentage. Noel was named the Most Valuable Player of the Myrtle Beach Regional as he hit a walk-off, two-run home run in the 8-7 win over the College of Charleston June 6. He also had a streak of six straight hits in the regional. Noel also was an All-Big South First Team performer and was named the Big South Preseason Player of the Year.
This is the first time in Coastal Carolina history that three players were named to the NCBWA's All-American teams in the same season.
Coastal Carolina went 55-10 this season, setting a school-record for wins in a campaign. The Chants also hosted both the Myrtle Beach Regional and Super Regional and made its second Super Regional appearance in the last three years.
