Copyright 2016; Wilmington University. All rights reserved.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - - Three Wilmington University baseball student-athletes were mentioned when the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference announced its 2016 All-Conference Baseball Teams, with freshman Julian Kurych being named a major award winner, as voted on by the league's 11 head coaches.
Kurych (Middletown, Del.) was named the CACC Rookie of the Year while senior Jay Kluka (Chester, Pa.) and junior Christian Adorno (Millville, N.J.) were named First Team All-CACC. The Wildcats were also voted as a co-recipient of the 2016 CACC Team Sportsmanship Award, as voted on by the conference's baseball student-athletes.
It is the second time in program history that the Wildcats (17-29) were awarded the CACC Rookie of the Year award, as Kurych follows Jamie Treml who earned the award in 2011. Treml was also named the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Rookie of the Year that season.
Kurych (at left) finished third on the team with a .298 batting average, collecting 51 hits in 171 at-bats while playing in all 46 games as a true freshman. He led the team and finished sixth in the CACC with 13 doubles. He led the conference with eight sacrifices and 17th overall with a .384 on-base percentage. Kurych led the team with 16 multi-hit games, collecting five three-hit games, and a season high four hits at West Chester.
Adorno (at right) is a repeat honoree on the First Team, leading the team with a .323 batting average in 2016. The junior shortstop collected 50 hits in 155 at-bats while playing 45 games. He is in the top 10 in the CACC with 25 stolen bases (2nd), 25 walks (4th), 33 runs (7th), and a .425 on-base percentage (10th). His 128 assists from the shortstop position are also fourth in the CACC. Adorno finished second on the team with 13 multi-hit games, collecting two three-hit games and a season high four-hit performance against Philadelphia.
Kluka (at left) is a first time honoree as a senior, leading the Wildcats' pitching staff throughout the 2016 season. He led the starters on the team with a 2.61 ERA, ranking fifth in the CACC. He went 4-3 overall on the year, with all four wins coming inside the CACC. He struck out 58 batters while only walking 16, leading to a 3.6 strikeout to walk ratio. He also finished 14th in the league in averaging 7.22 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Kluka tossed a complete game against USciences, earning the win while striking out eight batters and only allowing one run. In his next start, he tossed eight scoreless innings against Dominican, only allowing two hits while striking out five more for the win.
For the first time in program history, the Wildcats earned the CACC Sportsmanship Award in a vote of the team's student-athletes. The Wildcats share the award with Bloomfield as the 2016 winner.
Philadelphia's Fernando Garza was named the 2016 CACC Player of the Year while Felician's Matt Blandino was named the 2016 CACC Pitcher of the Year. Felician's skipper Chris Langan was voted as the 2016 BSN Sports/CACC Coach of the Year in a vote of the league's sports information directors.
AGATE:
2016 CACC Baseball All-Conference Teams:
First Team:
1B – Steven Wells (Philadelphia)
2B – Fernando Garza (Philadelphia)
3B – J.R. Meneses (Felician)
SS – Christian Adorno (Wilmington)
C – Matt Kleinstein (Felician)
OF – Matt Diesel (Felician)
OF – John Kennedy (Nyack)
OF – Andrew LaMura (Felician)
SP – Matt Blandino (Felician)
SP – Jose Corrales (Nyack)
SP – Jay Kluka (Wilmington)
SP – Dylan Lawrence (Concordia)
RP – Danny Naif (Felician)
DH – Brennan Price (Felician)
UTIL-Pitcher – Jason Polgano (Felician)
UTIL-Non Pitcher – Brian Bilello (Concordia)
Second Team:
1B- Patrick Campion (Chestnut Hill)
2B – Alec Craig (Chestnut Hill)
3B – Max Franzone (Dominican)
SS – Bruce Strickland (Felician)
C – Robert Slagle III (Chestnut Hill)
OF – Brendan Looby (Chestnut Hill)
OF – Ryan Rivera (Caldwell)
OF – Arbely Soto (Dominican)
SP – Erik Bussey (Nyack)
SP – Patrick Kelley (Chestnut Hill)
SP – Pablo Matos (USciences)
SP – Corey Pic (Dominican)
RP – Dino Cattai (Chestnut Hill)
RP – Kraigen Rasalla (Dominican)
DH – Don Walsh (Post)
UTIL-Pitcher – Mike Munson (Post)
UTIL-Non Pitcher – Michael Bernstein (Caldwell)
2016 CACC Player of the Year: Fernando Garza, Philadelphia
2016 CACC Pitcher of the Year: Matt Blandino, Felician
2016 CACC Rookie of the Year: Julian Kurych, Wilmington
2016 BSN Sports/CACC Coach of the Year: Chris Langan, Felician
2016 CACC Team Sportsmanship Awards: Bloomfield and Wilmington