Posted: Jul 23, 2019

Fourth straight year for academic honors for the Seahawks

Salve Regina University baseball earns its fourth consecutive Team Academic Excellence Award from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).

GREENSBORO, N.C. (July 23, 2019) -- The American Baseball Coaches Association is thrilled to announce the over 300 member college and high school programs from across the country who have been awarded the 2018-19 ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award. Teams from every level of college and high school baseball were recognized with this year's award, which highlights programs coached by ABCA members that posted a GPA over 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for the entire 2018-19 academic year.

This year, 305 college and high school programs received this year's award, including NCAA Div. III national champion Chapman University (Calif.) and NJCAA Div. II champs Northern Oklahoma College-Enid. In total, 97 high school teams along with 208 programs from the NCAA Div. I, II, III, NAIA, and junior college levels were recognized.

The Seahawks compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.085 for this past academic year and are one of two Commonwealth Coast Conference schools among the 81 NCAA Division III schools recognized by the ABCA for academic excellence.

A dozen Salve Regina baseball student-athletes were named Academic All-Conference selections last month for cumulative GPAs over 3.30 through the spring semester, including six graduating seniors - Colton Eremian, Brian Farrell, Anthony Gozzo, Tyler Hertzwig, Zack Smith, Brett Wilkes.

"We are proud to once again honor the academic achievements of so many of our member programs," said ABCA Executive Director Craig Keilitz. "The off-the-field success of this year's award winners is a testament to the hard work of the student-athletes and the commitment of coaches and academic personnel to developing well-rounded individuals."

Coaches were able to nominate their teams for the ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award following the conclusion of their spring semesters prior to the nomination deadline of July 19. To be honored, teams had to meet the following criteria:

Must be a high school or college team.
Head coach must be a current ABCA member.
Team must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 on a 4.0 scale during the 2018-19 academic year.

The American Baseball Coaches Association has a long tradition of recognizing the achievements of baseball coaches and student-athletes. The ABCA/Rawlings All-America Teams are the nation's oldest, founded in 1949, and the ABCA's awards program also includes the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Awards, the ABCA/Diamond Regional & National Coaches of the Year and several other major awards such as the ABCA Hall of Fame and the Dave Keilitz Ethics in Coaching Award.

View Recipients from Past Years: 2017-18 | 2016-17 | 2015-16