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BlackCollegeBaseball.com announces 2007 Elite Team
June 22, 2007
Pikesville, MD - BlackCollegeBaseball.com has released its fourth Black College Baseball Awards. Candidates were taken from the nineteen Division-I programs which included the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, Southwestern Athletic Conference, and Independent programs Chicago State and Savannah State University.
 The 2007 Coach of the Year is Bethune Cookman's head coach Mervyl Melendez. Melendez has earned the award for the second straight year and continues to run the tables on MEAC opponents. During the regular season, Bethune only lost one conference game and has a two year conference record of 31-1. As a player for Bethune Cookman and as a coach, Melendez has won nine MEAC titles.
BCB Player of the Year award goes to Prairie View A&M shortstop Michael Richard. This is the second straight year the award went to a dominating SWAC shortstop. Before being drafted in the 11th round in the 2007 MLB draft by Oakland, Richard was named SWAC Player of the Year and Most Outstanding hitter. Richard accounted for almost 15% of Prairie View's run scored.
Pitcher of the Year goes to Norfolk State hurler Luke Foss. Foss finished the season at with a 10-2 record and an amazing 2.28 ERA. Some of his notable wins this season were against Savannah State, Villanova and Seton Hall . Foss was also named to the 2007 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-East Region second team.
For the men and women behind the scenes that usually receive no recognition, Sports Information Directors and their baseball contacts are the ones that get the information out. Bryan Harvey of Bethune Cookman stayed busy sending press releases and game notes on his 2007 BCB Champion Wildcats. Bryan also helps Wildcat fans stay in touch with their team during games by using Gametracker and by keeping the Wildcat website fresh and current.
The Black College Baseball Elite Teams are comprised of athletes from the Independents, Mid-Continent, MEAC, and SWAC conferences. Bethune-Cookman and Prairie View landed 4 players on the squad. Alcorn State was next with 3 on the Elite Team followed by Norfolk State, North Carolina A&T and Jackson State at two apiece. The remaining schools had one representative on the BCB Elite Team: Alabama State, Delaware State, Florida A&M, Maryland Eastern Shore, Mississippi Valley, Savannah State, and Southern.
FIRST TEAM POSITION PLAYERS
C, Lyall Foran, Norfolk State
1B, Johnathan Stevens, Alabama State
2B, Shawn Taylor, Alcorn State
SS, Michael Richard, Prairie View A&M
3B, Charlie Gamble, North Carolina A&T
OF, Marcus Davis, Alcorn State
OF, Joe McIntyre, North Carolina A&T
OF, Angel Mercado, Bethune Cookman
FIRST TEAM PITCHERS
SP, Luke Foss, Norfolk State
SP, Francisco Rodriguez, Bethune-Cookman
SP, Matt Chase, Prairie View A&M
RP, Josh Schmitt - Delaware State
SECOND TEAM POSITION PLAYERS
C, John Keene, Savannah State
1B, Sean Bard, Mississippi Valley
2B, Spenser Dennis, Prairie View A&M
SS, Chris Henault, Bethune Cookman
3B, Chris Stamps, Jackson State
OF, Darryl Evans, Florida A&M
OF, Joel Gonzalez, Maryland Eastern Shore
OF, Anthony Mclin, Jackson State
SECOND TEAM PITCHERS
SP, Wrandal Taylor, Prairie View A&M
SP, Dustin Blackwell, Bethune Cookman
SP, Roydrick Merritt, Southern University
RP, Lee Johnson, Alcorn State
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