Salisbury's Grasso Named D3baseball.com National Player of the Year; Wesley's Mears Earns First Team All-America Status
Complete D3baseball.com All-America Team
Salisbury senior pitcher/second baseman Pete Grasso has been named the D3baseball.com National Player of the Year to highlight the 2017 All-America squad, announced Thursday morning. Wesley senior Trey Mears, the CAC Co-Player of the Year along with Grasso, was also named a first team All-American.
Grasso played in 45 of 46 games, totaling team-highs in hits (72), batting average (.381), and at-bats (189). On the mound Grasso was equally as impressive posting a 9-1 record with a team best 2.17 ERA while totaling 89 strikeouts and allowing only 22 earned runs.
For his career in the maroon and gold Grasso will finish top-10 in multiple statistical categories for the maroon and gold including tied for fourth in games played (169); first in at-bats (690), hits (252), triples (13), and runs scored (198); second in RBI (177); tied for fifth in doubles (43); third in total bases (381); fourth in strikeouts (192); and third in saves with 10.
The post season accolades continue to roll in for Grasso, who was named the Capital Athletic Conference Player of the Year earlier this month as well as a member of the All-CAC first team. He was also named the D3baseball.com South Region Player of the Year, the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Player of the Year, as well as first-team selections for D3baseball.com, the Eastern College Athletic Conference, and ABCA/Rawlings.
Mears led the CAC in batting average (.500), RBIs (54), stolen bases (41), on-base percentage (.568) and slugging percentage (.772). He also ranked second in hits (68), runs scored (56) and total bases (105). As of the latest NCAA stat report, Mears leads the nation in batting average, runs per game (1.65), RBIs per game (1.59) and stolen bases per game (1.21). Mears also knocked seven home runs with 14 doubles on the year. Mears reached base in all 34 games and registered a hit in 30 of Wesley's 34 games. The CAC Co-Player of the Year, Mears received All-South Region First Team honors by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and D3baseball.com. He was also named the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference South Region Player of the Year, and twice earned ECAC Player of the Week.
First team
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | Avg. | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | Fld.% |
| C | Chris Zapata, Centenary (La.) | Jr. | .391 | 37 | 70 | 17 | 4 | 12 | 71 | 8 | .991 |
| 1B | Nick Sotiros, North Central (Ill.) | Sr. | .347 | 40 | 66 | 18 | 4 | 7 | 60 | 3 | .986 |
| 2B | Tanner Nishioka, Pomona-Pitzer | Sr. | .441 | 48 | 67 | 12 | 1 | 18 | 53 | 8 | .966 |
| 3B | Michael Mateja, North Central (Ill.) | So. | .414 | 59 | 77 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 35 | 21 | .931 |
| SS | Bryan VanDuser, Concordia-Chicago | So. | .413 | 56 | 74 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 19 | .929 |
| OF | Trey Mears, Wesley | Sr. | .500 | 56 | 68 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 54 | 41 | .984 |
| OF | Ian Mikowski, Adrian | Sr. | .472 | 68 | 83 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 42 | .990 |
| OF | Alex Zachary, Eastern Connecticut | Sr. | .404 | 42 | 61 | 14 | 2 | 9 | 42 | 25 | .980 |
| DH | Casey Bell, LaGrange | Sr. | .374 | 49 | 73 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 49 | 6 | - |
| UTL | Pete Grasso, Salisbury | Sr. | .381 | 53 | 72 | 13 | 3 | 8 | 47 | 8 | .966 |
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | ERA | W-L | Sv. | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | Opp. avg. |
| SP | Billy Dimlow, Emory | So. | 1.09 | 6-2 | 0 | 74 | 62 | 9 | 14 | 83 | .209 |
| SP | Josh Fleming, Webster | Jr. | 0.68 | 8-1 | 0 | 92.2 | 54 | 7 | 12 | 115 | .165 |
| SP | Phil Mary, Mount Union | So. | 0.78 | 10-0 | 2 | 81 | 58 | 7 | 16 | 62 | .199 |
| SP | Heath Renz, UW-Whitewater | Jr. | 1.96 | 9-0 | 1 | 69 | 54 | 15 | 13 | 55 | .215 |
| RP | Matt Curry, TCNJ | Jr. | 0.84 | 9-0 | 7 | 32 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 27 | .148 |
| UTL | Pete Grasso, Salisbury | Sr. | 2.17 | 9-1 | 4 | 91.1 | 77 | 22 | 36 | 89 | .227 |
Second team
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | Avg. | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | Fld.% |
| C | Ryan Orgielewicz, Johns Hopkins | Sr. | .403 |
40 |
73 |
16 |
2 |
13 |
56 |
8 |
.996 |
| 1B | Jamie Lackner, Wooster | Sr. | .408 | 49 | 69 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 58 | 5 | .998 |
| 2B | Kyle Fackler, Elizabethtown | Sr. | .443 | 45 | 77 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 28 | 8 | .948 |
| 3B | Eric Hamilton, Oswego State | Sr. | .434 | 40 | 69 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 36 | 16 | .966 |
| SS | Conor Reynolds, Johns Hopkins | Jr. | .366 | 58 | 56 | 17 | 2 | 9 | 33 | 13 | .917 |
| OF | Rob DeAngelis, Ramapo | Sr. | .429 | 45 | 73 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 29 | 6 | .988 |
| OF | Cole Migliorini, Randolph-Macon | Jr. | .399 | 47 | 61 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 45 | 9 | .975 |
| OF | Michael Schimpf, Centenary (La.) | Sr. | .405 | 54 | 60 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 48 | 10 | .976 |
| DH | Daniel Williams, Texas-Tyler | Sr. | .395 | 36 | 79 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 53 | 7 | .929 |
| UTL | Ryan Orr, Kalamazoo | Jr. | .331 | 31 | 47 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 10 | .957 |
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | ERA | W-L | Sv. | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | Opp. avg. |
| SP | Caleb Boushley, UW-La Crosse | Sr. | 1.75 |
9-3 |
1 |
103 |
75 |
20 |
19 |
106 |
.202 |
| SP | Joe Cirillo, TCNJ | Jr. | 1.48 | 5-1 | 0 | 85.1 | 63 | 14 | 20 | 73 | .209 |
| SP | Riley Groves, Washington & Jefferson | Sr. | 2.03 | 10-2 | 0 | 79.2 | 67 | 18 | 16 | 61 | .223 |
| SP | Felix Minjarez, Redlands | Jr. | 2.30 | 12-2 | 0 | 94 | 89 | 24 | 25 | 105 | .253 |
| RP | T.J. Storer, Ohio Northern | Sr. | 1.69 | 1-0 | 14 | 21.1 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 12 | .224 |
| UTL | Ryan Orr, Kalamazoo | Jr. | 3.05 | 7-2 | 3 | 73.2 | 67 | 25 | 11 | 77 | .233 |
Third team
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | Avg. | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | Fld.% |
| C | Derek Helbing, Washington & Jefferson | Sr. | .325 |
51 |
53 |
12 |
0 |
11 |
53 |
9 |
.972 |
| 1B | Conner Combs, East Texas Baptist | Sr. | .400 | 54 | 70 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 45 | 18 | .981 |
| 2B | Mitch Wilson, Concordia-Chicago | Jr. | .366 | 48 | 63 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 38 | 18 | .980 |
| 3B | Tyler Cook, Chapman | Sr. | .431 | 42 | 72 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 39 | 3 | .919 |
| SS | Ryan Dorow, Adrian | Sr. | .422 | 50 | 75 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 54 | 3 | .956 |
| OF | Dylan Hapworth, Southern Maine | Fr. | .394 | 45 | 63 | 14 | 4 | 9 | 41 | 3 | .963 |
| OF | Ian Kobernick, Kalamazoo | Sr. | .428 | 48 | 74 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 52 | 9 | .972 |
| OF | Jacob Thumann, Wartburg | Sr. | .343 | 44 | 61 | 11 | 1 | 13 | 48 | 9 | .980 |
| DH | Jake Loew, Shenandoah | Sr. | .365 | 47 | 70 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 59 | 1 | .920 |
| UTL | Kyle Uhrich, Webster | Sr. | .288 | 30 | 46 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 30 | 2 | .983 |
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | ERA | W-L | Sv. | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | Opp. avg. |
| SP | Stephen Himic, Birmingham-Southern | Jr. | 2.28 | 10-0 | 0 | 83 | 75 | 21 | 16 | 56 | .245 |
| SP | Jimi Keating, Spalding | Jr. | 1.62 | 11-2 | 0 | 100 | 67 | 18 | 10 | 124 | .186 |
| SP | Tommy Parsons, Adrian | Jr. | 2.23 | 12-1 | 0 | 93 | 92 | 23 | 7 | 101 | .256 |
| SP | Speros Varinos, Tufts | Sr. | 1.98 | 8-1 | 1 | 77.1 | 67 | 17 | 11 | 86 | .233 |
| RP | Aaron Barteau, Mary Hardin-Baylor | Sr. | 2.05 | 2-1 | 13 | 26.1 | 18 | 6 | 9 | 44 | .191 |
| UTL | Kyle Uhrich, Webster | Sr. | 2.29 | 7-3 | 4 | 59 | 26 | 15 | 25 | 90 | .131 |
Honorable mention
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | Avg. | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | Fld.% |
| C | Rainier Aguilar, Redlands | So. | .424 | 25 | 59 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 39 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 1B | Chris Fowler, Mass-Boston | Jr. | .366 | 36 | 63 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 46 | 4 | .988 |
| 2B | Kyle Hartenstein, Mitchell | Jr. | .422 | 51 | 70 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 43 | 6 | .954 |
| 3B | Ian Velez, La Roche | Sr. | .435 | 41 | 73 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 7 | .864 |
| SS | Kyle Bonicki, Clark | Jr. | .391 | 50 | 61 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 31 | 12 | .975 |
| OF | Brady Chant, Suffolk | Jr. | .361 | 47 | 69 | 13 | 12 | 4 | 35 | 17 | .978 |
| OF | Billy Goodall, Mount Union | Jr. | .451 | 40 | 69 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 34 | 25 | .965 |
| OF | Nick Vento, Washington & Jefferson | Sr. | .433 | 47 | 81 | 17 | 1 | 8 | 57 | 13 | .976 |
| DH | Scott Walters, Trinity (Texas) | Sr. | .400 | 45 | 64 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 30 | 19 | .930 |
| UTL | Ben Havel, Elmhurst | Sr. | .433 | 38 | 68 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 48 | 1 | .985 |
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | ERA | W-L | Sv. | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | Opp. avg. |
| SP | Cason Cunningham, Linfield | So. | 2.13 | 5-1 | 0 | 84.1 | 43 | 20 | 39 | 104 | .154 |
| SP | Ryan Gaines, Birmingham-Southern | Sr. | 2.93 | 11-0 | 0 | 101.1 | 103 | 33 | 13 | 82 | .261 |
| SP | Austin Jones, UW-Whitewater | Jr. | 1.91 | 8-3 | 1 | 85 | 62 | 18 | 20 | 83 | .202 |
| SP | Brad Margolin, Washington U. | Sr. | 1.98 | 9-2 | 0 | 82 | 56 | 18 | 7 | 69 | .190 |
| RP | Nathan Schneidermann, Dubuque | So. | 0.47 | 6-1 | 5 | 38 | 18 | 2 | 8 | 42 | .145 |






