Two Buccaneers named preseason baseball All-Americans

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Senior shortstop Chuck Hargis was one of two Bucs named preseason All-American.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

TUCSON, Ariz. � The 2006 Louisville Slugger preseason All-American baseball teams, selected by Collegiate Baseball newspaper, features a who's who of NCAA Division I baseball players, including two Buccaneer seniors; outfielder Shane Byrne (Johnson City, Tenn.) and shortstop Chuck Hargis (Powell, Tenn.).

With two selections ETSU is tied with Florida Atlantic for most preseason All-Americans in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Hargis led the team and was sixth in the nation a year ago with 22 doubles. His .387 batting average was second on the team and eighth in the Southern Conference. He was a first-team All-SoCon selection by both the league coaches and the media, and was a second-team All-Region choice.

Byrne led the Bucs with 70 runs scored, 81 hits, five triples and 33 walks in 2005. He is also the squad's leading returnee in home runs, slugging percentage and on base percentage. He was fourth on the team in both batting average (.373) and RBI (45). He was a first-team All-SoCon selection by the media and earned second-team accolades from the league coaches.

"This is a tremendous honor for Chuck and Shane," said ETSU head coach Tony Skole. "This recognition speaks volumes of their work ethic and dedication."

The preseason pick as National Player of The Year is OF Shane Robinson of Florida St. Last season for the Seminoles, he hit .427 with 122 hits, 25 doubles, 57 walks and 49 stolen bases. If that wasn't enough, he put together a school record 40-game hitting streak. In addition, he was the first player in FSU history to record 100 hits and steal 40-plus bases in the same year. After his monster season of a year ago, he was named Collegiate Baseball's National Player of The Year.

The Buccaneers open their 2006 season at home on February 3 against Eastern Michigan.

The three All-American teams include (with partial statistics from last season for first team members):

First Team Pre-Season All-Americans

RHP Dallas Buck, Oregon St. (12-1, 2.09 ERA, 118 K, 51 BB)

LHP Andrew Miller, North Carolina (8-4, 2.98 ERA, 104 K, 52 BB)

RHP Max Scherzer, Missouri (9-4, 1.86 ERA, 131 K, 41 BB)

RHP Joba Chamberlain, Nebraska (10-2, 2.81 ERA, 130 K, 33 BB)

RHP Kyle McCulloch, Texas (12-4, 2.92 ERA, 99 K, 45 BB)

RHP Ian Kennedy, Southern California (12-3, 2.54 ERA, 158 K, 38 BB)

Relief Brett Jensen, Nebraska (16 SV, 1.96 ERA, 46 K, 9 BB)

C Chad Tracy, Pepperdine (.367, 22 2B, 12 HR, 61 RBI)

1B Matt LaPorta, Florida (.328, 26 HR, 16 2B, 79 RBI)

2B Taylor Harbin, Clemson (.343, 28 2B, 10 HR, 63 RBI)

3B Wes Hodges, Georgia Tech. (.397, 18 2B, 9 HR, 51 RBI)

SS Jay Heafner, Davidson (.448, 18 2B, 11 HR, 58 RBI, 13 SB)

OF Shane Robinson, Florida St. (.427, 25 2B, 49 SB, 40-game hitting streak)

OF Drew Stubbs, Texas (.311, 20 2B, 11 HR, 46 RBI, 32 SB)

OF Nathan Southard, Tulane (.341, 24 2B, 12 HR, 53 RBI, 16 SB)

DH Chris Carlson, New Mexico (.395, 24 2B, 15 HR, 79 RBI)

UT Joe Savery, Rice (.382, 17 2B, 8-5 pitching record, 2.43 ERA, 129 K, 37 BB)

Second Team Pre-Season All-Americans

RHP Mickey Storey, Florida Atlantic

LHP Nick Hill, Army

LHP Scott Reese, Creighton

RHP Luke Trubee, Dayton

RHP Johnny Dorn, Nebraska

RHP Jonah Nickerson, Oregon St.

RHP Adrian Alaniz, Texas

Relief Blair Erickson, U.C. Irvine

Relief Kevin Gunderson, Oregon St.

C Jeff Kunkel, Michigan

C J.P. Arencibia, Tennessee

1B Matt Rizzotti, Manhattan

1B Luke Hopkins, New Mexico St.

2B Jordan Pacheco, New Mexico

3B Chris Coghlan, Mississippi

SS Josh Rodriguez, Rice

OF Mark Wright, Mississippi

OF Jon Jay, Miami (Fla.)

OF John Raynor, N.C. Wilmington

UT Heath Rollins, Winthrop

Third Team Pre-Season All-Americans

RHP Kenn Kasparek, Texas

RHP Eddie Degerman, Rice

RHP Blake Wood, Georgia Tech.

LHP Clay Dirks, Louisiana St.

RHP Tim Lincecum, Washington

RHP Tim Bascom, Central Florida

LHP Keith Weiser, Miami (Ohio)

LHP James Adkins, Tennessee

RHP Daniel Bard, North Carolina

Relief Daniel Best, Southern Mississippi

Relief Tyler Chambliss, Florida St.

Relief Vinnie Pestano, Cal. St. Fullerton

Relief Darren O'Day, Florida

Relief Paul Koss, Southern California

C Jordan Newton, Western Kentucky

C Michael Ambort, Lamar

1B Justin Baum, Pacific

1B Aaron Bates, North Carolina St.

1B Mike Priest, Campbell

1B Aaron Grijalva, Liberty

1B Chris Johnson, Stetson

2B Jim Negrych, Pittsburgh

2B Chris Campbell, Charleston

2B Scott Sizemore, Va. Commonwealth

3B Evan Longoria, Long Beach St.

3B Brad Emaus, Tulane

3B Derek Schermerhorn, Wichita St.

3B Beau Mills, Fresno St.

3B Matt Poulk, N.C. Wilmington

SS Mitch Hilligoss, Purdue

SS Chuck Hargis, East Tennessee St.

OF Brennan Boesch, California

OF Mike McBryde, Florida Atlantic

OF Shane Byrne, East Tennessee St.

OF Jeremy Jones, North Carolina A&T

UT Matt Wieters, Georgia Tech.