Tampa Places 12 On All-SSC Team

ORLANDO, Fla. - Mike Schwartz became the sixth player in UT history to be selected as the Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year and head coach Joe Urso collected his sixth SSC Coach of the Year award when the conference office announced the 2010 All-SSC Baseball Team on Wednesday.

An impressive 12 Spartans landed on the team as Mike Blanke, Tyler Cox, Patrick Donahue, and Jared Simon joined Schwartz in receiving first-team honors. Josh Bowman, Dylan Brown, Correy Figueroa, A.J. Pinera, Brad Roberts and John Wiedenbauer all earned a spot on the second team while Evan Stobbs earned honorable mention recognition.

The previous high for Tampa players to earn all-conference was 11 in 2006.

Schwartz, a senior designated hitter from Montville, N.J., led the conference in batting average (.421), slugging percentage (.736), on-base percentage (.597), and runs (70). His 63 walks were tops in the league and the nation and set a new school record.

Urso guided the team to a 42-8 mark including a program-record 25-game win streak in the middle of the year. Tampa won its 13th SSC title, its seventh under the 10th-year head coach.

2010 ALL-SUNSHINE STATE CONFERENCE BASEBALL TEAM

FIRST TEAM
1B - Michael Demma (Florida Tech, Sr)
2B - Eric McCans (Nova Southeastern, Sr)
3B - Rhys Roberts (Nova Southeastern, Sr)
SS - Nick Shaw (Barry, Sr)
OF - Tyler Cox (Tampa, Sr)
OF - Taylor Ferguson (Rollins, Sr)
OF - Yas Gutierrez (Barry, Sr)
OF - Jared Simon (Tampa, Jr)
UT - Patrick Donahue (Tampa, Jr)
DH - Mike Schwartz (Tampa, Sr)
C - Mike Blanke (Tampa, Jr)
SP - Jonathan Cornelius (Florida Tech, Jr)
SP - Tim Griffin (Rollins, Sr)
SP - Isaac Hicks (Nova Southeastern, Jr)
SP - Max Russell (Florida Southern, Jr)
RP - Sean Albury (Nova Southeastern, Jr)

Player of the Year - Mike Schwartz, Tampa
Pitcher of the Year - Tim Griffin, Rollins
Coach of the Year - Joe Urso, Tampa
Freshman of the Year - Ryan Brnovich, Saint Leo

SECOND TEAM
1B - Chris Chavez (Lynn, Sr)
2B - Brad Roberts (Tampa, Sr)
3B - Matt Petty (Barry, Jr)
SS - Correy Figueroa (Tampa, Sr)
OF - Dylan Brown (Tampa, Jr)
OF - Nikko Echevarria (Nova Southeastern, So)
OF - Trae Gore (Florida Southern, Sr)
OF - Minervino Labrador (Eckerd, Sr)
UT - Haven FitzSimmonds (Nova Southeastern, Jr)
DH - Ryan Garcia (Barry, Jr)
C - Ben Hewett (Rollins, Sr)
SP - Josh Bowman (Tampa, Jr)
SP - Stephen Hiscock (Rollins, Sr)
SP - A.J. Pinera (Tampa, Sr)
SP - John Wiedenbauer (Tampa, Sr)
RP - Daniel Tillman (Florida Southern, Jr)

HONORABLE MENTION
DH - Andrew Grutka (Florida Southern, Sr)
SP - Eddie Sipple (Florida Southern, Jr)
RP - Evan Stobbs (Tampa, Jr)