NEWPORT NEWS, Va.— Saint Joseph’s big stick catcher Deon Stafford, Jr. was named Atlantic 10 Conference baseball Player of the Year, while sensational Rhode Island Southpaw Tyler Wilson was selected at the league’s Pitcher of the Year. VCU freshman pitcher Michael Dailey was voted the A-10 Rookie of the Year and Rhode Island skipper Raphael Cerrato was named Coach of the Year.

The awards, along with the All-Conference, All-Rookie and All-Academic Teams, were announced Tuesday ahead of the 2016 A-10 Baseball Championship, which begins Wednesday at Fordham’s Houlihan Park.

Cerrato led the Rams to a 27-25 record and an A-10 regular season title with an 18-6 mark in conference play. The award is his second Coach of the Year honor in as many seasons at the helm of Rhody baseball.

Wilson, was a five-time A-10 Pitcher of the Week and a one-time National Player of the Week selection. He had an ERA of 2.22 in all games and a stunning 0.58 mark against A-10 opponents. He was second in the nation in wins during the regular season and has the third-best WHIP in the country at 0.79. The sophomore went 14.1 innings without allowing a hit, the second-longest streak in the country, and he had a scoreless streak of 17.1 innings streak. Ranking 12^th nationally in strikeouts, Wilson had four 10+ strikeout games and had more strikeouts that hits in 12 of his 13 starts.

Stafford batted .388 this season and .421 in A-10 games, collecting 43 RBI in all games, including 25 in conference play. The sophomore led the league in home runs (17), batting average, runs (52), on-base and slugging percentage. Stafford was the only player in Division I to have two games where he hit three-home runs. Named a National Player of the Week, he was a three-time A-10 Player of the Week and was a Johnny Bench Award semifinalist.

Dailey, a right-handed pitcher, had a 1.60 ERA in all games for VCU and a 1.42 in Atlantic 10 games. He was 5-0 this season, with three of those wins coming against A-10 opponents. He allowed just 11 earned runs all year and issued 46 strikeouts , 34 of which came against league batters.

The 12-member All-Conference First and Second Teams and the 12-member All-Rookie Team were selected by a vote of the 13 Atlantic 10 head coaches. The 12-member All-Academic  team was chosen by the league’s baseball communications directors.

The 2016 Atlantic 10 Championship begins Wednesday at 10:00 am ET with four games and concludes Saturday with the league’s championship finals. All of the Friday and Saturday games will be televised live on the American Sports Network (ASN). Every game of the championship will also be available digitally on the A-10 Network. The winner of the double-elimination tournament receives the Atlantic 10’s bid to the NCAA Regionals.

 2016 Atlantic 10 Baseball Awards

	Name	School	Position	Year
Player of the Year:	Deon Stafford, Jr	Saint Joseph’s	Catcher	Sophomore
Pitcher of the Year:	Tyler Wilson	Rhode Island	Pitcher	Sophomore
Rookie of the Year:	Michael Dailey	VCU	Pitcher	Freshman
Coach of the Year:	Raphael Cerrato	Rhode Island		Second Year

All-Conference First Team

Name	School	Position	Year
Deon Stafford, Jr.	Saint Joseph’s	Catcher	Sophomore
Bobby Campbell	George Washington	First Base	Junior
Sam Foy	Davidson	Second Base	Senior
Matt Davis	VCU	Shortstop	Junior
Michael Morman	Richmond	Third Base	Graduate
Kurtis Brown	Richmond	Designated Hitter	Junior
Joey Bartosic	George Washington	Outfield	Junior
Trent Leimkuehler	Saint Louis	Outfield	Junior
John Brue	Saint Joseph’s	Outfield	Senior
Tyler Wilson	Rhode Island	Starting Pitcher	Sophomore
Clark Beeker	Davidson	Starting Pitcher	Senior
Sam Donko	VCU	Relief Pitcher	Junior

 

All-Conference Second Team

Name	School	Position	Year
John Jennings	Massachusetts	Catcher	Senior
Nick Weybright	Dayton	First Base	Senior
Chris Hess	Rhode Island	Second Base	Sophomore
Cole Peterson	St. Bonaventure	Shortstop	Sophomore
Josh Bunselmeyer	Saint Louis	Third Base	Senior
Devin Mahoney	Saint Louis	Designated Hitter	Junior
Jordan Powell	Rhode Island	Outfield	Sophomore
Parker Sniatynski	Saint Louis	Outfield	Sophomore
Mark Donadio	Fordham	Outfield	Junior
Matt Eckelman	Saint Louis	Starting Pitcher	Senior
Brandon Schlimm	St. Bonaventure	Starting Pitcher	Sophomore
Ryan Kelly	Saint Joseph’s	Relief Pitcher	Junior

 

All-Rookie Team

Name	School	Position	Year
Austin Cline	Dayton	Pitcher	Freshman
Justin Bardwell	Fordham	Catcher	Freshman
Reiss Knehr	Fordham	Pitcher/Infielder	Freshman
Zach Mort	George Mason	Pitcher	Freshman
Jared Melone	La Salle	Third Base	Freshman
Matt Olson	Richmond	Pitcher	Freshman
Caleb Ward	Richmond	Pitcher	Freshman
Tim Brennan	Saint Joseph’s	Pitcher	Freshman
Charlie Concannon	Saint Joseph’s	First Base/Outfield	Freshman
Lucas Rollins	Saint Joseph’s	Pitcher	Freshman
Miller Hogan	Saint Louis	Pitcher	Freshman
Michael Dailey	VCU	Pitcher	Freshman

All-Academic Team

Player	School	Position	Year	Major
Clark Beeker	Davidson	Pitcher	Senior	Political Science
Durin O’Linger	Davidson	Pitcher	Senior	Biology
Mitch Coughlin	Dayton	Outfielder	Senior	Sport Management
Matthew Kozuch	Fordham	Infielder	Senior	Finance
Ryan McNally	Fordham	Outfielder	Graduate	Business Administration
Joey Runco	Fordham	Infielder	Senior	Business Administration
Tyler Zombro	George Mason	Pitcher	Junior	Integrative Studies
Joey Ravert	La Salle	First Base/Pitcher	Senior	Accounting
Billy Worswick	La Salle	Pitcher	Senior	Accounting
Michael Morman	Richmond	Third Baseman	Graduate	Human Resource Management
T.J. Baker	St. Bonaventure	Pitcher	Junior	Accounting
Matt Davis	VCU	Shortstop	Junior	Engineering

---