June 29, 2010


Soares, Hughes Nab Top University
Baseball Honors

BLACKSBURG, Va. — George Mason senior shortstop Ryan Soares and Virginia Tech head coach Pete Hughes captured top honors on the University Division All-State Baseball team chosen by the Virginia College Sports Information Directors (VaSID). Soares was selected as the Player of the Year, while Hughes won the Coach of the Year award. Additionally, Virginia sophomore Danny Hultzen was chosen as Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive season and VMI freshman Corey Spangenberg was voted Rookie of the Year.

2010 VaSID University Division Baseball All-State Team

Soares, a First-team Louisville Slugger All-American, batted .438 with 13 home runs, 71 RBIs and an .808 slugging percentage. He was a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award as well as a third-team Ping!Baseball All-American. The Patriots’ shortstop also was the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year and was among the nation’s leaders in doubles per game and sacrifice flies. Soares set the CAA single-season records for doubles (29) and broke the school mark for single-season batting average and doubles as well as career doubles. The honor for Soares marks the second consecutive year a George Mason player has received the honor after Chris Henderson was selected as the 2009 VaSID Player of the Year.

Hughes, in his sixth season at Virginia Tech, was named the VaSID Division I Baseball Coach of the Year for the first time after directing the Hokies to a 40-22 season, including the program’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2000. Hughes guided the Hokies to regular season series wins at No. 4 Florida State, at No. 3 Georgia Tech and at home over No. 9 Miami.

Hultzen, a Collegiate Baseball First-team All-American and the ACC Pitcher of the year, posted an 11-1 record with a 2.78 ERA to win the honor for a second time. He was a first-team All-ACC selection and has posted a 20-2 career record.

Spangenberg batted .370 with 11 home runs, 49 RBIs and 24 stolen bases en route to being named the Big South Freshman of the Year. He is a Louisville Slugger second-team Freshman All-American and a Ping!Baseball/NCBWA second-team Freshman All-American. Spangenberg set school marks for hits (87), runs (62) and total bases (140).

Hultzen, along with teammates Phil Gosselin and Jarrett Parker, were selected to the firstteam for the second time, while Soares and Kevin Munson (James Madison) made the first team after being previously being chosen to the second team. Phil Cerreto (Longwood), Billy Barber (Richmond) and Shawn Teufel (Liberty) were named to the second team for a second time.

Virginia led the way with four players on the first team, while James Madison and Virginia Tech had two players named followed by George Mason, Radford, VCU and VMI with one each.  Including second team selections, Virginia had a total of six players named followed by Virginia Tech with four. James Madison and VMI had three honorees, while George Mason and Richmond each had two selections. Liberty, Longwood, Norfolk State, Radford, VCU and William & Mary each had one member on the team. There were two ties on the second team.

VaSID was formed in 1983, and is comprised of sports information professionals from NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA and independent institutions from the state of Virginia. The purpose of the organization is to promote college athletics at all four-year institutions.  For more information, please visit the VaSID website http://www.ferrum.edu/athletics/vasid/.