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Wed, Apr 30, 2008
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Regular season champion Madonna University accounted for six of the 17 all-conference first team selections as the WHAC baseball coaches selected the 2008 All-Conference teams Wednesday (April 30).
The Crusaders - who won their third WHAC Championship in the last four seasons - nabbed three out of four major postseason awards as senior pitcher Will Kennedy was named the 2008 WHAC Pitcher of the Year and head coach Greg Haeger was named WHAC Coach of the Year. Concordia University senior outfielder Alex Hoover and MU junior first baseman Kevin Zerbo were selected the 2008 WHAC Co-Player of the Year.
Conference runner-up Indiana Tech notched four first-teamers while third place finisher Concordia tallied three as did Aquinas College. Siena Heights rounded out the group with one first team honoree.
Kennedy, the Crusaders' right-handed pitcher, posted a 6-2 record and a league-leading 1.97 ERA in his final collegiate campaign. His 65 strikeouts was also a conference best as he help opponents to a .202 batting average in just over 59 innings of work. Kennedy also became Madonna's career strikeout record holder, becoming the first MU player to reach 200 for his career.
Hoover and Zerbo both posted impressive seasons for their clubs en route to co-MVP honors. Hoover made his mark on the Concordia record books becoming one of their most prolific offensive threats in school history. This season alone, Hoover led the WHAC with a .439 average while hitting three home runs and driving in 45 runs.
Zerbo hit .386 with a league-leading seven home runs, 11 doubles and WHAC best .689 slugging percentage in the heart of the WHAC championship line up.
Haeger wins his third WHAC Coach of the Year award in the last four seasons after guiding the squad to a 19-5 conference record and a 33-12 overall mark. Madonna, currently ranked 25th in the NAIA national coaches poll, holds the second spot in the NAIA Region VIII rankings and is the top seed in the WHAC Tournament as they vie for the top WHAC seed in next week's Region VIII Championship.
The WHAC coaches also named a player from each team as the Champions of Character representative, higlighted by Coach of Character John Kolasinski of Siena Heights. The WHAC Champions of Character team selections were; Todd Peters (Aquinas), Caleb Case (Concordia), Shawn Placie (Indiana Tech), John McCracken (Madonna) and Colin Fricke (Siena Heights).
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