TUCSON, Ariz. – Saint Anselm College senior catcher, Matt Sucharewicz (Peabody, Mass.) and sophomore 1B/P, Robert Kelly (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), were selected as Northeast Region Pre-Season All-American picks. The American Baseball Coaches Association's NCAA Division II All-American Baseball Committee prepared both the Pre-Season All American picks, as well as the list of "Players to Watch". Junior pitcher John Healy (Cranston, R.I.) is named on that list in the Northeast.
In 2009-10, both Sucharewicz and Kelly were First Team All-Northeast-10, as well as First Team All-Region, while Healy was named Third Team All-NE-10. Last May, Sucharewicz and Kelly were both been named to the Division II roster for the 2010 NEIBA College Baseball All-Star Game at Fenway Park. The game was played Sunday, June 6 at Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox.
Sucharewicz was the Hawks' second-leading hitter, batting .340 with 50 hits, 10 doubles, a team-best seven home runs and 40 RBI, 17 walks, 10 hit batsmen, three sacrifice flies and 22 runs scored. He finished the season in second all-time for the Hawks in both hit batsmen and RBI, and ninth in home runs.
Additionally, he is now second all-time in career hit batsmen (19) and caught stealing (35), and eighth in career RBI (75). On May 1 last season, he broke the Hawks' all-time record for home runs and total bases in a single game, hitting three home runs and amassing 13 total bases. In the NE-10, he was second in two-out RBI (20), fourth in total RBI, fifth in slugging percentage, and sixth in batting average, on base percentage, RBI and hit batsmen.
As a freshman, Kelly was named to the 2010 Daktronics Baseball All-Region First Team. Kelly was tabbed as the First Team designated hitter after putting together one of the finest freshman seasons in Saint Anselm history.
The only NE-10 First Team All-Conference selection as a freshman in Saint Anselm history, Kelly finished out his rookie season as the Hawks' leading batter, hitting .383 (59-154) with 16 doubles, two triples, three home runs, 18 walks, five hit batsmen, 25 runs and 32 RBI. He also led the Hawks with a .571 slugging percentage and a .461 on-base percentage. He hit safely in 33 of his 38 starts and closed out the season with a 13-game hitting streak.
Kelly finished second in the NE-10 in doubles and on-base percentage, as well as third in batting average and slugging percentage. Additionally, he was second in batting average with runners on base (.402), seventh in hits, and eighth in total bases (88). On the Hawks' all-time single-season leaderboards, he finished second in doubles, third in extra-base hits (21), and seventh in both hits and defensive putouts (245).
He tied the record for triples in a game at Assumption on May 2 with two, and tied the record for hits (5) and runs (4) in a single game April 24 at No. 18 Southern Connecticut. In addition to his NE-10 All-Conference selection, he was named as the league's Freshman of the Week twice and Player of the Week once last season.
The Hawks opened their Spring 2011 season with a pair of wins against Concordia (N.Y.) in Tampa, Fla. on Feb. 26. After dropping two games at Saint Leo on Feb. 27, the Hawks bounced back with a 3-2 victory against Eckerd on March 1. They will open at home at Sullivan Field against conference-rival Franklin Pierce on March 24. First pitch is 3:30 p.m.
