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Angelo Named D3baseball.com Region 4 Player Of The Year

McKenna, Pontari Collect Second Team Honors

Montclair, NJ – SAM ANGELO of the Montclair State baseball team was named the D3baseball.com Region 4 Player of the Year as the team placed three on the All-Region Team Monday.
 
Angelo, who was named to the First Team, is the first Red Hawk to collect a major award from the organization in the 11 seasons that D3baseball.com has handed out All-Region accolades. Joining Angelo on the All-Region squad were RYAN MCKENNA and MATT PONTARI, who claimed Second Team laurels.
 
The New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Angelo led Red Hawks with a .457 batting average, including a team-best 17 doubles, 13 home runs, and 54 RBI while starting all 37 games. He has also collected 63 hits and scored 56 runs while swiping five bases. The first baseman opened the season with consecutive 3-for-4 outings against McDaniel before going 3-for-5 with two homers and seven RBI against Penn State-Abington.

As the calendar flipped to NJAC play, Angelo batted .515 in conference games, collecting 35 hits and seven homers with 27 RBI. He smacked three doubles against Rutgers-Newark and was a perfect 5-for-5 against NJCU on April 14. He became the second student-athlete this season to hit for the cycle in the win, driving in seven runs. He closed the year with a 19-game hitting streak and reached base in the final 26 contests.
 
McKenna, named First Team All-NJAC earlier this year, hit .390 with 60 hits, nine doubles, a team-high three triples, and scoring 49 runs. A threat on the basepath, he has swiped five bases and has added 42 RBI. McKenna homered in three straight games early in the season and hit for the cycle against Lehman on March 21. He went 5-for-6 in that game with a career-high eight RBI.

Within the NJAC, McKenna hit.424 with a team-leading 35 hits while crossing the plate 26 times. He went 4-for-7 with three runs scored and a home run against NJCU and has recorded multi-hit games in eight of his last nine contests. In the previous match against Rutgers-Camden, he went 3-for-4 while scoring three times and knocking in two.
 
Pontari gains his first postseason honor with his Second Team selection. On the mound, he went 4-0 in 11 games while collecting a pair of saves. He paced the Red Hawks with strikeouts in 45 2/3 frames and held opponents to a .210 batting average. In his season debut against McDaniel, the right-hander fanned six in three innings of relief to earn the victory.
 
The Middletown, NJ native struck out a career-high 11 in 6 2/3 in a victory over Franklin & Marshall before notching six punchouts against Ramapo on April 6. He entered in relief against Kean on April 28, recording a save to help Montclair complete a sweep against the Cougars. In his final outing of the season, Pontari threw 6 1/3 innings against William Paterson in the NJAC First Round, scattering five hits while striking out eight to gain his fourth win.
 
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Players Mentioned

Sam Angelo

#25 Sam Angelo

IF
6' 0"
Senior
L/L
Ryan McKenna

#35 Ryan McKenna

OF
5' 9"
Senior
L/L
Matt Pontari

#26 Matt Pontari

P
5' 11"
Sophomore
R/R

Players Mentioned

Sam Angelo

#25 Sam Angelo

6' 0"
Senior
L/L
IF
Ryan McKenna

#35 Ryan McKenna

5' 9"
Senior
L/L
OF
Matt Pontari

#26 Matt Pontari

5' 11"
Sophomore
R/R
P