Five Named To All-Worcester Area Baseball Team, Baker Selected Coach Of The Year

Worcester Telegram & Gazette: "Worcester Area Team All-Stars Announced"

Worcester, MA --- Senior teammates Zach George (Attleboro, MA), Ben Libuda (Auburn, MA), David Ruggiero (Peabody, MA) and Joe Perlak (Chicopee, MA) along with sophomore Adam Barry (Auburn, MA/Holy Name) have all been tabbed to the All-Worcester Area Baseball Team as selected by the nine sports information directors in the Worcester Area.

George (OF), Barry (OF) and Libuda (LHP) were all selected to the First-team while Ruggiero (SS) and Perlak (RHP) received Second-team nods. 20th year head coach Dr. Dirk Baker was also named the Co-Worcester Area Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Holy Cross led with eight selections while the Lancers and WPI followed with five and four student-athletes represented on the squad, respectively.

George, a two-time All-New England honoree and an All-MASCAC utility player, led the squad with a .382 batting average, for the second highest clip in the MASCAC. He also scored a conference high 44 runs to go with 12 doubles, three triples, one homer and 22 RBIs at the top of the order.

He was 18-for-22 on the base paths and after he only committed five miscues out of 100 possible chances after playing both corner infield and outfield positions before settling in as the primary designated hitter during conference and tournament play.

Barry, who earned All-MASCAC laurels for the second consecutive year, hit .362 with a squad-best 36 RBI to go along with 24 runs, five doubles and a pair of home runs. He plated the second highest amount of batters in the conference and he shattered the single season record for singles in one year (47).

Among 33 batters with over 100 at-bats in the league, he was one of two below double digits in strikeouts as he also had the fewest, whiffing six times in 149 at-bats.

Libuda, last year's Worcester Area Pitcher of the Year, enjoyed another fine season as he went 5-3 with a 2.30 earned run average while he fanned 40 in 47.0 frames of work.

On the year, Libuda went the distance on six occasions and he rung up eight on strikes in an eight-hitter in 7-1 victory over Fitchburg State in the opening round of the MASCAC Tournament.

Ruggiero ended his senior year batting .371 with 23 runs scored, 56 base-knocks, 10 doubles and 19 RBI. He finished off an outstanding four seasons ranked 45th on the all-time batting list (.332) and the programs career leader in singles (141), games played (159) and assists (128).

After starting the season at shortstop, Ruggiero made the switch in the middle of the year to second base and he was nearly flawless, making three errors out of a possible 99 fielding chances (33 putouts – 60 assists) en-route to All-MASCAC accolades.

Perlak wrapped up a stellar senior year going 7-1 with a 2.74 ERA to go with 26 strikeouts in 42.2 innings. His seven wins tied for the most in the MASCAC and shared among three other pitchers for the third highest sum in WSU single-season history.

In the final elimination game of the conference tournament semifinals, he hurled seven scoreless frames of two-hit baseball against Framingham State in a 4-0 triumph to help the Lancers reach the MASCAC Championship game.

Overall, Perlak ended his four year career going 13-4 – tying for ninth on the all-time wins list – with 74 strikeouts in 116.0 stanzas. He allowed just 37 walks, which is among the fewest ever among pitchers with over 100 innings to their credit.

Baker guided the Blue and Gold to a 27-16 record and a 10-4 mark against conference opponents. He helped the squad post their 14th 20-win season under his watch since 1996 and the team claimed a share of their eighth MASCAC Regular Season title.

He shared the honor with Mike Callahan of WPI, who led the Engineers to a NEWMAC Western Division title while making an appearance in the ECAC Division III New England Tournament.

2015 Worcester Area Baseball Team