St. John's University Athletics
Baltz Named 2011 NCBWA First Team Preseason All-American
12/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Dec. 15, 2010
QUEENS, N.Y. - After a consensus All-American campaign as a rookie, sophomore Jeremy Baltz has been named a 2011 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) First Team Preseason All-American. The outfielder is one of four BIG EAST players named the NCBWA preseason teams and the only Conference player named to the first team.
Baltz is the Red Storm's third all-time NCBWA Preseason All-America selection and first since Craig Hansen was selected to the second team prior to the 2005 season.
As a freshman in 2010, Baltz became the first St. John's player in program history to earn All-America honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), Baseball America, Louisville Slugger and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) in the same season. The outfielder earned first team honors from Baseball America and second team honors from the ABCA, Louisville Slugger and the NCBWA.
The NCBWA National Freshman Hitter of the Year and the Louisville Slugger Freshman Player of the Year, Baltz also garnered Freshman All-America honors from both Baseball America, the NCBWA and Louisville Slugger. Baltz, who led the nation in both home runs (24) and RBI (85) by a freshman, finished the season ranked tied for seventh in the country in home runs and tied for sixth in RBI.
The BIG EAST Rookie of the Year broke St. John's single season records in both home runs and RBI, and finished the season with a .396 average, 16 doubles, 24 home runs and 85 RBI. A unanimous first team All-BIG EAST choice, Baltz started all 63 games for the Red Storm and also scored 64 runs to go with a .771 slugging percentage and a .479 on-base percentage.
