Early, Foster Headline Postseason Awards

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Army West Point baseball team was well-represented in the Patriot League's postseason honors announcement on Wednesday afternoon, as southpaw Connelly Early was named Pitcher of the Year and head coach Jim Foster earned Gene Depew Coach of the Year accolades.

In addition to the major awards, the Black Knights placed nine players onto All-League Teams, as Early, relief pitcher Tanner Gresham, first baseman Ross Friedrick, second baseman Derek Berg, shortstop Kevin Dubrule, third baseman Sam Ruta and outfielder Nick Manesis captured First Team laurels, while the duo of starting pitcher Brian Dawson and outfielder Hunter Meade landed on the Second Team.

The seven First Team selections are the most that the Cadets have earned since 2009 and reflect the Army team's dominance in the Patriot League this year. With a regular season record of 18-7 against league opponents (27-21 overall), the Black Knights captured the program's first regular season championship since 2018. As a program, Army leads the Patriot League in numerous conference-only statistics, including batting average (.329), opponent batting average (.246), home runs (18), strikeouts looking (53) and stolen bases (42).

Early is the eighth player in program history to earn Pitcher of the Year accolades and the first since former major leaguer Chris Rowley did so in 2012. His ERA of 3.18 checks in at second amongst the league's starting arms, as do his 67 strikeouts. The conference leader in strikeouts looking (28), he also stands at the top of the league with the lowest opponent batting average (.207). Early has tossed one complete game this year (April 23 vs. Navy) and has combined for two shutouts. He has fanned a career-high nine batters in each of his last two appearances and has a 6-3 record on the year.

This is the second Coach of the Year honor for Foster, who is in his sixth season at the helm of the Army Baseball program. A veteran coach, he reached 400 career wins during the team's season-opening victory over Richmond. He has led the program to at least 25 wins in each of his previous seasons, barring the shortened campaign in 2020, and has helped the Cadets post five shutouts this year. Foster and his Black Knights enter the postseason hoping to make their fourth trip to an NCAA Regional since 2018.

Army's All-League selections are listed below, which full Patriot League postseason honors detailed at the end.

SP Connelly Early – #44 – Sophomore – 6-2/172 – Midlothian, Va. – First Team

ERA	WHIP	W-L	APP-GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	2B	3B	HR	B/AVG
3.18	1.15	6-3	13-11	1	0-2	0	65.0	49	27	23	26	67	10	0	6	.207

RHP Tanner Gresham - #8 – Sophomore – 6-3/220 – Charlotte, N.C. – First Team

ERA	WHIP	W-L	APP-GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	2B	3B	HR	B/AVG
2.93	1.34	1-1	16-0	0	0-2	5	27.2	24	13	9	13	24	4	1	3	.231

1B Ross Friedrick - #5 – Junior – 6-4/230 – Alpharetta, Ga. – First Team

AVG	OPS	GP-GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	SLG%	BB	HBP	SO	OBP%	SB-ATT	A	FLD%
.335	.862	48-48	182	32	61	13	0	4	41	86	.473	15	3	24	.389	0-0	16	.985

2B Derek Berg - #10 – Sophomore – 6-3/200 – Conroe, Texas – First Team

AVG	OPS	GP-GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	SLG%	BB	HBP	SO	OBP%	SB-ATT	A	FLD%
.311	.800	44-41	148	29	46	8	1	2	26	62	.419	14	4	24	.381	10-14	96	.951

SS Kevin Dubrule - #15 – Junior – 5-11/185 – Venice, Fla. – First Team

AVG	OPS	GP-GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	SLG%	BB	HBP	SO	OBP%	SB-ATT	A	FLD%
.340	.828	48-48	200	37	68	15	1	1	42	88	.440	11	6	14	.388	4-6	151	.981

3B Sam Ruta - #13 – Sophomore – 6-2/200 – Yardley, Pa. – First Team

AVG	OPS	GP-GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	SLG%	BB	HBP	SO	OBP%	SB-ATT	A	FLD%
.364	1.081	44-43	154	36	56	10	4	6	28	92	.597	35	2	40	.484	4-5	62	.892

OF Nick Manesis - #25 – Senior – 6-3/200 – Shoreham, N.Y. – First Team

AVG	OPS	GP-GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	SLG%	BB	HBP	SO	OBP%	SB-ATT	A	FLD%
.305	.858	47-47	174	42	53	3	1	7	41	79	.454	25	6	49	.404	8-9	0	.986

SP Brian Dawson - #30 – Junior – 6-2/210 – Dickinson, Texas – Second Team

ERA	WHIP	W-L	APP-GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	2B	3B	HR	B/AVG
3.40	1.28	3-1	12-6	0	0-1	0	42.1	46	18	16	8	21	7	1	1	.282

OF Hunter Meade - #19 – Senior – 5-11/180 – Bristow, Va. – Second Team

AVG	OPS	GP-GS	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	SLG%	BB	HBP	SO	OBP%	SB-ATT	A	FLD%
.274	.709	48-48	168	34	46	8	0	0	19	54	.321	31	3	44	.388	26-29	2	1.000

2022 Patriot League Baseball Major Awards
Player of the Year: Casey Rother, Lehigh, Sr., OF/RHP
Pitcher of the Year: Connelly Early, Army West Point, So., LHP
Rookie of the Year: Nick Wang, Holy Cross, Fr., 3B
Defensive Player of the Year: Eduardo Diaz, Navy, So., SS
Gene Depew Coach of the Year: Jim Foster, Army West Point

2022 First Team All-Patriot League
SP: Connelly Early, Army West Point, So.
SP: Jake Bloss, Lafayette, Jr.
SP: Luke Rettig, Lehigh, Sr.
RP: Tanner Gresham, Army West Point, So.
C: Adam Retzbach, Lehigh, Jr.
1B: Ross Friedrick, Army West Point, Jr.
2B: Derek Berg, Army West Point, So.
SS: Kevin Dubrule, Army West Point, Jr.
3B: Sam Ruta, Army West Point, So.
OF: Nick Manesis, Army West Point, Sr.
OF: Chris Cannizzaro, Bucknell, Sr.
OF: Casey Rother, Lehigh, Sr.
At-Large: Christian Policelli, Navy, Sr.

2022 Second Team All-Patriot League
SP: Brian Dawson, Army West Point, Sr.
SP: Austin Odell, Bucknell, Sr.
SP: Will Greer, Bucknell, Jr.
RP: Luke Fox, Holy Cross, Jr.
C: Dylan Minghini, Lafayette, Sr.
1B: Tyler Dunn, Bucknell, Fr.
1B: Joe Gorla, Lehigh, Sr.
2B: Brendan Lowery, Bucknell, Sr.
SS: Tyler Young, Lehigh, So.
3B: Jacob Corson, Bucknell, So.
OF: Hunter Meade, Army West Point, Sr.
OF: Grant Voytovich, Bucknell, So.
OF: Peter Ciuffreda, Lafayette, Jr.
OF: Colin Smith, Navy, Jr.
At-Large: Sean Scanlon, Holy Cross, Fr.

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Army West Point Athletics

Early, Foster Headline Postseason Awards

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Players Mentioned

Derek Berg

Brian Dawson

Kevin Dubrule

Connelly Early

Ross Friedrick

Tanner Gresham

Nick Manesis

Hunter Meade

Sam Ruta

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