Teams: Baseball: Press Releases

Monday, May 22, 2006

FOUR JUMBOS MAKE NEIBA ALL-NEW ENGLAND BASEBALL TEAMS

MEDFORD -- With four selections to the 2006 New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association All-New England teams, the Tufts University Jumbos had as many recipients as all except two other teams that comprise the 68-member organization.

Tufts had two players named to the First Team in junior 1B Bryan McDavitt (Holden, MA/St. Peter-Marian) and senior CF Jim O'Leary (North Easton, MA/Roxbury Latin). Two Jumbos were also on the Third Team, with senior Greg Chertok (New City, NY/Clarkstown North) at shortstop and classmate Zak Smotherman (Westborough, MA/Phillips Andover) at pitcher.

Only Wheaton College with five and Eastern Connecticut State University with four were equal to or had more All-New England players than Tufts, which finished 24-14 and played in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) finals.

McDavitt is on the All-NESCAC First Team for the second straight year. He hit .420, currently fifth in the league, with four home runs and 38 runs batted in. His 58 hits (fourth in NESCAC), 14 doubles and 38 RBIs were just shy of Jumbo single-season marks. He also fielded his first base position flawlessly with no errors in 345 total chances.

O'Leary also played errorless ball in center field, handling all of his 58 chances. At the plate, he is second in NESCAC with a .467 batting average (50/107) along with 15 doubles (tied for third in NESCAC), two home runs and 28 RBIs. With 14 walks and 10 hit-by-pitches, O'Leary was on base at a .565 clip and was a perfect 9 for 9 in stolen bases.

Chertok is yet another sure-handed fielder on the Jumbos, who are the best defensive team in NESCAC with a .964 fielding percentage. Chertok made just eight errors in 177 chances at short for a .955 fielding percentage. He had a great senior year at the plate, finishing at .367 with 35 runs scored, 18 runs batted in and nine stolen bases.

Smotherman was the staff ace, recording a 6-2 record and a 2.71 earned run average that is sixth in the conference. He's currently second in the league with 51 strikeouts in 63 innings, and his .238 batting average against was the best for Tufts. Smotherman took a no-hitter into the ninth inning in the NESCAC Tournament against Bowdoin.

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