STANDISH, ME – The 2011 SJC Baseball team awards have been announced by Head Coach Will Sanborn '86.
Junior reliever Andrew Devereaux (Hope Valley, R.I.) is the 2011 Robert R. Doyle Award recipient, senior infielder Chris Campbell (Rochester, N.H.) has been chosen as the Monks' Most Valuable Player, freshmen Alex Lorenc (Nanuet, N.Y.) and Joe Gruntkosky (Peabody, Mass.) share the Rookie of the Year honor, and junior outfielder Sam Butts (Saco, Maine) has received the Most Dedicated Player accolade.
The Coaches' Award goes to junior infielder Dan Brown (Portland, Maine/Deering), sophomore righthander Chad Rafferty (Keene, N.H.) is the 2011 Pitcher of the Year, junior shortstop Dan Achorn (Bow, N.H.) takes the Gold Glove Award, and senior outfielder Todd Keneborus (Hollis, Maine/Cheverus) has garnered the 2011 Hitter of the Year honor.
Devereaux claims the Robert R. Doyle Award after making a seamless transition from the field to the mound as a junior. Converted to a sidearm slinger during the non-traditional fall season, Devereaux worked diligently at his craft over the offseason and developed into one of the Monks' top relief options last spring. He went 5-1 with two saves, a 4.84 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 22.1 innings while making 14 appearances in his first year as a pitcher.
Named for former SJC Pitching Coach "Bobby" Doyle, who worked with Coach Sanborn for 12 seasons, this honor is given annually to the team member who best-embodies Coach Doyle's spirit, dedication and love for the game of baseball.
Campbell was selected as the Monks' MVP after hitting .420 (60-143) with 29 runs, five doubles, a home run, 15 RBI and eight stolen bases as a senior. A true competitor and fine top-of-the-order bat, "Soup" is the only player in program history to notch three 60-hit seasons and, with 190 career hits in essentially three seasons, fell just shy of joining the team's exclusive 200-hit club. A great example for the team's underclassmen on the field and in the classroom, Campbell garnered First Team All-GNAC and CoSIDA Academic All-District honors last spring.
Lorenc made an immediate contribution as heart-of-the-order threat during his freshman season when he hit .257 (36-140) with 18 runs, 11 doubles, two home runs and 28 RBI. Gruntkosky emerged as an elite arm for the Monks and made 15 appearances on the hill as a rookie. He went 4-3 with three saves and a 3.35 ERA and whiffed 35 batters, while walking only 11, in 37.2 innings in 2011. Both players are expected to develop into premier players in the near future.
Butts is a logical choice to receive the Monks' Most Dedicated Player honor. Seemingly always either in the weight room or studying, the sophomore outfielder enjoyed a solid year both on the field and in the classroom. As a first-year starter, the lefthanded hitter played in all 47 games and batted .267 (40-150) with 30 runs, four doubles, two homers, 17 RBI and five steals while roaming the outfield. An excellent student studying Exercise Science at Saint Joseph's, Butts also claimed GNAC All-Academic honors as a sophomore.
Brown, a very dependable player with a workmanlike attitude, appeared in 25 games and made 19 starts during his junior season when he hit .245 (13-53) with four runs, five doubles and seven RBI. He recorded career-highs in starts, at bats, hits, doubles and RBI last spring and is a natural leader with an excellent feel for the game.
Rafferty, the 2011 Pitcher of the Year, came into his own last spring when he went 6-1 with a 1.87 ERA and 68 K's in 62.2 innings. The Third Team All-GNAC and Second Team All-New England (NEIBA) selection posted a team-record 21.1 inning scoreless streak in 2011 and recorded a miniscule 0.97 ERA with 52 K's and 29 hits allowed in his final six appearances, a span of 46.1 innings. Rafferty garnered GNAC Tournament MVP honors for his nine-inning shutout win over Johnson & Wales in a conference semifinal on April 30th and proceeded to fan 11 batters over 8.1 innings in a win over #3 Wheaton College in the NCAA DIII New England Regional on May 18th.
Achorn, the Monks' shortstop, anchored an SJC defense that set new team single-season records for fielding percentage (.966), putouts (1121), assists (501), total chances (1679) and fewest errors (57) last spring. A steady defender with good range, quick feet and a lightning-quick release, Achorn posted a .954 fielding percentage with just nine errors in 197 chances and led the GNAC with 124 assists – the most by a Monks player since Luke Enman '08 recorded 137 in 2008. His 2011 fielding percentage is the highest recorded by an SJC primary shortstop in the last 15 years.
Keneborus developed into one of the most feared hitters in the region over the last two seasons and has the hardware to show for it. During both his junior and senior seasons he garnered GNAC Player of the Year, First Team All-GNAC and First Team All-New England (NEIBA) honors and collected D3baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings All-America accolades following his junior campaign.
As a senior, he earned First Team All-New England (ECAC) mention and participated in the 2011 NEIBA All-Star Game as well. Keneborus closed out his career by hitting .414 (65-157) with 38 runs, 11 doubles, three triples, five home runs, 40 RBI and four stolen bases and paced the Royal Blue in at bats, hits, triples, homers, RBI, total bases (97), slugging (.618), OBP (.497), walks (20) and hit by pitch (10), and was intentionally walked a team-record eight times. For his career he hit .399 (213-534) with 141 runs, 40 doubles, 22 triples, 14 home runs, 150 RBI and 20 stolen bases in 162 games and leaves the program as the Monks' all-time leader in triples. The 2011 SJC Male Athlete of the Year also ranks second in HBP (24), third in doubles, slugging (.635) and OPS (1.110), fourth in games played, hits, batting average, OBP (.475), total bases (339) and extra-base hits (76), fifth in at bats and RBI, and sixth in runs scored.
In 2011, Saint Joseph's went 32-15 overall and 12-2 in GNAC play en route to claiming the conference championship for the third time in four years as a league member. With an appearance in the NCAA DIII Tournament last spring, the Monks have now advanced to the New England Regional in five of the last six years and have recorded five victories combined in the team's last two trips.