STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College senior third baseman Taylor Black (Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.) has earned 2017 Academic All-America® Division III Baseball First Team accolades, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Wednesday afternoon.
Black is the first Saint Joseph's athlete to garner First Team Academic All-America® honors and the second individual to be listed on one of the three Academic All-America® teams overall, as he joins former softball standout Alyssa Dunn '11 –a Second Team honoree in 2011 – on the exclusive list.
As an Exercise Science major, Black posted a 3.91 cumulative G.P.A. and earlier this month claimed CoSIDA Academic All-District™ honors along with classmate Jameson Collins (Sandown, N.H.). He was chosen as the Saint Joseph's College Male Student-Athlete of the Year and is in line to claim his third Academic All-Conference award in the coming weeks.
A standout in the classroom and on the field, Black was selected as the 2017 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Year and earned First Team All-GNAC honors for the third consecutive season after hitting.417 (53-127) with 37 runs, 12 doubles, four triples, four home runs, 44 RBI, and four stolen bases during his final collegiate campaign. He paced the Monks in runs, hits, doubles, triples, RBI (tie), total bases (85), slugging (.669), and sacrifice hits (11) and was second on the team in home runs and OBP (.486).
Black was also recognized as one of the top players in New England this spring with First Team All-Region honors from D3Baseball.com, ABCA/Rawlings, and the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA).
A four-year starter, Black posted a .339 (167-492) career batting average with 127 runs, 28 doubles, five triples, eight home runs, 91 RBI, and 24 stolen bases in 155 games. He posted a .465 slugging percentage with a .440 OBP and capped his career as the Monks' all-time hit-by-pitch leader (43).
A captain for the Monks this spring, Black helped lead the Royal Blue to a 31-8 overall record with a 13-1 mark in GNAC play and was a key cog for an SJC offense that ranked in the top 10 nationally in on-base percentage (.440, 1st), batting average (.350, 2nd), scoring (9.3 runs per game, 3rd), and slugging percentage (.506, 8th).
Black is the only player from the New England Region (68 teams) to collect First Team acclaim and is one of five individuals hailing from the largest region in NCAA DIII Baseball to be listed on one of the three Academic All-America® teams. He joins MIT's David Hesslink (2nd Team), John Drago (2nd Team), and Austin Filiere (3rd Team) and Tufts University's Speros Varinos (3rd Team) on the 2017 Academic All-America® Division III Baseball Team.
The CoSIDA Division III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2016-17 Division III Academic All-America® teams program.
There are 18 individuals among the 35 honorees on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® baseball team that have a 3.90 or better grade-point average, with four earning a perfect 4.00 G.P.A.in the classroom. The 11 members of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III Baseball first team maintain an average G.P.A of 3.88.
ABOUT CoSIDA:
CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) was founded in 1957 and is a 3,000+ member national organization comprised of the sports public relations, media relations and communications/information professionals throughout all levels of collegiate athletics in the United States and Canada. The 2016-17 academic year will mark the 60th year of the organization, making it the second oldest management association in all of intercollegiate athletics. CoSIDA became an affiliated partner with NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) in December of 2008.
ABOUT CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA®:
CoSIDA founded in the mid-1950s the highly regarded Academic All-America® program, unquestionably regarded as the premier awards program in intercollegiate athletics for honoring combined academic and athletic excellence. It is CoSIDA's signature program. It has been presented a federal registration brand mark for "Academic All-America® and Academic All-American®" meaning that it is the sole organization that can refer to an awards program which includes that brand mark/name.
CoSIDA fully manages and administers the Academic All-America® program across all divisions of play (NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, Canadian and Two-Year institutions) and the Academic All-America® Hall of Fame. Capital One became the Academic All-America® program rights holder in January of 2012 for the total program (Academic All-America® and Academic All-America Hall of Fame®) and served as the program's title sponsor until July of 2015.
CoSIDA members nominate and vote with regard to the selection of Academic All-America performers in 12 sports (men's at-large and women's at-large [multiple-sport category], baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, football, men's soccer, women's soccer, softball, men's track & field/cross country, women's track & field/cross country and women's volleyball) for all four divisional levels.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
