Dama and Barlow Headline Class of Baseball All-Conference Selections
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – MIT sophomore Aric Dama has been named Pitcher of the Year and head coach Andy Barlow earned coach of the year as the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) released their Baseball All-Conference teams on Wednesday afternoon. Dama and Barlow join four other Engineers who received All-Conference nods.
With the award, Dama earns an automatic spot on the first-team All-Conference, the lone Engineer to grab first team honors. Designated hitter A.J. Hansborough, catcher Dan Hyatt, pitcher Kiel Jindra and shortstop Bryan Macomber all received spots on the NEWMAC second team.
Dama, a sophomore from Winfield, Ill., had a 1.13 ERA and a 4-1 record in 12 appearances for the Engineers after starting the season with a 1 hit shutout at Trinity. He spent much of the season in the top five in the country in earned run average and at one point, had a twenty-one and a third inning scoreless streak. His conference statistics are even more impressive, with a 0.57 ERA and a 3-0 record, including shutouts of Wheaton, Coast Guard, Springfield and Clark.
Hyatt, a senior captain from Wallingford, Conn., earns his second all-conference nod. He was a member of the NEWMAC second team in 2009. Hyatt has anchored a very young pitching staff while contributing offensively, co-leading the team in hits and second in RBIs and batting average. He is fifth in putouts in the conference and has thrown out ten runners on 27 attempts, tied for fourth.
Despite battling injuries, Hansborough was a steady cleanup hitter for the Engineers. The junior from Deltona, Fla. had a .408 average that was fourth in the conference, while he was fifth in slugging percentage (.507) and ninth in OBP (.476). He led MIT in batting average, was second in hits and third in RBI and runs scored.
An excellent defender, Macomber has been a solid shortstop for the Engineers, whose ability to get to ground balls has saved many bases. Offensively, he became a dangerous hitter by mid-season, breaking the MIT record with a four-double game and leading the team with 19 RBIs. The junior from Los Altos, Calif. is slugging .506, sixth in the conference and has hit two of MIT's six homeruns this year.
Jindra's performances in conference games were all MIT could have hoped for out of the freshman from Oceanside, Calif. He spun an eight inning, 3 hit scoreless gem against Babson, two hits over six innings against Coast Guard and one unearned run over five innings against Clark. His conference ERA was fifth overall and his BAA was third in the NEWMAC, while pitching the most conference innings.
Barlow, a native of Burlington, Vermont, took over the team in 2004 and has won over 150 games, owning the best winning percentage of any coach in MIT baseball history. This is his second NEWMAC Coach of the Year honor, having won the honor in 2009. A 1985 graduate of the University of Vermont, Barlow's breadth of experience also includes time spent coaching in some of the top collegiate summer leagues in the country. Barlow is a longtime member of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and is also an active member of the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA).
2011 NEWMAC Baseball Awards
Player of the Year
Dave Ahern, Babson
Pitcher of the Year
Aric Dama, MIT
Rookie of the Year
Michael Bortolotti, Babson
Coach of the Year
Andrew Barlow, MIT
Sportsmanship Award
Wheaton College
First Team All-Conference
Dave Ahern, Babson
Aric Dama, MIT
Andrew Aizenstadt, Babson
Eddie Kalankiewicz, Coast Guard
Dan Haugh, Wheaton
Frank Holbrook, Wheaton
Eric Jensen, Wheaton
Hal Landers, Wheaton
Sean Minor, WPI
Second Team All-Conference
Michael Bortolotti, Babson
Travis Jonasson, Babson
Tyler Vieira, Coast Guard
A.J. Hansborough, MIT
Dan Hyatt, MIT
Kiel Jindra, MIT
Bryan Macomber, MIT
John Schmaltz, Springfield
Daniel Thomas, WPI