SE's JOHNSON NAMED OVC's PLAYER OF YEAR

Jeremy Johnson and Jeffrey Hilz led the way Tuesday as Southeast Missouri State University's record-setting baseball team reaped plenty of Ohio Valley Conference honors.

Johnson was named Player of the Year, Hilz was named Rookie of the Year and they joined three other Indians on the All-OVC first team as selected by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. None of the other nine OVC squads had more than two first-team picks.

"It's a great honor for Jeremy and Jeffrey," said Southeast coach Mark Hogan, whose 35-15 team has the most single-season wins in school history and will host the six-team OVC Tournament Thursday through Saturday at Capaha Field.

In addition to senior right fielder Johnson and junior relief pitcher Hilz making first team, others picked to the elite squad were senior first baseman Darin Kinsolving, senior left fielder Charlie Marino and senior starting pitcher Lanson Debrock.

Also for Southeast, senior outfielder Kevin Meyer made the second team while junior starting pitcher Tommy Thomas earned honorable-mention honors.

"All the guys we had selected are very deserving," Hogan said.

Johnson, who narrowly missed out on Player of the Year honors last season, is having a sensational senior season. He's second in the OVC in batting with a .415 average and he leads the league in home runs (18) and runs scored (55). In addition, he's fifth in runs batted in (52) and has not committed an error all season.

A four-year starter at Southeast, Johnson has rewritten the school's record books, setting career marks for hits, doubles, runs scored, at-bats and games played. He also ranks second in career homers, triples, stolen bases and walks.

"Jeremy is the epitome of what a student-athlete should be," said Hogan. "This couldn't have happened to a better person."

Said Johnson of winning the award, "It feels good, but I'm really happy that so many of our guys made (the first team). We have so many talented players and you can't win unless you have a whole team."

Hilz, a transfer from Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, is the first winner of the OVC Rookie of the Year award, which is given to the league's top first-year performer. The left-hander is 8-2 with five saves and a league-low 1.79 earned-run average. He's third in the OVC in wins and second in saves.

"Hands down, Jeffrey deserved this award," Hogan said. "He's been invaluable to us."

Kinsolving is batting .386 with 16 homers and 49 RBIs. He's seventh in the OVC in hitting and third in home runs. Like Johnson a four-year starter, Kinsolving ranks high on several school career lists, including first in walks; second in games played, runs scored and homers; and third in hits, RBIs and at-bats.

Debrock, from Notre Dame High School, is 9-4 with a 3.10 ERA. He's second in the OVC in wins and has the third-most single-season victories in school history. Debrock was runner-up for OVC Pitcher of the Year.

Marino, who set the school single-season homer record of 21 in 1998, missed last season with a knee injury. But he's bounced back to hit .344 with 17 homers, 61 RBIs and 18 stolen bases. Marino is second in the OVC in homers.

Meyer, who could have easily made the first team, is batting .361 with a school-record 21 doubles, eight homers, 35 RBIs and 17 stolen bases.

Thomas, a right-hander, is 6-3 with a 4.10 ERA and he leads the league and ranks high nationally in strikeouts per nine innings with 11.6.

Austin Peay sophomore left-hander Mike Weel (10-2, 3.00 ERA), who leads the league in wins, was named OVC Pitcher of the Year.

Eastern Kentucky coach Jim Ward, who led the Colonels to their first OVC regular-season title since 1989, was named OVC Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his 22-year tenure with the Colonels. Ward has more than 900 wins as a collegiate head coach.

The complete All-OVC first and second teams, along with the honorable-mention list, are in Scoreboard.

ALL-OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE BASEBALL TEAM

(As selected by head baseball coaches and sports information directors)

FIRST TEAM

C - Josh Pride (Middle Tennessee) - 6'1, 195, Sr., Brentwood, Tenn. - 312, 13 2B, 10 HR, 40 RBI

1B - Darin Kinsolving (Southeast Missouri) - 6'0, 205, Sr., East Prairie, Mo. - .386, 7 2B, 16 HR, 49 RBI

2B - Adam Basil (Eastern Kentucky) - 6'0, 185, Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio - 414, 21 2B, 5 HR, 52 RBI, 22-27 SB

SS - Chris Johnson (Murray State) - 5'10, 180, Sr., Metropolis, Ill. - 380, 10 2B, 5 HR, 36 RBI, 9-13 SB

3B - Mike Reichert (Morehead State) - 6'1, 190, Sr., Cincinnati, Ohio - 413, 13 2B, 13 HR, 52 RBI

OF - Jeremy Johnson (Southeast Missouri) - 6'1, 185, Sr., Tamms, Ill. - 415, 12 2B, 18 HR, 52 RBI

OF - Bryan Peck (Middle Tennessee) - 5'11, 185, Sr., Athens, Tenn. - .403, 21 2B, 14 HR, 68 RBI

OF - Charlie Marino (Southeast Missouri) - 5'10, 210, Sr., LaPalma, Calif. - .344, 10 2B, 17 HR, 61 RBI, 18-22 SB

OF - Matt Curtis (Tennessee Tech) - 6'0, 190, Jr., Huntsville, Ala. - 382, 24 2B, 12 HR, 49 RBI

UTIL - A.J. Ellis (Austin Peay) - 6'3, 225, Fr., Lexington, Ky. - .368, 10 2B, 1 HR, 26 RBI

SP - Mike Weel (Austin Peay) - 6'2, 185, So., Schaumburg, Ill. - 10-2, 3.00 ERA, 102.0 IP, 95 H, 75 K's, 26 BB

SP - Lanson Debrock (Southeast Missouri) - 6'4, 200, Sr., Chaffee, Mo. - 9-4, 3.10 ERA, 87.0 IP, 84 H, 70 K's, 23 BB

RP - Jeffrey Hilz (Southeast Missouri) - 6'1, 195, Jr., Garland, Tex. - 8-2, 5 svs., 1.79 ERA, 55.1 IP, 39 H, 63 K's, 29 BB

OVC PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jeremy Johnson, Southeast Missouri

OVC PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Mike Weel, Austin Peay

OVC COACH OF THE YEAR: Jim Ward, Eastern Kentucky

OVC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Jeffrey Hilz, Southeast Missouri

SECOND TEAM

C - Mike Schneider (Eastern Kentucky) - 6'3, 195, So., Northampton, Pa. - 293, 7 2B, 6 HR, 29 RBI

1B - Lee Chapman (Eastern Kentucky) - 6'0, 190, Sr., Nicholasville, Ky. - 300, 12 2B, 12 HR, 59 RBI

2B - Josh Renick (Middle Tennessee) - 5'10, 175, Jr., Sarasota, Fla. - 355, 17 2B, 1 HR, 21 RBI, 20-25 SB

SS - Kiley Vaughn (Eastern Kentucky) - 5'8, 145, So., Cynthiana, Ky. - 352, 13 2B, 2 HR, 18 RBI, 17-22 SB

3B - Lance Wampler (Austin Peay) - 5'10, 185, Sr., Morristown, Tenn. - 343, 14 2B, 8 HR, 47 RBI

OF - Jason Kennedy (Morehead State) - 6'0, 185, Sr., London, Ky. - .414, 18 2B, 5 HR, 39 RBI

OF - Brian Baker (Tennessee-Martin) - 6'0, 195, Sr., Union City, Tenn. - 306, 12 2B, 15 HR, 38 RBI, 16-20 SB

OF - Kevin Meyer (Southeast Missouri) - 5'11, 185, Sr., Tomball, Tex. - 361, 21 2B, 8 HR, 35 RBI, 17-19 SB

OF - Frank Kunich (Austin Peay) - 6'0, 185, So., Rancho Palos Verde, Calif. - .421, 8 2B, 7 HR, 36 RBI, 9-10 SB

UTIL - Justin Varitek (Murray State) - 6'3, 215, Sr., Longwood, Fla. - 281, 14 2B, 9 HR, 40 RBI

UTIL - Ben Cunningham (Tennessee Tech) - 6'1, 200, Jr., Greenville, Ill. - 319, 6 2B, 7 HR, 33 RBI

SP - Corey Eagle (Eastern Kentucky) - 6'3, 235, Sr., Brookville, Ohio - 8-6, 1 sv., 5.08 ERA, 106.1 IP, 106 H, 90 K's, 41 BB

SP - Scott Santa (Eastern Kentucky) - 6'0, 170, So., Newark, Ohio - 6-4, 4.32 ERA, 77.0 IP, 89 H, 38 K's, 12 BB

RP - Mike Ziroli (Eastern Illinois) - 6'1, 185, Jr., LaGrange, Ill. - 3-6, 7 svs., 4.28 ERA, 54.2 IP, 57 H, 65 K's, 31 BB

HONORABLE MENTION: Nathan Taylor, C, Murray State; Andy Haines, C, Eastern Illinois; Will Renaker, 1B, Morehead State; Greg Troy, 2B, Austin Peay; Sam Hoehner, SS, Morehead State; Jason Sharp, 3B, Eastern Kentucky; Ben Fuller, OF, Austin Peay; Chad Rogers, OF, Tennessee Tech; Justin Deere, UTIL, Tennessee-Martin; Cary Page, UTIL, Morehead State; Dewon Brazelton, P, Middle Tennessee; Tommy Thomas, P, Southeast Missouri; John Larson, P, Eastern Illinois; Kevin Davis, P, Middle Tennessee; Jason Glosser, P, Murray State; Mike Martini, P, Eastern Kentucky