Three Anchormen Earn All-NEIBA Honors

Providence, RI—Three Rhode Island College baseball players have been named to the 2006 New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) All-Star Teams.

Freshman left fielder Chris O’Connors (North Kingstown, RI) was named a First Team NEIBA All-Star. O’Connors was the Little East Conference Baseball Rookie of the Year and was also named First Team All-LEC. O’Connors played in 41 games, starting all of them. He batted .430 (65-for-151) with 65 hits, 44 runs, 17 doubles, one triple, five home runs and 36 RBI. He owned a .656 slugging percentage, a .530 on-base percentage and a .927 fielding percentage. He led the team in batting, hits, runs, doubles, home runs and RBI. He was named the Little East Conference Baseball Rookie of the Week twice on the season. O’Connors established a new RIC single-season record for hits, connecting on his 65^th knock of the year, in the Anchormen’s, 9-4, win over UMass Boston in the first round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) New England Div. III Baseball Championship on May 19.

Sophomore closer Eric Fama (Wappingers Falls, NY) was named a Second Team All-NEIBA All-Star. Fama was also named First Team All-Little East Conference. He was 3-1 with six saves and a 0.68 ERA over 26.2 innings of work in 20 appearances. Fama led the team in ERA and struck out 39 batters on the season.

Senior second baseman Ray De La Cruz (Providence, RI) was named a Third Team All-NEIBA All-Star. He was also named First Team All-Little East Conference for the second time in his career. He batted .368 (53-for-144) with 53 hits, 45 runs, seven doubles, four triples, four home runs, 18 RBI and 16 stolen bases. De La Cruz owned a .556 slugging percentage, a .465 on-base percentage and a .934 fielding percentage. He led the team in runs and stolen bases, and was second in hits and third in batting.

Head Coach Jay Grenier’s team finished the season with a 21-20 overall record. The Anchormen notched their first wining season since 2003 and amassed the most wins in a season since the 1979 squad won 24. Rhode Island College also made its first Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) New England Div. III Baseball Championship appearance in 19 years (1987) and downed fifth-seeded UMass Boston, 9-4, in the first round on May 19. The remaining games of the tournament were cancelled due to poor weather conditions.

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