Pitt-Johnstown senior pitcher Ben Watkins (Tire Hill, Pa.) was named 2009 First-Team ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District II when this year's teams were released on Thursday. Watkins, along with the other student-athletes on the Academic All-District First-Team, will advance to the national ballot for voting to become an Academic All-American.
Watkins, a graduate of Conemaugh Township Area High School, has posted a 3.93 overall G.P.A. in Electrical Engineering Technology.
Watkins, the WVIAC Pitcher of the Year and three-time WVIAC Pitcher of the Week recipient in 2009, led Pitt-Johnstown with a 7-1 record and a .84 earned-run-average in 53.1 innings-pitched. Watkins allowed just seven runs all seasons, five of which were earned. Watkins also struck out a team-best 63, while walking only four.
In this week's NCAA statistics, Watkins, who transferred to Pitt-Johnstown prior to the 2008 season from Clarion University, ranks second in earned run average (.84), third in walks allowed per nine innings (.68), 20th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.64), 22nd in hits allowed per nine innings (6.59) and 71st in victories (7).
College Division – First-Team
Pitcher Eric Willey Salisbury Univ. Sr. Cambridge, Md. 3.69 Business Management
Pitcher Ben Watkins Pitt-Johnstown, Sr. Tire Hill, Pa. 3.93 Electrical Engineering Technology
Catcher John Swarr Johns Hopkins Univ. Jr. Radnor, Pa. 3.53 Applied Mathematics and Economics
Infield Mike McCarthy Seton Hill Sr. Pittsburgh, Pa. 3.64 Business Information Management
Infield Kolten Hoffman Gannon So. West Middlesex, Pa. 4.0 Mathematics
Infield Ryan Biner Johns Hopkins Univ. Sr. Crystal Lake, Ill. 3.56 Sociology
Infield David Randolph Ursinus Coll. Sr. Sewell, N.J. 3.51 Biochemistry/Molecular Biology
Outfield Chris Stallone Univ. Of Scranton So. South Plainfield, N.J. 3.95 Business Administration
Outfield David Miller PSU-Behrend Sr. St. Mary's, Pa. 3.73 Biology
Outfield Christian Conti Muhlenburg Coll. Sr. Staten Island, N.Y. 3.59 Finance
Designated Hitter Scott Fisher Richard Stockton Coll.. Sr. Toms River, N.J. 3.43 Visual Communications
The members of the College Sports Information Directors' of America (CoSIDA) selected this year's First and Second-Team Academic All-District teams.
To be nominated for the Academic All-America Program, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.2 or higher cumulative grade-point-average and be a starter of significant reserve.
