Diplomats Place Seven on All-Centennial Confererence Baseball Team

by Sports Information
5/4/06

LANCASTER, PA – Right-hander Ted Serro (Jr., Brooklyn, NY/Xavier) was named Pitcher of the Year and Gary Kruger (Sr., East Islip, NY/East Islip) was named Player of the Year as Franklin & Marshall College placed seven players on the 2006 All-Centennial Conference baseball team.

It marks the fifth time in Conference history that players from one school have earned the Centennial Conference Player and Pitcher of the Year awards in the same season as it previously occurred in 1997, 1998, 2003 and 2004.

Further, Serro repeated as Pitcher of the Year to join Tim Sheridan ’96 as the only Diplomats hurler to earn Pitcher of the Year honors twice as Sheridan received the award in 1995 and 1996. He also continues a streak that dates back to Sheridan of pitchers winning back-to-back awards.

Kruger becomes the second Franklin & Marshall player to earn Player of the Year honors following first baseman Andy Myers ’02. In addition, he is the first third baseman in Centennial Conference history to garner the award.

Overall, the Diplomats garnered three first team selections as Serro, Kruger and centerfielder Eric Milavsky (Sr., Medford, NJ/Shawnee) were named to the Conference’s top team.

A two-time All-Conference selection following first team honors last year, Serro is 6-3 on the year with a 1.71 earned run average and four complete games as he has allowed 25 runs, including 12 earned runs, on 49 hits and 17 walks with 67 strikeouts and a .209 opponents’ batting average in 63 innings.

In Centennial Conference games, he is 5-0 with a 0.68 ERA and four complete games as he has allowed nine runs, including three earned runs, on 33 hits and nine walks with 37 strikeouts and a .221 opponents’ batting average in 40 innings.

For his career, he is 18-8 in 44 appearances, including 26 starts, with 10 complete games, five saves, 198 strikeouts, 50 walks in 197.1 innings as he holds a 2.20 career ERA and ranks first in victories (18), third in strikeouts (198) and fourth in complete games (10) in school history.

A 2005 All-Centennial Conference honorable mention and 2004 first team selection, Kruger is hitting .422 (57-of-135) with five doubles, six triples, four homeruns, 34 RBI, 32 runs scored, a .637 slugging percentage, 15 walks and 12 stolen bases as he leads a Diplomats offense which is hitting .325 with 241 runs scored.

In Centennial Conference games, he is batting .397 (27-of-68) with three doubles, four triples, a homerun, 16 RBI, 14 runs scored, a .603 slugging percentage, eight walks and seven stolen bases.

For his career, Kruger is hitting .376 (166-for-441) with 18 doubles, 14 triples, 11 homeruns, 91 RBI, 117 runs scored, 66 walks and 84 stolen bases as he ranks first in hits (166) and stolen bases (84), second in triples (14), RBI (91) and homeruns (11) and third in runs (117) in the history of the College.

A first time All-Centennial Conference selection, Milavsky is hitting .384 (53-for-138) with 11 doubles, two triples, two homeruns, 26 RBI, 36 runs scored, a .536 slugging percentage, 14 walks and 21 stolen bases to lead a group of base runners which have stolen 89 bases-on-109 attempts this year.

In Centennial Conference games, he is hitting .437 (31-for-71) with eight doubles, a triple, a homerun, 18 RBI, 20 runs scored, nine walks and 11 stolen bases.

For his career, Milavsky is hitting .292 (121-for-415) with 19 doubles, three triples, four homeruns, 63 RBI, 75 runs scored, 29 walks and 41 stolen bases.

Franklin & Marshall placed four players on the second team as pitcher Jeremy Knox (Sr., Bronx, NY/Iona Prep), catcher Stephen Frederick (Sr., Downingtown, PA/Downingtown), second baseman Rob Stern (So., Franklin Lakes, NJ/Indian Hills) and outfielder Corey Caruthers (Sr., Conestoga, PA/Penn Manor) were honored by the Centennial Conference.

A first team selection in 2005, Caruthers picked up his second All-CC nod as he is hitting .297 (38-for-128) with seven doubles, one triple, two homeruns, 24 RBI, 25 runs scored, a .414 slugging percentage, 18 walks and 13 stolen bases.

In Centennial Conference games, he is batting .317 (20-for-63) with five doubles, 14 RBI, 15 runs scored, a .397 slugging percentage, 11 walks and 11 stolen bases.

For his career, he is hitting .297 (153-for-516) with 25 doubles, five triples, five homeruns, 81 RBI, 93 runs scored, 60 walks and 51 stolen bases as he ranks third in hits (153) and stolen bases (51), sixth in runs (93) and seventh in doubles (25).

A first time All-Centennial Conference recipient, Stern is batting .425 (54-for-127) with seven doubles, two triples, 24 RBI, 34 runs, a .512 slugging percentage, 14 walks and 13 stolen bases.

In Centennial Conference games, he is hitting .426 (29-for-68) with three doubles, two triples, 12 RBI, 20 runs scored, seven walks and six stolen bases.

For his career, he is batting .400 (82-for-205) with 11 doubles, three triples, 29 RBI, 24 runs scored, 24 walks and 17 stolen bases.

Frederick repeated as an All-CC second selection as he earned his second All-CC honor by hitting .373 (28-for-75) with four doubles, a homerun, 11 RBI, 15 runs scored, a .467 slugging percentage, 10 walks and three stolen bases.

In Centennial Conference games, he is hitting .400 (16-for-40) with three doubles, a homerun, seven RBI, 10 runs scored, seven walks and one stolen base.

For his career, Frederick is hitting .316 (62-for-196) with 11 doubles, 30 RBI, 35 runs scored, 26 walks and 13 stolen bases.

A 2005 All-Centennial Conference honorable mention selection, Knox earned his second All-CC honor this year as he is 9-1 with a 2.44 ERA and two complete games as he has allowed 27 runs, including 19 earned runs, on 57 hits and 10 walks with 46 strikeouts, a save and a .220 opponents’ batting average in 70 innings.

In Centennial Conference games, he is 6-0 with a 2.87 ERA and two complete games as he has allowed 18 runs, including 15 earned runs, on 39 hits and five walks with 32 strikeouts and a .225 opponents’ batting average in 47 innings.

For his career, Knox is 18-7 with a 3.29 ERA and five complete games as he has allowed 100 runs, including 76 earned runs, on 208 hits and 38 walks with 141 strikeouts, two saves and a .241 opponents’ batting average in 208.2 innings of work.

Historically, Knox is tied with Serro for the career wins record (18) and ranks among the leaders in complete games (ninth, five), strikeouts (sixth, 141), innings pitched (first, 208.2) and saves (8th, two).

The Centennial Conference regular season champion, Franklin & Marshall College will seek its third CC title this weekend as the Diplomats host the Centennial Conference playoffs at Caplan Field.

The playoffs will begin on May 5 as third-seed Ursinus College (18-17, 11-7 Centennial Conference) will host fourth-seed Haverford College (20-17, 11-7 Centennial Conference) in a single elimination playoff game at 3:45 p.m. The winner will advance to face second-seed and #18 nationally ranked Johns Hopkins University (28-8-2, 14-3-1 Centennial Conference) at Caplan Field on May 6 at 11:00 a.m. in a single elimination game, before the winner of the game faces the top-seed #13 nationally ranked Diplomats (26-9, 16-2 Centennial Conference) in a best of three series. On May 6, game one of the Centennial Conference championship series will begin at approximately 2:30 p.m., with game two and three (if necessary) set for noon and approximately 3:00 p.m. starts on May 7.

The tournament’s champion will earn the CC’s automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Division III regional tournament.