Roache, Brebbia Tabbed as Player and Pitcher of the Year

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Georgia Southern slugger Victor Roache has been voted as the Player of the Year by the Southern Conference Sports Media Association while Elon reliever John Brebbia has earned Pitcher of the Year accolades to highlight the awards.

Also earning superlative awards are College of Charleston outfielder Daniel Aldrich the league's Freshman of the Year, and UNCG head coach Mike Gaski who was voted by the media as the Coach of the Year.

Roache leads the nation and set the SoCon single-season record with 29 home runs this season to go along with a league-high 78 RBIs. The sophomore outfielder batted .335 on the year with an .813 slugging percentage, which also ranks in the top 10 nationally.

Brebbia was a perfect 7-0 on the season with a 1.83 ERA in 39.1 innings of work. A junior, Brebbia fanned 35 batters against only eight walks. He was even better in SoCon play, surrendering just three earned runs in 27.2 innings, which was good enough for a 0.98 ERA.

Aldrich was one of the top hitters in the conference as a freshman, hitting .373 with 22 home runs and 72 runs batted in. He had 25 multi-hit games on the season and built a team-best 17-game hitting streak in February and March.

Gaski was rewarded with the Coach of the Year award after guiding the Spartans to a second-place finish, one game behind league champion Elon. The Spartans, who finished the regular season at 34-18 overall and 22-8 in the SoCon, won 15 more conference games than in 2010.

College of Charleston and Georgia Southern each had five players selected to the all-conference teams, including four first-team choices for the Cougars.

Josh Renfro, Rob Kral, Matt Leeds and Aldrich were first-team honorees for Charleston while Roache was joined on the first team by fellow Eagles Andy Moye and Eric Phillips.

Samford and Western Carolina each tallied a pair of first team awards. The Bulldogs' Saxon Butler and Phillip Ervin were honored as were the Catamounts' Ross Heffley and Stephen Notaro.

In addition to his Pitcher of the Year honors, Brebbia was also tabbed to the first-team all-conference squad as a reliever.

2011 SoCon Sports Media Association Baseball All-Conference

Player of the Year - Victor Roache, So., OF, Georgia Southern
Pitcher of the Year - John Brebbia, Jr., RHP, Elon
Freshman of the Year - Daniel Aldrich, OF, College of Charleston
Coach of the Year - Mike Gaski, UNCG

First Team
SP  Josh Renfro, College of Charleston
SP  Andy Moye, Georgia Southern
RP  John Brebbia, Elon
C    Rob Kral, College of Charleston
1B  Saxon Butler, Samford
2B  Ross Heffley, Western Carolina
SS  Eric Phillips, Georgia Southern
3B  Matt Leeds, College of Charleston
OF  Daniel Aldrich, College of Charleston
OF  Victor Roach, Georgia Southern
OF  Phillip Ervin, Samford
DH  Stephen Notaro, Western Carolina

Second Team
SP  Ryan Arrowood, Appalachian State
SP  Christian Powell, College of Charleston
RP  Matt Murray, Georgia Southern
C    Trevor Edwards, UNCG
1B  Aaron Thompkins, Furman
2B  Sebastian Gomez, Elon
SS  Neal Pritchard, Elon
3B  Austin Schultz, Western Carolina
OF  Jack Myers, Appalachian State
OF  Nick Orvin, The Citadel
OF  Shawn Payne, Georgia Southern
DH  Mac Doyle, Wofford