University of Richmond Athletics
College Sports Madness Places Spiders On Preseason Team
01/13/2012 | Baseball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. -- CollegeSportsMadness.com tabbed three Spiders to its Atlantic 10 Baseball Preseason All-Conference team.
Freshman Jonathan de Marte was named the preseason Freshman of the Year. The Yorktown Heights, N.Y. native begins his career with Richmond after being a highly touted right-handed pitcher for Lakeland High School. De Marte was named a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year, a 2011 Louisville Slugger All America and back-to-back State Player of the Year as voted by New York Sportswriters.
Chris Cowell and Mike Small were named to the preseason second team. Cowell, a senior catcher from Devon, Pa., was a 2011 A-10 second team selection and an All Tournament team honoree. Cowell was a two-time A-10 Player of the Week and hit .291 last season, including the team's second-highest average in A-10 action at an .353.
Small, a shortstop from Wheaton, Ill., was an A-10 All Rookie selection. Small started 37 games for the Spiders, before sustaining an injury against Virginia that sidelined him the rest of the season. Small ended his rookie campaign third on the team in RBI (23) and reached base safely a team-high 21 straight games.
To view the complete College Sports Madness release and A-10 preseason teams go here.
Richmond opens 2012 action at the Citadel Memorial Challenge in Charleston, S.C. Feb. 17 against Liberty at 12:00 p.m. Fans can follow Richmond Baseball on Twitter here.
