May 5, 2010
Five River Hawk baseball players were honored by the conference office on Wednesday afternoon as the Northeast-10 announced its annual All-Conference Teams. Garrett Cole (Manchester, NH), Cam Kneeland (Rowley, MA), JT Leary (Newburyport, MA), Dustin Ramey (Kingston, NH), and Luke Wallace (Yorktown Heights, NY) all received recognition for their outstanding campaigns.
Kneeland led the way as UMass Lowell's lone First-Team selection after finishing with team-highs in batting average (.313), RBI (43), doubles (16) and slugging percentage (.508). The smooth swinging sophomore was the first River Hawk batter to top 40 RBI in a season since Jerod Edmondson in 2007.
Following close behind, Leary, Ramey and Wallace were each named to the NE-10 Third-Team.
A senior second baseman, Leary rounded out his final season with a terrific .310 batting average and 31 RBI, both second only to Kneeland. Leary was one of just two players to start all 46 games and led the team with 23 walks and a .395 on-base percentage.
Ramey was dominant on the mound in 2010, leading UMass Lowell starters in innings pitched (69.2), ERA (2.07) and wins (7). The junior right-hander limited opponents to a .215 batting average while collecting almost as many strikeouts (56) as hits allowed (58).
A four-year standout, Wallace hit .281 while playing sterling defense in centerfield. The senior collected five home runs and 20 RBI on the campaign and set a program record with seven hits in the River Hawks' 29-3 win over Lynn University. Off the field, Wallace received UMass Lowell's National Student-Athlete Day honor for recording the highest GPA amongst the baseball team. A psychology major, he earned a 3.70 average in the fall.
"All the honors are very deserving," said head coach Ken Harring. "For Kneeland to step into third base and have the kind of year he had, it was a lot of fun to watch."
"Ramey had a great year as well and easily could have been First-Team with the numbers he put up. Also, without Leary and Wallace down the stretch, we wouldn't have been in the position to make the playoffs at the end."
Finally, Cole was selected to the NE-10 All-Rookie team for his strong freshman campaign. In eight appearances (six starts), the righty compiled a 3-2 record with a 4.06 ERA. Cole threw 37.2 innings while striking out 35 batters
"Cole had a very good year as a freshman and we are going to be counting on him more as he develops," Harring added. "I thought he was consistently one of the two or three best freshman pitchers in the conference all season long."
The River Hawks finished the 2010 campaign with a 27-19 overall record and 14-12 mark in conference play. Tied for sixth place with Merrimack College, UMass Lowell missed the NE-10 playoffs due to a tiebreaker.
