Celenza, Miller, Willey named ABCA All-Americans
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. - The American Baseball Coaches Association announced its Division III All-Americans and three Salisbury University student-athletes were honored. SU sophomore outfielder Andrew Miller was named a first-team All-American and senior pitcher Eric Willey and junior first baseman Mike Celenza were named to the second team. The three All-Americans is the most in one season the Sea Gulls have garnered in program history.
Miller makes his first appearance on the All-American team in his two years at SU. The Schwenksville, Pa., native had a solid sophomore campaign as he led the team in runs scored (67), doubles (13), hit by pitches (15) and stolen bases (28). Heading into the next season, Miller will enter with a streak of 32 consecutive bases stolen since his freshman year, which is one of the longest current streaks in all NCAA baseball (any division). Miller boasts the second best batting average (.406), slugging percentage (.648), hits (67) and total bases (107) for the third-ranked Gulls. He finished the season with 46 RBIs and nine home runs. In the field, Miller recorded 106 putouts, 10 assists, two errors and posted a fielding percentage of .983 in 43 games played.
Willey makes his second straight appearance on the All-American team as he was named to the second team in '08. Willey had a standout senior season for the Sea Gulls (38-8) on the mound. The Cambridge, Md., native finished his senior season with a record of 10-3 with two complete games with an ERA of 2.45 in 91.2 innings pitched. Willey struck out a team-high 77 batters and limited opposing teams to a .237 batting average. In addition to being named South Region Pitcher of the Year, Willey was named Salisbury University Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Celenza garners All-American honors for the first time in his three year career at Salisbury. The junior left-handed batter has been a constant threat at the plate as he leads the team in several offensive categories including batting average (.469), slugging percentage (.781), on-base percentage (.576), hits (75), home runs (12), total bases (125) and walks (38). The Gaithersburg, Md., native is second on the team in runs scored (62), RBIs (57) and doubles (12). Defensively, the junior first baseman has been solid as well as he has 372 putouts, 25 assists, one error, with a fielding percentage of .997 in 44 games played.
The three each won All-South Region awards for the Sea Gulls as they were all named to the first team. Celenza and Willey were named Player and Pitcher of the Year, marking the first time in the Doug Fleetwood era a player has won either award. Celenza and Miller each received South-Region Gold Glove accolades.
The three ABCA All-Americans brings the program total to 14 including three first-team recipients, five second-team honors, four third-team accolades and two honorable mention All-Americans. Coach Fleetwood had coached eight All-Americans since his first season in 2001.
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