NSU Baseball Player Derek Antelo Named 2005 Rawlings/ABCA First Team All-American

Nova Southeastern University baseball player Derek Antelo (Sr., Miami, Fla.) was selected today as a First Team NCAA Division II All-American by the Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).  Antelo becomes the first NSU baseball player to be named a First Team All-American, after posting a perfect 11-0 record during his senior season with the Knights.

“Derek Antelo is a first class student-athlete, who is a focused competitor with great determination to be the best he can and has definitely earned this honor,” said NSU Head Baseball Coach Michael Mominey.  “He has been blessed with special tools as a baseball player and has been able to demonstrate them this year each time he has stepped onto the field.”

Antelo has garnered a number of post-season honors already this year, as he was named the 2005 ABCA/Rawlings South Region Pitcher of the Year and was also the 2005 Sunshine State Conference Pitcher of the Year.  In addition, Antelo was named as a First Team All-South Region and First Team All-SSC selection.

The senior led the SSC in wins and was sixth in the nation with his 11 victories in 2005.  Antelo ranked second in the conference with 100 strikeouts compared to just 30 walks and his 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings was good for 31 st nationally.  The Miami native's team-leading 2.13 ERA was third best among SSC pitchers and ranked 28 th nationally.  In 93.0 innings pitched, he held opponents to a .210 batting average.

“Derek has not only had a tremendous yearly statistically, he has left a life-long impression on this program in many ways, said Coach Mominey.  “He will have an opportunity to use all that he has accomplished and learned in our program when he takes his game to the next level for a professional team following next week’s major league baseball amateur draft.”

Antelo was the lone First Team selection from the Sunshine State Conference, as Tampa’s Lee Cruz was a Second Team selection while Florida Southern reliever Kyle DeYoung was named to the Third Team.  Top-ranked Central Missouri State’s Shawn Callahan was named the NCAA Division II Player of the Year while teammate Danny Powers was named National Pitcher of the Year.

Antelo joins senior teammate Kyle Ruwe (Sr., Sunrise, Fla.), as the only NSU baseball players to earn NCAA All-American honors.  Ruwe was a Second Team All-American in 2003 following a spectacular sophomore season.