Baseball Player Antony Bello Named NCBWA All-American

Nova Southeastern University baseball player Antony Bello (Jr., Miami, Fla.) was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-American Third Team, it was announced this week.

The junior left-hander was also selected by the Houston Astros in the 21st round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft on Wednesday.  Bello, chosen with the 23rd pick in the 21st round (#639 overall), became the fourth player in history of the NSU baseball program to be picked in MLB's First-Year Player Draft.

The Sharks starter posted a 12-2 record, 2.87 ERA and 70 strikeouts, to lead the staff in 2006. His 12 wins were tops in the SSC and ranked third in the nation in the regular season. Last month Bello was named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-South Region First Team as well as to the 2006 All-Sunshine State Conference First Team.

The 6'2" southpaw helped lead the Sharks baseball team to a program-best 33-19 NCAA mark, including a third-place finish in the Sunshine State Conference with a 14-10 record in league play. The two teams that finished ahead of NSU in the standings were this season's NCAA DII National Champions University of Tampa and the 2005 NCAA DII National Champions Florida Southern College.

The Sharks have had a pitcher chosen in each of the past three MLB Drafts as RHP Derek Antelo was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 10th round of the 2005 Draft and RHP Giuseppe Norrito was picked by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 48th round of MLB's 2004 First-Year Player Draft.