April 30, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

LANCASTER, PA - Six members of the Johns Hopkins baseball team were named to the All-Centennial squad released by the league office on Wednesday afternoon. Senior center fielder Rob Pietroforte (Brooklyn, NY/Berkeley Carroll) earned First Team All-Centennial honors for the third time in his career. He is just the fifth player in conference history to earn first team honors three times. Pietroforte was joined on the first team by senior catcher Tony Margve (Randolph, NJ/Randolph), senior third baseman Todd Emr (Westwood, NJ/Saddle River Day) and junior first baseman Ryan Biner (Crystal Lake, IL/Prairie Ridge).

Sophomore right fielder Brian Youchak (Pittsburgh, PA/Vincentian Academy) earned Second Team All-Centennial honors while senior right-hander Joe Zaccaria (Manhasset, NY/Manhasset) was an All-Centennial Honorable Mention selection.

Pietroforte is hitting .491 in 33 games for the Blue Jays this season. He leads the team in runs scored with 52 and is second on the team in RBIs (40), doubles (16) and home runs (6). Against Montclair State on April 22 he tied the JHU career triples record with his 13th. Pietroforte is currently on a 20-game hit streak and has stolen 22 bases in 24 attempts.

Emr earns all-conference honors for the first time as he has made a stellar return to the Blue Jays line-up at third after missing all but five games last year due to injury. He is hitting .504 in 34 games and is tied for the team lead in RBIs with 44. Emr is tied for the team lead in multi-hit games and leads the squad in multi-RBI games. He had a 15-game hit streak earlier this season and is currently on a 14-game streak. Margve has had a solid senior year behind the dish to earn all-conference honors for the first time. He is hitting .408 in 28 games and is one of three Blue Jays to go over 100 hits for their career this season. Margve has five doubles, one triple and one home run this year and has thrown out 10 of 14 base stealers from behind the plate. Biner earns all-conference honors in his first season with the varsity. He hit .488 in 23 games before suffering a season-ending injury against Montclair State. He had hit streaks of 10 and an eight-games during the course of the season. Biner is third on the team in doubles with 14 and had two or more RBIs in seven of the first nine games he played in.

Youchak earns all-conference honors for the first time in his career as he has made a strong return for the Blue Jays after missing all of last year due to injury. He is hitting .526 in 30 games played for the Blue Jays and is second on the team in runs scored (48) and hits (61). Youchak leads the team in doubles (17) and home runs (7) while being tied for the team lead in RBIs (44). He has hit in 17-straight contests and is second on the team in stolen bases with 17. Zaccaria has turned in a 4-0 record to date as he earns all-conference honors for the first time in his career. The senior rightie has struck out a team-high 41 batters including 10 against McDaniel earlier this season. He has seen time both as a starter and out of the bullpen and has held opponents to no runs in four appearances.

The Blue Jays are set to host the Centennial Conference tournament after finishing the regular season with a record of 30-5, 16-2 in the Centennial. Hopkins begins its Centennial Conference title defense, Friday May 2nd when it hosts Muhlenberg at 3:30 p.m.

- 30 -