Maine’s McAvoy gains freshman honor

University of Maine rookie third baseman Kevin McAvoy of Brewer has been named a Collegiate Baseball Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. McAvoy becomes the ninth Maine Black Bear to earn freshman All-American honors and the seventh in the last eight years.

McAvoy, who was named the America East Rookie of the Year, batted .369 with 39 runs scored and had a team-high 64 RBIs. He had 12 doubles, one triple, and a team-best 10 home runs . McAvoy had a .591 slugging percentage and a .430 on-base percentage in his rookie campaign. His 64 RBIs rank fifth on Maine’s single-season RBI list and tops among all rookies.

McAvoy ranked in the top 10 in nine different America East categories. He led America East in RBIs, ranked third in batting average, third in home runs, fourth in slugging percentage, fourth in hits (73), and tied for fourth in total bases (117). He was seventh in on-base percentage, tied for seventh in total plate appearances (224) and eighth in at-bats (198).

The former Brewer High standout was named America East Rookie of the Week five times. In addition to being named America East Rookie of the Year, he was the lone freshman named to the America East first team. He also earned a spot on the America East All-Rookie Team. McAvoy was also named to the All-New England First Team.

He earned all-regional honors after UMaine advanced to the NCAA regional in Chapel Hill, N.C. McAvoy batted .500 with four runs scored, three home runs and eight RBIs in two postseason games.

McAvoy joins Mark Sweeney (1988), T.J. Sheedy (1995), Mike Ross (1999), Joe Drapeau (2000), Mike Collar (2001), Aaron Izaryk (2002), Greg Norton (2003), and Curt Smith (2005) as UMaine players who have also garnered freshman All-America honors.

Albert, Burrola honored

Saint Joseph’s College softball players Kristi Albert and Gabrielle Burrola were named to the Association of Division III Independents National Independents All-Star teams.

Albert, an outfielder, earned first-team honors, starting 41 games while hitting .422. She led the Monks with 57 hits, stole eight bases and recorded a .952 fielding percentage.

Burrolla was named to the second team as a pitcher and honorable mention as a second baseman. She allowed only 24 walks and struck out 87 in 132 innings of work, posting an 11-9 record. She led the team with 39 RBIs while batting .331.

Eight Bears earn honors

Eight University of Maine hockey players were named to the Hockey East All-Academic team.

Michel Leveille, Mike Lundin, Steve Mullin and Brent Shepheard earned honors for the third time in their careers while Travis Ramsey and Greg Moore were selected for the second time. First-time honorees were Chris Hahn and Travis Wight.

UMass Lowell led the conference with 11 selections while Ryan Sullivan of Merrimack and Brad Fiaishans of New Hampshire were named Co-Top Scholar Athletes.