Ronayne and Orlando earn All-New England and Little East Conference honors for UMass Dartmouth

(Dartmouth, MA) -- UMass Dartmouth placed a pair of players on the annual Division III All-New England and Little East Conference All-Star baseball teams following a 23-16 overall record for the 2001 season.

In Coach Bruce Wheeler's 30th season with the Corsairs, UMass Dartmouth finished 6th overall in the final New England College Baseball Coaches poll. Within the Little East Conference, UMass Dartmouth closed out the regular season at 8-6 and tied for third place The Corsairs earned the #3 seed in the LEC Championship tournament by virtue of a tie breaker.

Senior first baseman Brian Ronayne (Bridgewater, MA) was named Second Team All-New England and First Team All-Little East Conference. Sophomore outfielder Jason Orlando (Gloucester, MA) was a Third Team All-New England selection and a Second Team All-LEC choice. An ECAC Division III honorable mention, Ronayne represented the Division II/III All-Stars in the annual collegiate baseball all-star game played June 1 at Fenway Park in Boston.

Ronayne completed an outstanding career with the Corsairs this spring, leading UMass Dartmouth in batting average at .407. He also led the team in runs batted in with 37, hits (57), total bases (87) and walks (31). His .618 slugging percentage was by far the top percentage for the Corsairs this season. He also posted a 2-0 record on the mound with 3 saves in 5 relief appearances out of the bullpen.

Orlando was the Corsairs' second-leading hitter at .362 with a .560 slugging percentage. Orlando led the team in homeruns with 6 and was among the leaders in every other offensive category, including runs (2nd, 36), RBI (2nd, 33), total bases (2nd, 76) walks (2nd, 24) and hits (3rd, 50).

Among the other Corsairs who had solid offensive seasons were junior Mike Dougan (Marlborough, CT) (.323, 53 hits, 19 RBI), senior Eric Taylor (New Bedford, MA) (.310, 3 HR, 31 RBI), freshman Kevin Walsh (New Bedford, MA) (.295, 3 HR, 20 RBI), and junior Tim Dwyer (Franklin, MA) (.292, 28 hits, 23 runs).

On the mound UMass Dartmouth was led by senior captain Jason Hinchliffe (New Bedford, MA), who compiled a team-high 5 wins against 2 losses with a 5.13 ERA. Junior Jason DeVincent (Natick, MA) posted a 4-4 record with a 5.88 ERA and three different pitchers had 3 wins each, including senior Steve Lauzon (Albion, RI) (3-0, 4.24 ERA), sophomore Jeff Davenport (Hampden, MA) (3-2, 7.16 ERA) and senior Tim Troup (Halifax, MA) (3-5, 5.31 ERA, 57K's). In addition to his designated hitter duties, Taylor was a key contributor on the mound with a 2-3 record with a 4.64 ERA in a team-high 10 games.

A pair of losses in the Little East Conference Tournament eliminated the Corsairs from the event and ended UMass Dartmouth's 2001 season. In the LEC tournament opener on May 10, the Corsairs battled the eventual LEC Tournament champions from Eastern Connecticut State University, before dropping a tough 4-3 decision. Pitcher/designated hitter Eric Taylor was named to the LEC All-Tournament team for UMass Dartmouth.