RELEASE DATE: 4/15/08

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Yeakel named ABCA/Rawlings North Atlantic Region Player of the Year – Giblin earns first team honors and Sleighter second team honors on regional team

MANSFIELD – Senior Abe Yeakel (Kutztown/Kutztown) was named the 2008 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings NCAA Division II North Atlantic Region Player of the Year while teammates Ryan Giblin (Feasterville/Neshaminy) earned First Team honors and Irv Sleighter (Chambersburg/Chambersburg) Second Team honors in voting conducted among NCAA Division II North Atlantic Regional head coaches and released today.

Yeakel, who was earlier named to First Team All-PSAC East honors, led the PSAC in hitting this season with a .462 batting average. His 84 hits included 14 doubles and a conference best 12 home runs. He also drove in 59 runs while scoring 56 times with a .524 on-base percentage and stole 10 bases.

A two-time PSAC East Player of the Week selection, Yeakel led the conference in batting average, slugging percentage (736), on-base percentage, and home runs while finishing second in the hits, runs and RBI. He is seventh in all of Division II in batting average.

Giblin, also a First Team All-PSAC East selection, was selected to first team all-regional honors at shortstop where the senior batting .425 this season. His 74 hits included 11 doubles, two triples and four home runs. He also scored 49 runs while driving in 41 with a .468 on-base percentage.

Giblin ranked fourth in the conference in batting and on-base percentage, fifth in hits and 10^th in slugging percentage (.580).

A junior, Sleighter was a First Team All-PSAC East selection at starting pitcher after posting a 6-2 mark on the season. In 56.1 innings worked, Sleighter allowed 51 hits and just 15 earned runs for a 2.40 ERA. He struck out 34 batters while walking just nine and held opponents to a .241 batting average.

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