Roller And Whitehead Named Preseason All-America
December 16, 2009 | Baseball
Dec. 16, 2009
GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina senior DH Kyle Roller and junior OF Trent Whitehead were named to the 10th Annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Pro-Line Athletic Preseason All-America Second-Team the association announced Wednesday.
Roller, a 2009 first-team All-America selection by the America Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and Ping!Baseball, batted .366 (86-for-256) with 16 home runs and 75 RBI as the Pirates designated hitter. The Rockingham, N.C. native ranked among the national leaders hit by pitches (fourth), RBI (23rd), total bases (79th), home runs (80th) and hits (98th) after earning first-team All-Conference USA and NCAA Greenville Regional All-Tournament honors.
During a five-game stretch from Mar. 17-22, Roller batted .591 (13-for-22) with four homers, 15 RBI, two walks and has plunked five times on his way to NCBWA Pro-Line Athletic National Player-of-the-Week honors. Roller also added C-USA Hitter-of-the-Week, College Baseball Foundation Diamond Sports National All-Star Lineup and CollegebaseballInsider.com Central Regional Player-of-the-Week honors after his offensive display during the Pirates 5-0 week. During the summer, Roller earned regular season and tournament MVP honors in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League.
A second-team All C-USA and C-USA All-Tournament Team selection, Whitehead set the school's single-season hit record with 105 base knocks which ranked fourth nationally. The left-handed lead-off hitter started 63 games in the outfield where he batted .376 (105-for-279) with seven home runs, 47 RBI, 24 doubles and scored 78 runs.
Whitehead took home NCAA Greenville Regional Most Outstanding Player honors after batting .381 (8-for-21) with a home run, five RBI and five runs on his way to helping the Pirates to their first Super Regional appearance since 2004. He led the squad with 31 multi-hit games, while recording 10 multi-RBI contests and against in-state rival N.C. State drove in a career-best five RBI after going 3-for-6 from the plate with a pair of home runs.
The Pirates will begin spring practice on Friday, Jan. 29 in preparation for the season opener against Virginia on Feb. 19, 2010.
