Foster Named NEIBA Division I Baseball Coach of the Year

May 28, 2009

2009 NEIBA DIvision I All-New England Teams | 2009 NEIBA All-Star Game Rosters

KINGSTON, R.I. - Rhode Island baseball head coach Jim Foster has been named the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association's 2009 Division I Coach of the Year, in voting conducted among the association's 17 Division I head coaches. Senior Dan Rhault (Lincoln, R.I.) as well as juniors Nick Greenwood (Southington, Conn.), Oliver Palmer (North Kingstown, R.I.) and Eric Smith (Milford, Conn.) each picked up NEIBA All-New England honors as Greenwood and Palmer landed spots on the First Team and Rhault and Smith were named to the Second Team.

In his fourth year at the helm of the Rhode Island baseball program, Foster guided his 2009 club to arguably the best season in school history as the Rams turned in a record-breaking 37 wins, including victories over No. 8 Miami, No. 11 Oklahoma State and No. 25 Ohio State. Rhody also finished second (19-6) in the Atlantic 10 and advanced to the Conference's championship game.

Rhault - who became just the second-ever Rhode Island player to earn A-10 Player of the Year honors - finished the season leading the team with a .393 batting average, 60 RBI, 12 home runs, three grand slams, 25 multiple-hit games, 15 multiple-RBI games, a .657 slugging percentage and a .460 on-base percentage. His 60 RBI marked a new single-season record while he fell just one shy of the top spot for single-season hits and home runs. A member of the 2009 Brooks Wallace Award watch list - which honors the nation's top shortstop - Rhault contributed to 28 double plays and one triple play in the field.

Greenwood - who paced the team with 74 strikeouts - finished with a 6.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio in Atlantic 10 games (42 strikeouts, seven walks) and was fourth in the conference with a .239 opposing batting average and a 3.15 ERA in league games. He turned in a team-best seven wins, including a victory over No. 25 Ohio State and a complete-game shutout over St. Bonaventure. Greenwood also earned A-10 All-Championship honors after giving up just two runs over eight innings of work in a 9-2 win over top-seeded Dayton.

A 2009 co-captian, Palmer received Second Team All-Conference, Academic All-Conference and All-Championship honors this season. He tied the URI single-season record for total bases (138) and turned in the second-best single-season performance in runs scored (53), doubles (21), extra base hits (35) and assists (160). He also finished second on the squad with 78 hits, 11 home runs and a .607 slugging percentage while committing just three errors on 262 chances.

Smith - an Atlantic 10 First Team selection - was instrumental in Rhody's 3-0 win over eighth-ranked Miami as he pitched eight shutout innings, struck out five batters and allowed just three hits to help URI pull off the biggest victory in the program's history. Following that performance, he was named to the College Baseball Foundation's National All-Star Lineup as well as Recruitingcloser.com's National Pitchers of the Week list. A week later in a no-decision appearance against fourth-ranked Cal State Fullerton, he struck out four batters with zero walks over 6.2 innings of work.

Smith continued his dominance in conference play, tossing a complete-game three-hit shutout in Rhody's 3-0 win over Dayton, becoming the only pitcher to have held the first-place Flyers scoreless over nine innings this season. He finished the 2009 regular season leading the conference with a .222 overall opposing batting average and .214 in A-10 games while ranking second overall in the league in hits allowed (51), earned runs allowed (26) and earned runs allowed (24).

The All-New England Division I first and second teams constitute the University Division roster for the 2009 NEIBA New England College Baseball All-Star Game - which will be played at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton, Mass. on June 4.

ALL-NEW ENGLAND DIVISION I TEAMS

FIRST TEAM
Tony Sanchez, Jr., Boston College
Jeff Hanson, Sr., Sacred Heart
Oliver Palmer, Jr., Rhode Island
Mickey Wiswall, So., Boston College
Matt Duffy, So., Vermont
George Springer, Fr., Connecticut
Kevin McAvoy, Sr., Maine
Peter Fatse, Jr., Connecticut
Jim Macdonald, Sr., Massachusetts
Eric Polvani, Jr., Bryant
Nick Greenwood, Jr., Rhode Island
Pat Dean, So., Boston College
Mike Belfiore, Jr., Boston College

DIVISION I SECOND TEAM
Jeff Vigurs, Jr., Bryant
Mike Belfiore, Jr., Boston College
James Donaldson, Sr., Northeastern
Matt Perry, Jr., Holy Cross
Dan Rhault, Sr., Rhode Island
Nick Campbell, Jr., Bryant
Nick Santomauro, Jr., Dartmouth
Mark Micowski, So., Vermont
Pete Greskoff, So., Brown
Mitchell Clegg, Sr., Massachusetts
Kevin Cobb, Sr., Bryant
Eric Smith, Jr., Rhode Island
David Erickson, Sr., Connecticut

COACH OF THE YEAR: Jim Foster, Rhode Island