FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications
STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College senior third baseman Taylor Black (Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.) has earned 2017 Academic All-America® Division III Baseball First Team accolades, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Wednesday afternoon.
Black is the first Saint Joseph's athlete to garner First Team Academic All-America® honors and the second individual to be listed on one of the three Academic All-America® teams overall, as he joins former softball standout Alyssa Dunn '11 –a Second Team honoree in 2011 – on the exclusive list.
As an Exercise Science major, Black posted a 3.91 cumulative G.P.A. and earlier this month claimed CoSIDA Academic All-District™ honors along with classmate Jameson Collins (Sandown, N.H.). He was chosen as the Saint Joseph's College Male Student-Athlete of the Year and is in line to claim his third Academic All-Conference award in the coming weeks.
A standout in the classroom and on the field, Black was selected as the 2017 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Year and earned First Team All-GNAC honors for the third consecutive season after hitting.417 (53-127) with 37 runs, 12 doubles, four triples, four home runs, 44 RBI, and four stolen bases during his final collegiate campaign. He paced the Monks in runs, hits, doubles, triples, RBI (tie), total bases (85), slugging (.669), and sacrifice hits (11) and was second on the team in home runs and OBP (.486).
Black was also recognized as one of the top players in New England this spring with First Team All-Region honors from D3Baseball.com, ABCA/Rawlings, and the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA).
A four-year starter, Black posted a .339 (167-492) career batting average with 127 runs, 28 doubles, five triples, eight home runs, 91 RBI, and 24 stolen bases in 155 games. He posted a .465 slugging percentage with a .440 OBP and capped his career as the Monks' all-time hit-by-pitch leader (43).
A captain for the Monks this spring, Black helped lead the Royal Blue to a 31-8 overall record with a 13-1 mark in GNAC play and was a key cog for an SJC offense that ranked in the top 10 nationally in on-base percentage (.440, 1st), batting average (.350, 2nd), scoring (9.3 runs per game, 3rd), and slugging percentage (.506, 8th).
Black is the only player from the New England Region (68 teams) to collect First Team acclaim and is one of five individuals hailing from the largest region in NCAA DIII Baseball to be listed on one of the three Academic All-America® teams. He joins MIT's David Hesslink (2nd Team), John Drago (2nd Team), and Austin Filiere (3rd Team) and Tufts University's Speros Varinos (3rd Team) on the 2017 Academic All-America® Division III Baseball Team.
The CoSIDA Division III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2016-17 Division III Academic All-America® teams program.
There are 18 individuals among the 35 honorees on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® baseball team that have a 3.90 or better grade-point average, with four earning a perfect 4.00 G.P.A.in the classroom. The 11 members of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Division III Baseball first team maintain an average G.P.A of 3.88.