| Michael Rockett | Zach Calhoon |
STARKVILLE, Miss. ? Senior center fielder Michael Rockett (first team) and junior closer Zach Calhoon (third team) were named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's (NCBWA) Pro-Line Athletic preseason All-America squads on Tuesday.
Rockett was one of 19 players selected to the first team, which is the first time in school annals that a UTSA student-athlete has been named to an organization’s top squad. The Sugar Land native is coming off a junior season that saw him collect second-team accolades from the NCBWA, the first time a player earned second-team honors in program history.
Rockett helped lead UTSA to a school-record-tying 39 wins last season and its second consecutive Southland Conference Regular Season Championship. The SLC Player of the Year hit .360 with a school-record 25 doubles, five triples, 10 home runs and 68 RBIs (t-No. 2 UTSA history) last year. He also scored 60 runs (No. 5 UTSA history), recorded 154 total bases for a .623 slugging percentage and stole nine bases. The 2006 Freshman All-American led the Roadrunners in at-bats (247/t-No. 2 UTSA history), batting average, hits (89/t-No. 2 UTSA history), doubles, triples and total bases in addition to ranking second in multi-hit contests (26), homers, RBIs, multi-RBI games (19), slugging percentage and steals.
One of the top defensive center fielders in the country, the 6-foot-1, 180-pounder made several highlight-reel catches in addition to recording a team-high seven outfield assists, all of which resulted in runners being gunned down at the plate. Rockett was just as productive during the 30-game conference slate, posting a .370 batting average to go along with 31 runs, 14 two-baggers, three triples, five homers, 36 RBIs and five stolen bases.
He was named Louisville Slugger Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week on March 3 after hitting for the second cycle in school history on March 1 against Sacred Heart. Not only did he accomplish the feat in just four innings, but Rockett also had a career-high six RBIs in the 16-2 victory at Wolff Stadium.
Meanwhile, Calhoon was a third-team selection.
The Spring native was the league's most dominant closer last spring, saving a UTSA-record and conference-leading 13 games (in 15 chances), a mark that ranked eighth nationally. A NCBWA Stopper of the Year candidate, he saved his first 10 chances of the season and had a 4-1 record and 1.54 ERA in his 26 games out of the bullpen. He allowed just 22 hits (.153 BAA) and struck out 54 in 41 innings, did not give up an earned run in 20 of his appearances and won or saved 44 percent (17) of the Roadrunners' school-record-tying 39 victories last year. Calhoon pitched more than an inning in six of his saves and tossed a career-high five frames in winning UTSA's 11-9, 12-inning contest at Houston on April 30.
He set the program's all-time mark on April 4 at Southeastern Louisiana with his 12th career save and stretched that record to 19.
Calhoon saved a league-high 11 contests in SLC action, which accounted for exactly half of the team's 22 victories, and also was 1-0 with a 1.71 ERA and 29 punchouts in 21 innings of work.
"It is a great honor for Michael and Zach to be named to the preseason All-America teams," ninth-year head coach Sherman Corbett said. "They are in the company of many great collegiate baseball players and both are very deserving to be recognized by the writers. Michael and Zach have tremendous work ethics and have established a high standard of achievement. To be recognized for their efforts is rewarding to them, as it is for our program. I am extremely proud of them and know they are looking forward to even more productive years this spring."
Rockett and Calhoon were the only players from the Southland Conference to be named to the All-America teams.
Many of the preseason standouts will be nominated for the 23rd annual Dick Howser Trophy, presented by the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Area Chamber of Commerce and voted upon by the NCBWA membership. The Howser Trophy, which honors the nation's top player, will be awarded on Saturday, June 13, prior to the first game of the 2009 NCAA World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
Pro-Line Athletic is in its fifth year as a sponsor of the NCBWA. It produces and distributes plaques for National Hitter and Pitchers of the Week during the regular season and extends its award production to include plaques for each member of the association's All-America teams.