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Baseball All-Ivy -- 2011
Complete 2011 Baseball All-Ivy Release
Editor's Note: This article was updated on May 16, 2011, to reflect an internal tabulation error in awarding the 2011 Ivy League Player of the Year.
PRINCETON, N.J. -- A trio of schools were
represented among the 2011 Ivy League baseball top individual
awards as voted on by the League’s eight head coaches. Yale
first baseman Trey Rallis (La Canada, Calif.) was
named Player of the Year, Penn right-handed pitcher Paul
Cusick (Wilmington, Del.) was named Pitcher of the Year
and Princeton first RHP/first baseman Mike Ford
(Belle Mean, N.J.) was voted the Rookie of the Year.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Rallis, also the lone unanimous selection to the All-Ivy first
team, becomes the first Bulldog to earn Player of the Year honors
since Marc Sawyer in 2006. The senior first baseman closed out his
final season as a Bulldog as one of just three Ivies to bat over
.360 for the season, ranking second at .365. He had 54 hits in 41
games played, including a dozen doubles and four home runs, while
knocking in 30 runs. At first base, he was nearly flawless,
collecting 341 putouts and 19 assists to go along with just two
errors for a .994 fielding percentage.
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Cusick, the Quakers’ ace with a 2.70 ERA and 5-3 record,
becomes the first Penn player to earn the League’s top
pitching honor since Ed Haughey in 1995. He is also just the fourth
all-time Quaker to be named Pitcher of the Year. The senior hurler
had a League-best 48 strikeouts in Ivy games, while also leading
the League with 80 overall strikeouts. He tossed four complete
games and held opponents to a .230 batting average. Cusick earned
three of his five wins in Ivy play and fanned a career high dozen
batters in two of those wins.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Ford has been one of the key players in Princeton’s success
this season -- showing his versatility on the mound, in the field
and at the plate. The rookie two-way player was a member of the
Tigers’ regular weekend rotation, going 5-3 in 10 starts and
four complete games. He compiled a 4.12 ERA, the second lowest on
the Tiger staff, while striking out 37 in 63.1 innings. In games he
did not pitch, Ford was in the field as Princeton’s starting
first baseman. Between the two positions he collected 243 putouts,
17 assists and just five errors for a .981 fielding percentage.
At the plate, Ford was the Tigers’ third best hitter,
batting at a .299 clip. He showed good power as a rookie,
collecting nine doubles, one triple and three home runs.
FIRST TEAM ALL-IVY
Eighteen players were voted onto the first-team All-Ivy, led by
five from Gehrig Division runner-up Penn and four from Rolfe
Division champion Dartmouth.
Joining Cusick from Penn were catcher Will Davis
(Atlanta, Ga.), third baseman Dan Williams
(Southhampton, N.J.), outfielder Greg Zebrack
(Northridge, Calif.) and designated hitter Spencer
Branigan (Ross, Calif.). Davis was one of the
Quakers’ top offensive threats, batting .304 and ranking
second on the team with a .565 slugging percentage. He led all
Ivies with 16 doubles, while also adding six home runs and 27
RBIs.
One of just three repeat first team selections from 2010, Williams
hit .288 for the season. He ranked second on the team with 153
at-bats, and finished with 44 hits, including nine doubles, one
triple and three home runs, while also leading the squad with 28
RBIs. Zebrack was another key factor to the Quakers leading the
Ivies in batting average (.318) during League play, while also
hitting .297 overall. The sophomore outfielder hit .336 with 46
hits, including 11 doubles and a team-high seven home runs. He
slugged a team-high .596 while also showing speed on the base
paths, tying for the team-lead with nine stolen bases.
Rounding out Penn’s first team selections was the designated
hitter Branigan. The sophomore hit at a .296 clip for the season
and had 15 extra-base hits on his way to a .528 slugging
percentage.
It was no surprise that Dartmouth, the League-leader in team ERA
(3.97), had a trio of pitchers named to the first team, led by
starters Kyle Hendricks (San Juan Capistrano,
Calif.) and Cole Sulser (Santa Ysabel, Calif.).
The pair of junior right-handers provided a one-two punch every
weekend for the Big Green, combining for a 9-4 record in 2011.
Hendricks ranked third among all Ivies with a 2.47 ERA in nine
starts, including four complete games. He fanned a career-high 15
batters in just seven innings for his first win of the season, an
11-2 final against Army on March 18, and finished the year with 70
strikeouts to go along with just 11 walks. Sulser ranked No. 5 in
the League with a 2.59 ERA and held opposing batters to a .220
average, the lowest among Dartmouth’s regular starters.
Out of the bullpen, Big Green closer Ryan Smith
(Greenlawn, N.Y.) earned first team All-Ivy honors as the
League’s top relief pitcher. The right-handed senior was
second among all Ivy pitchers with four saves, including two in
League play. He fanned 31 batters in just 29.2 innings pitched,
while giving up just 28 hits and eight walks.
The fourth Big Green player to earn first team selection was
shortstop Joe Sclafani (Palm City, Fla.). A second
team All-Ivy selection in 2010 and the League’s Rookie of the
Year in 2009, Sclafani proved to be a force to reckon with at the
plate this spring. He hit .349 for the season, collecting a
League-high 60 hits, including 12 doubles, eight triples and four
home runs. His eight three-baggers were a League high and a
Dartmouth single-season record.
Columbia Lions Dario Pizzano (Saugus, Mass.),
Jason Banos (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Nick
Cox (Lake Mary, Fla.) dominated the outfield positions on
the All-Ivy first team. The three led the Lions’ offense all
season long, batting .359, .323 and .353, respectively. The 2010
Co-Rookie of the Year, Pizzano is the second of three players to
earn repeat first team honors this spring. His .359 batting
average was fourth best in the League, while his .654 slugging
percentage ranked No. 1. Banos banged out nine doubles and six home
runs while knocking in 30 runs. Cox added 15 extra-base hits while
also ranking second in the League with 18 stolen bases. The trio
were near flawless fielding their positions, combining for 204
putouts, seven assists and just one error.
Rolfe Division runner-up Yale earned a pair of first team
selections, including the lone unanimous selection and Player of
the Year Trey Rallis. Joining Rallis on the first
team was classmate Vinny Lally (Tampa, Fla.). The
senior southpaw ranked among the League’s top starters, going
5-1 with a 2.54 ERA and 70 strikeouts. He made 13 appearances,
including 10 starts, tossing four complete games and a League best
two shutouts.
The final team to place multiple players on the first team was
Harvard, as senior starting pitcher Max Perlman
(Longwood, Fla.) and junior second baseman Jeff
Reynolds (St. Petersburg, Fla.) each earned the first
All-Ivy honors of their careers. Despite his team’s 9-36
record, and just a 2-5 record of his own, Perlman led the League
with a 1.80 ERA, representing the only regular starter to hold an
earned run average under two. Perlman’s lone Ivy win was one
of his finest outings as he fanned 10, walked one and scattered
four hits in a nine-inning, complete-game shutout of Yale on April
22.
Reynolds, meanwhile, was the Crimson’s leader at the plate,
batting a team-high .301. He led Harvard with 163 at-bats and 49
hits, and ranked second in doubles with 11 and RBIs with 19.
Rounding out the 2011 first team were Princeton’s
Sam Mulroy (Bethesda, Md.) and Cornell’s
Mickey Brodsky (Encino, Calif.). Mulroy, a junior
catcher/utility player, was a driving force behind the Tigers
completing the regular-season with a 23-22 overall record, a 15-5
Ivy mark and the Ivy League Championship Series title. The junior
led Princeton at the plate, boasting a .324 batting average and
.547 slugging percentage. He collected 55 hits, including 11
doubles, three triples and seven home runs, while also successfully
stealing 13 bases in 15 attempts. Behind the plate, Mulroy caught
14 runners on attempted steals.
Brodsky represented the third repeat first team selection from
2010, being voted onto the team in the utility position both
seasons. The senior split his playing time between the outfield,
first base and designated hitter. One of just two Big Red players
to start all 40 games, Brodsky batted .311 with team highs of 151
at-bats, 47 hits, eight doubles and 29 RBIs.
Player of the Year
Trey Rallis, Yale (1B, Sr., La Canada,
Calif.)
Pitcher of the Year
Paul Cusick, Penn (RHP, Sr., Wilmington,
Del.)
Rookie of the Year
Mike Ford, Princeton (RHP/1B, Fr., Belle Mead,
N.J.)
First Team All-Ivy (18^)
SP - Paul Cusick, Penn (Sr., Willmington,
Del.)
SP - Vinny Lally, Yale (Sr., Tampa, Fla.)
SP - Kyle Hendricks, Dartmouth (Jr., San Juan
Capistrano, Calif.)
SP - Cole Sulser, Dartmouth (Jr., Santa Ysabel,
Calif.)
SP - Max Perlman, Harvard (Sr., Longwood,
Fla.)
RP - Ryan Smith, Dartmouth (Sr., Greenlawn,
N.Y.)
C - Will Davis, Penn (Sr., Atlanta, Ga.)
C - Sam Mulroy, Princeton (Jr., Bathesda,
Md.)
1B - *Trey Rallis, Yale (Sr., La Canada,
Calif.)
2B - Jeff Reynolds, Harvard (Jr., St. Petersburg,
Fla.)
SS - Joe Sclafani, Dartmouth (Jr., Palm City,
Fla.)
3B - Dan Williams, Penn (Sr., Southhampton,
N.J.)
OF - Greg Zebrack, Penn (So., Northridge,
Calif.)
OF - Dario Pizzano, Columbia (So., Saugus,
Mass.)
OF - Jason Banos, Columbia (Sr., Lynnfield,
Mass.)
OF - Nick Cox, Columbia (Sr., Lake Mary,
Fla.)
UT - Mickey Brodsky, Cornell (Sr., Encino,
Calif.)
DH - Spencer Branigan, Penn (So., Ross,
Calif.)
Second Team All-Ivy (15)
SP - Heath Mayo, Brown (So., Whitehouse,
Texas)
SP - Mike Ford, Princeton (Fr., Belle Mead,
N.J.)
SP - Kyle Hunter, Dartmouth (So., Palm City,
Fla.)
RP - Tim Giel, Columbia (So., Gibsonia, Pa.)
RP - Kevin Fortunato, Yale (Fr., Wall, N.J.)
C - Matt Colantonio, Brown (Sr., Garden City,
N.Y.)
1B - Mike Ford, Princeton (Fr., Bell Mead,
N.J.)
2B - Jeff Onstott, Dartmouth (Sr., Houston,
Texas)
SS - Matt Bowman, Princeton (So., Chevy Chase,
Md.)
3B - Andy Megee, Yale (Sr., Los Angeles,
Calif.)
OF - John Sheridan, Brown (So., Palo Alto,
Calif.)
OF - Sam Bean, Dartmouth (Sr., Needham,
Mass.)
OF - Jeremy Maas, Penn (Sr., Alpharetta, Ga.)
UT - Ennis Coble, Dartmouth (So., Atlanta,
Ga.)
DH - Mike DiBiase, Brown (Jr., Weston, Mass.)
Honorable Mention (18)
SP - Stefan Olson, Columbia (So., Ladera Ranch,
Calif.)
SP - Matthew Kimbell, Brown (Sr., Nashville,
Tenn.)
SP - Jadd Scmeltzer, Cornell (Sr., Tappan,
N.Y.)
SP - Zak Hermans, Princeton (So., Coppell,
Texas)
SP - Brook Hart, Yale (Sr., State College,
Pa.)
RP - Matt Grabowski, Princeton (Sr.,
Philadelphia, Pa.)
RP - A.J. Goetz, Princeton (Fr., Denver,
Colo.)
C - Chris O’Dowd, Dartmouth (So., Cherry
Hill Villiage, Colo.)
1B - Jason Brooks, Dartmouth (Sr., Westlake
Villiage, Calif.)
2B - Alex Flink, Princeton (So., Dallas,
Texas)
SS - Marshall Yanzick, Cornell (Jr., Beaverton,
Ore.)
SS - Derek Vigoa, Penn (Jr., Miami, Fla.)
3B - Ryan Zrenda, Brown (Old Lime, Conn.)
OF - Brian Billigen, Cornell (Jr., Carnigie,
Pa.)
OF - Cam Squires, Yale (So., Fort Wayne,
Ind.)
UT - Sam Mulroy, Princeton (Jr., Bethesda,
Md.)
DH - Alex Aurrichio, Columbia (Jr., Dix Hills,
N.Y.)
UT - Marcus Way, Harvard (Jr., Naples, N.Y.)
*unanimous selection
^due to a tie in the voting, two additional starting pitchers, one
additional catcher and one additional outfielder were named to the
first team All-Ivy
