DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released the Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week awards for the period ending March 29.
Georgia junior first baseman Rich Poythress was named National Hitter of the Week, while Coastal Carolina sophomore left-hander Cody Wheeler was named National Pitcher of the Week. The NCBWA Board reviews candidates from each Division I Conference each week and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season.
Poythress hit .615 (8-for-13) with five home runs and 12 RBIs last week, and led Georgia to its second straight SEC sweep and its first series win at Tennessee since 2001. In Tuesday's game against Wright State, the Grovetown, Ga., native hit a two-run homer in the first inning, then had his first career multi-home run game, along with two doubles and two walks for a career-high 12 total bases against Tennessee on Friday. He followed that with another two-home run game on Saturday and tied his career high with five RBI. In his first nine plate appearances against the Vols, Poythress was 6-for-6 with four home runs, two doubles and three walks.
Wheeler, a Spotsylvania, Va., native recorded Coastal Carolina's first nine-inning no-hitter in the Gary Gilmore era, striking out 10 and retiring 28 batters in a 4-0 win over Hawaii on Thursday, March 26. It was the first no-hitter on the islands since 1982 and the first against Hawai'i since 1998. Wheeler's 10 strikeouts included a punchout to Jeff Van Doornum, who reached on a passed ball. Wheeler threw 118 pitches in the complete game effort, and surpassed career highs in both innings pitched and strikeouts.
Fort Worth-based Pro-Line Athletic supplies the official cap to more than 100 Division I college teams and official uniforms and team wear to six Division I college teams. This is the fifth season Pro-Line has sponsored the NCBWA's Players of the Week. The sponsorship provides for plaques to be awarded to each of the weekly winners and other promotional consideration. For more information about Pro-Line, visit their Web site at prolineathletic.com.
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. For more information about the NCBWA, visit the association's official Web site, www.ncbwa.com.
For more information on the Pro-Line Athletic Players of the Week, contact NCBWA Assistant Executive Director Mike Montoro at West Virginia University at 304-293-2821.
2009 Pro-Line Athletic Players of the Week:
Feb. 24: Chris Kersten, Louisiana Tech (Hitter);
Schaeffer Hall, Kansas (Pitcher)
· March 3: Kent Matthes, Alabama (Hitter); Ryan
Berry, Rice and Brandon Workman, Texas (Pitcher)
· March 10: Daniel Hill, Murray State (Hitter);
Wade Kapteyn, Evansille (Pitcher)
· March 17: Digger Towe, UAB (Hitter); Kyle Gibson,
Missouri (Pitcher)
· March 24: Kyle Roller, East Carolina (Hitter);
Stephen Strasburg, San Diego State (Pitcher)
· March 31: Rich Poythress, Georgia (Hitter); Cody
Wheeler, Coastal Carolina (Pitcher)
· April 7: Brett Nommensen, Eastern Illinois (Hitter);
Nolan Moody, Michigan State (Pitcher)
· April 14: Juan Martinez, Oral Roberts (Hitter);
Brad Stillings, Kent State (Pitcher)
· April 21: Derek McCallum, Minnesota (Hitter);
Alex White, North Carolina (Pitcher)
· April 28: Shane Brown, UCF and Jesse Sawyer, South
Dakota State (Hitter); J.T. Ross, Northeastern (Pitcher)
· May 5: Justin Bour, George Mason (Hitter); Alex
Wimmers, Ohio State (Pitcher)
· May 12: Greg Folgia, Missouri (Hitter); Stephen
Strasburg, San Diego State (Pitcher)
· May 19: Chris Hermann, Miami (Hitter); Justin
Marks, Louisville (Pitcher)