May 17, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - Illinois Wesleyan University junior Cory Lapinski has been named “Player of the Year” for baseball in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.
Chosen to the first team as a utility player, Lapinski (Niles, Maine East HS) was 5-0 with a 2.75 earned run average in CCIW play as a pitcher and led the league with 65 strikeouts in 36 innings. He also batted .289 in 21 league games with six homers and a league-high 27 runs batted in.
Lapinski is the first Titan to win “Player of the Year” honors since pitcher Steve Schilsky in 2001. Only outfielder James Rinne (1998), catcher Mike Brown (1991) and outfielder James Shaw (1981) have won the award as Illinois Wesleyan players.
Including Lapinski, IWU had four players on the first team and four more on the second team. Freshman second baseman Ricky Angel, junior pitcher Drew Himes and senior third baseman Mick Curran were first team selections while second team picks were senior catcher Jason Shearn, junior shortstop Pat Cinquegrani and junior outfielders Joe Howard and Nick Chilczenkowski.
Angel (Glen Ellyn, Glenbard West HS) led the league with a .476 average and 39 hits. He was second with eight doubles and fifth with 53 total bases.
Himes (Princeton HS) was second in the CCIW with a 2.57 ERA and with 39 strikeouts, finishing with a 5-1 league mark.
Curran (Orland Park, Sandburg HS) was tied for the CCIW lead in total bases (58) and second in home runs (seven). He batted .349 in 21 CCIW games and knocked in 21 runs.
Shearn (Wheeling, Buffalo Grove HS) hit .338 with 12 RBI in 20 CCIW games.
Cinquegrani (Barrington, Palatine Fremd HS) batted .313 and scored a league-best 27 runs.
Howard (Downers Grove, Montini HS) hit .307 with two homers and 16 RBI and Chilczenkowski (LaFox, Geneva HS) had three homers and 22 RBI as a .319 hitter.
Titan head coach Dennis Martel and Augustana's Greg Wallace were named co-winners of the “Coach of the Year” award. It is the second year in a row for Martel to win the honor, which he also garnered in 2001 and 1989.
The 32-11 Titans won both the CCIW regular season and postseason tournament and play Edgewood in the Division III Regional Thursday at Horenberger Field.
