Gleason earns pair of Second-Team selections

ABCA All-East Region Teams (PDF)
Daktronics All-East Region Teams (PDF)
NCBWA All-East Region Teams (PDF) 

RINDGE, N.H. (May 19, 2014) – Junior catcher Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.) has earned consensus All-East Region accolades, including First-Team honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and the American Baseball Coaches Association, as announced over the previous week by the trio of organizations which name All-Region and All-America squads. In addition, junior right-hander Conor Gleason (North Stonington, Conn.) and senior center fielder Calvin Graves (Boston, Mass.) each earned All-East Region honors as well, while junior right-hander Brendan O'Rourke (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Walsh each landed on the ABCA/Rawlings East Region Gold Glove Second Team.

Walsh earned a selection to the All-East Region Second Team from Daktronics, in addition to the aforementioned First-Team honors from the NCBWA and ABCA. Gleason was named to the All-East Region Second Team by both Daktronics and the ABCA, in addition to an Honorable Mention selection from the NCBWA. Graves earned Second-Team honors from the ABCA and an Honorable Mention from the NCBWA.

The ABCA awards are voted on by coaches from throughout the region, the Daktronics awards are voted on by sports information and athletic communications personnel from throughout the region and the NCBWA awards are voted on by a select panel of sports information and media members from throughout the region.

Walsh, already an All-Northeast-10 First Team selection this spring, returned to an All-Region performance level in 2014 with a slash line which finished at .303/.366/.478 over 201 at-bats while starting all 53 games for the Ravens, including 48 starts behind the plate. He finished the season tied for first in the Northeast-10 in runs batted in (40), tied for second in home runs (7), ranked fifth in runs scored (42), tied for seventh in hits (61), ranked ninth in slugging percentage and tied for ninth in doubles (12). He added one triple, 11 walks and five stolen bases in seven attempts along the way.

For Walsh, it marks his second career consensus All-East Region selection, as he was a consensus First-Team selection as a freshman in 2012. The East Region Gold Glove Team selection is the first of his career.

Graves, who was an All-Northeast-10 First Team honoree as well, caps his career with his first All-Region selection in 2014. He started all 53 games for the Ravens, including 52 starts in center field, after starting all 56 contests a year ago. Graves put together a .319/.380/.386 slash line out of the leadoff hole for Franklin Pierce and, through May 11, ranked 15th in the country in stolen bases (31) and 23rd in stolen bases per game (0.61). Among Northeast-10 leaders, he finished the season third in stolen bases (32-for-40, 80%), fourth in hits (67), tied for eighth in runs scored (38), 15th in batting average and 27th in on-base percentage. Graves hit his first collegiate home run, in the 178th game of his career, on April 12 against Merrimack.

Gleason, who started the season in the bullpen, pitched well enough out of the rotation from the start of April through the end of the campaign to earn All-Northeast-10 First Team honors on the way to his All-Region selection. Even with fewer innings as a result of the bullpen stint, Gleason was among national leaders in several categories through May 11, as he led the country in hits allowed per nine innings (3.63), ranked second in strikeouts per nine innings (13.65) and ranked 12th in strikeouts (94). Despite being tied for 15th in the Northeast-10 in innings pitched (63.0), he led the league in strikeouts per nine innings and finished second in strikeouts (95). He allowed 21 runs (19 earned) on 27 hits and 44 walks to finish with a 2.71 ERA and a 1.127 WHIP.

O'Rourke, though he came up short of an All-Region selection, earned his first East Region Gold Glove Team selection. Through May 11, he ranked ninth in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (5.60), 26th in WHIP (0.96) and 24th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.48). Among Northeast-10 hurlers, he finished fifth in strikeouts (79), sixth in strikeouts per nine innings (10.06), ninth in innings pitched (70.2) and 11th in ERA (2.42). He allowed 20 runs (19 earned) on 42 hits and 24 walks.

The Ravens finished the 2014 campaign at 35-18 after being bounced on the second day of the NCAA East Regional. Franklin Pierce made its 10th consecutive NCAA Championship appearance, an active streak matched by only two other Division II schools (Grand Valley State, Tampa) and 14 other programs across all divisions. The team reached 35 wins for the ninth straight season and captured a share of its third straight Northeast-10 Northeast Division title along the way.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics).