Felician Athletics - 5/8/08 BASEBALL - Bello Named CACC Rookie Of The Year; Four Voted All-League

NEW CASTLE, Del. -- Felician College freshman shortstop Hector Bello (Miami, FL/Miami Coral Park) has been named the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Baseball Rookie of the Year, according to balloting released today. The league's 10 head coaches voted on the award winners. Bello and three other members of the Golden Falcons were named to the All-CACC teams; all were first-time selections.

Bello enters the CACC Tournament batting .329, second among conference freshmen and second on Felician. In 46 starts, he has two homeruns, 26 runs scored, 28 runs batted in, and nine stolen bases. He was also elected to the All-CACC Second Team.

The Golden Falcons received two First Team honorees. Sophomore Marcos Torres (Miami, FL/South Miami) was chosen at catcher. Torres is hitting a team-high .377, and leads the CACC with 61 hits. He has amassed 13 doubles, three homers, 34 runs, and a Felician-best 39 RBI, while starting 36 of his team's 48 games behind the plate. He has also played first base and designated hitter.

Freshman right-hander Joe Brescia (Holmdel, NJ/Holmdel) is the First-Team All-CACC relief pitcher. Brescia set school and conference records with seven saves. In 16 appearances, he is 1-0 with a 1.46 earned-run average and an opponent batting average of .180. He has struck out 19 batters and yielded 16 hits in 24 2/3 innings.

Junior centerfielder Vinnie DiBenedetti (Forked River, NJ/Lacey Township) was voted to the Second Team outfield. DiBenedetti, who has captured the last two CACC Player of the Week awards, has tied the conference single-season record of 10 triples. He is hitting .304 with 27 runs scored, 23 RBI and 13 stolen bases in 45 starts.

Also on Tuesday, senior pitcher Nick Riker (Highlands, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) (5-5, 3.59 ERA) was named an Honorable Mention All-CACC selection. The Golden Falcons are the No. 4 seed in the conference playoffs, a four-team double-elimination tournament which begins this afternoon and offers an automatic NCAA Division II Northeast Regional berth to its champion. Felician has played 40 of its 48 games this season with wood bats.

Felician had 18 student-athletes earn All-CACC honors in 2007-08, and claimed three league Rookies of the Year out of its 10 sports.

2008 All-CACC Baseball Teams