OMAHA, Neb. – Senior left-hander Vince Apciella was named one of the 41 finalists for the second annual D2 Baseball News Brett Tomko 2016 Division II Pitcher of the Year Wednesday afternoon.
The Brett Tomko Award is an honor presented to DII baseball's pitcher of the year. The annual award is bestowed to a college baseball pitcher whose on the field performance is deemed the most outstanding at the Division II level.
The Dillsburg, Pa. is having another historic season for the Eagles being named a first-team All-South Atlantic Conference selection. He is the first Eagle to be on All-SAC teams in consecutive years since Derek Long did so three times from 2008-2010 and the first pitcher since Matt Teague from 2005-07. The southpaw recorded the most complete games, seven, since the school moved to the Division II ranks in 1994. His complete game tally ranks eighth in the country. In 2016, Apicella went 10-3 with a 3.45 earned run average and 105 strikeouts. With 111 punch outs as junior and 105 in 2016, the southpaw owns two of the top-three seasons in terms of total K's. His 10 wins make him the fourth pitcher to record double-digit wins in a single campaign since 1994.
The left-hander ranks third nationally in wins and fourth in punch outs. He recorded two shutouts being one of four players in the program's history to accomplish the feat as he has done so in each of the last two years.
The hurler was named the conference pitcher of the week on Feb. 16 and March 8 bringing his career total to four, the most by any C-N since the award was first handed out in 2006. Apicella has struck out 10 or more four times in 2016 and has won each of the last five outings.
Apicella is one of three pitchers from the SAC on the list joining Placido Torres of Tusculum and Ethan Elliot of Lincoln Memorial.
Tomko was a pitcher for Florida Southern in 1995 leading the Mocs to the national title with a complete game becoming the first player in the history of Division II to be the NCAA Division II Player and Pitcher of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches' Association.
The finalists will be announced prior to the Division II finals with the winner being announced on June 6 following the championships.
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