North Carolina State University Athletics
Baseball Places Four On All-ACC Teams
5/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Pitchers Clayton Shunick and Jimmy Gillheeney earned first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors Monday, as voted by the league’s 12 head coaches. Outfielders Matt Payne and Marcus Jones were named to the second team.
Shunick won first-team all-conference honors despite a deceptively poor 6-5 won-lost record. The junior from Alpharetta, Ga., was NC State’s ace starter all season, and four of his five losses were by scores of 3-2, 2-1, 5-2 and 4-1. He finished with a 2.30 ERA and allowed 67 hits, walked 21 and struck out a league-leading 92 in 82 1/3 innings. He limited opposing batters to a .215 batting average.
Gillheeney, a sophomore from Johnston, R.I., emerged the second week of the season as the Wolfpack’s closer and wound up the regular season with a 2-0 record, a 1.12 ERA and 10 saves in 11 opportunities. In 21 appearances, Gillheeney pitched 32 innings, allowed 24 hits, walked 12 and struck out 42. Opponents batted just .209 against Gillheeney.
Payne, a senior from Hiddenite, N.C., was arguably NC State’s most consistent offensive performer all season. He finished the year batting .333 with five doubles, two triples, nine home runs and a team-best 47 RBIs. He was even better in ACC games, hitting .409 with seven homers and 29 RBIs in 28 ACC games.
A junior from Washington, D.C., Jones batted .330 with 13 doubles, three triples, seven home runs, 45 RBIs and a team-high 10 stolen bases in 11 attempts. In ACC games, Jones was second on the team with a .316 average, and added seven doubles, three home runs and 22 RBIs.
2008 All-ACC Baseball Teams
First Team
C - Buster Posey, Jr., Florida State
1B - Yonder Alonso, Jr. Miami
2B - Jemile Weeks, Jr., Miami
3B - Mark Sobolewski, So., Miami
SS - Ryan Jackson, So., Miami
SS - Greg Miclat, Jr., Virginia
OF - Tim Fedroff, So., North Carolina
OF - Jack Rye, Sr., Florida State
OF - Blake Tekotte, Jr., Miami
DH/UT - Kyle Parker, Fr., Clemson
StP - Chris Hernandez, Fr., Miami
StP - D.J. Mitchell, Jr., Clemson
StP - Clayton Shunick, Jr., NC State
StP - Elih Villanueva, Jr., Florida State
StP - Alex White, So., North Carolina
RelP - Jimmy Gillheeney, So., NC State
Second Team
C - Tim Federowicz, Jr., North Carolina
1B - Dustin Ackley, So. , North Carolina
2B - Kyle Seager, So., North Carolina
3B - Brad Feltes, Sr., Georgia Tech
SS - Tony Delmonico, Jr., Florida State
SS - Derek Dietrich, Fr., Georgia Tech
OF - Charlie Blackmon, Jr., Georgia Tech
OF - Marcus Jones, Jr., NC State
OF - Matt Payne, Sr., NC State
DH/UT - Alex Hassan, So., Duke
StP - David Duncan, Jr., Georgia Tech
StP - Eric Erickson, So., Miami
StP - Matt Fairel, So., Florida State
StP - Pat McAnaney, Sr., Virginia
RelP - Carlos Gutierrez, Jr., Miami
RelP - Rob Wooten, Sr., North Carolina
Player of the Year: Buster Posey, Florida State
Pitcher of the Year: Alex White, North Carolina
Freshman of the Year: Chris Hernandez, Miami
Coach of the Year: Jim Morris, Miami
Shunick won first-team all-conference honors despite a deceptively poor 6-5 won-lost record. The junior from Alpharetta, Ga., was NC State’s ace starter all season, and four of his five losses were by scores of 3-2, 2-1, 5-2 and 4-1. He finished with a 2.30 ERA and allowed 67 hits, walked 21 and struck out a league-leading 92 in 82 1/3 innings. He limited opposing batters to a .215 batting average.
Gillheeney, a sophomore from Johnston, R.I., emerged the second week of the season as the Wolfpack’s closer and wound up the regular season with a 2-0 record, a 1.12 ERA and 10 saves in 11 opportunities. In 21 appearances, Gillheeney pitched 32 innings, allowed 24 hits, walked 12 and struck out 42. Opponents batted just .209 against Gillheeney.
Payne, a senior from Hiddenite, N.C., was arguably NC State’s most consistent offensive performer all season. He finished the year batting .333 with five doubles, two triples, nine home runs and a team-best 47 RBIs. He was even better in ACC games, hitting .409 with seven homers and 29 RBIs in 28 ACC games.
A junior from Washington, D.C., Jones batted .330 with 13 doubles, three triples, seven home runs, 45 RBIs and a team-high 10 stolen bases in 11 attempts. In ACC games, Jones was second on the team with a .316 average, and added seven doubles, three home runs and 22 RBIs.
2008 All-ACC Baseball Teams
First Team
C - Buster Posey, Jr., Florida State
1B - Yonder Alonso, Jr. Miami
2B - Jemile Weeks, Jr., Miami
3B - Mark Sobolewski, So., Miami
SS - Ryan Jackson, So., Miami
SS - Greg Miclat, Jr., Virginia
OF - Tim Fedroff, So., North Carolina
OF - Jack Rye, Sr., Florida State
OF - Blake Tekotte, Jr., Miami
DH/UT - Kyle Parker, Fr., Clemson
StP - Chris Hernandez, Fr., Miami
StP - D.J. Mitchell, Jr., Clemson
StP - Clayton Shunick, Jr., NC State
StP - Elih Villanueva, Jr., Florida State
StP - Alex White, So., North Carolina
RelP - Jimmy Gillheeney, So., NC State
Second Team
C - Tim Federowicz, Jr., North Carolina
1B - Dustin Ackley, So. , North Carolina
2B - Kyle Seager, So., North Carolina
3B - Brad Feltes, Sr., Georgia Tech
SS - Tony Delmonico, Jr., Florida State
SS - Derek Dietrich, Fr., Georgia Tech
OF - Charlie Blackmon, Jr., Georgia Tech
OF - Marcus Jones, Jr., NC State
OF - Matt Payne, Sr., NC State
DH/UT - Alex Hassan, So., Duke
StP - David Duncan, Jr., Georgia Tech
StP - Eric Erickson, So., Miami
StP - Matt Fairel, So., Florida State
StP - Pat McAnaney, Sr., Virginia
RelP - Carlos Gutierrez, Jr., Miami
RelP - Rob Wooten, Sr., North Carolina
Player of the Year: Buster Posey, Florida State
Pitcher of the Year: Alex White, North Carolina
Freshman of the Year: Chris Hernandez, Miami
Coach of the Year: Jim Morris, Miami
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