June 19, 2008

BALTIMORE, MD - The honors continue to roll in for members of the 2008 Johns Hopkins baseball team as the Blue Jays placed three players on the ECAC South All-Star team it was announced today. Seniors Rob Pietroforte (Brooklyn, NY/Berkeley Carroll) and Todd Emr (Westwood, NJ/Saddle River Day) garnered first team honors, while junior Ryan Biner (Crystal Lake, IL/Prairie Ridge) was a second team selection. Johns Hopkins was one of just two schools with two first team selections and three overall selections (Juniata).

Pietroforte, who previously earned First Team d3baseball.com All-America and First Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America honors, started 48 games in centerfield for the Blue Jays this season and hit .435. He added a career-high 22 doubles, six home runs, 65 runs scored and 53 RBIs while also stealing 25 bases in 29 attempts. He was named to the NCAA South Region All-Tournament Team and enjoyed a 26-game hitting streak this season that ranked as the sixth-longest in the nation in Division III this year. He also earned First Team All-Centennial Conference honors for the third time in his career.

Emr made an amazing return to the field this season after missing all but five games a year ago with an injury. A Second Team ABCA All-American, Emr started 49 games at third base and led the team in batting average (.487), hits (94) and RBIs (70). He also collected 18 doubles, five home runs, three triples and a slugging percentage of .505. Emr was at his best during JHU's drive to the national championship game at the Division III College World Series. He hit .364 with 11 RBIs at the NCAA South Regional and led the Blue Jays at the College World Series as he hit .556 with 15 hits in six games. Amazingly, he struck out just twice in 49 at bats in the NCAA Tournament and just seven times in 193 at bats overall. He was named to the All-Tournament Team at the College World Series.

Biner was enjoying a standout campaign until having his season cut short by an injury in late April. Still, he earned First Team All-Centennial honors. He hit .488 in 23 games and hit safely in 19 of the 23 games he played. He still finished fifth on the team in doubles (14) and added 29 RBIs and 24 runs scored despite missing more than half of JHU's games. He had 16 multi-hit games and collected two or more RBIs in seven straight games at one point early in the season.

Johns Hopkins posted a 42-8 record and finished as the national runner-up under the guidance of head coach Bob Babb. In addition to finishing second at the College World Series, the Blue Jays won the Centennial Conference and NCAA South Region Championships and presented Babb with his 800th all-time victory during the 2008 season.

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