Seven Players Earn All-Ivy Honors, Young Named Pitcher of the Year

Ivy League Release

HANOVER, N.H. ? Senior co-captain Russell Young (Cleburne, Texas) was named the 2008 Ivy League Pitcher of the Year and a unanimous first team All-Ivy selection, joining six others that were also honored by the Ivy League.

Dartmouth finished the season as the 2008 Red Rolfe Division Champions with a 25-17 mark overall and a 15-5 mark in Ivy League play. It was the fourth division title for the Big Green in the last eight seasons.

Young, a two-year captain, finished his career with a 5-4 record and a 4.55 earned run average this year. In Ivy League play, he led the conference with five complete games and was tie for tops with four wins. He was fourth with a 3.17 ERA and seventh in strikeouts with 27. Young finished the season with a 4-1 mark in conference and in 37 innings pitched he walked only five batters.

He was joined by three others as unanimous first team All-Ivy selections. Senior co-captain Damon Wright (Dallas, Texas), senior Erik Bell (Sierra Madre, Calif.) and junior Michael Pagliarulo (Winchester, Mass.) were also chosen unanimously to the first team. Sophomore Nick Santomauro (North Caldwell, N.J.) was the fifth first team selection for the Big Green as he was voted in for the second consecutive season.

Freshman reliever Ryan Smith (Greenlawn, N.Y.) was named a second team All-Ivy performer and senior starting pitcher Chase Carpenter (Bartlett, Tenn.) earned honorable mention All-Ivy honors.

Wright was a major contributor to the Big Green's success with a time-high .397 batting average, 60 hits and seven stolen bases. He finished the season with career-highs in six different offensive categories, including 39 runs batted in, 10 doubles, and 35 runs scored. He was tied for tops on the team with 17 multi-hit games and was second with seven multi-RBI games with one five RBI game coming against Kansas on the spring trip.

Bell was the everyday shortstop for the Big Green, starting in 41-of-42 games. Like Wright, he collected career-highs in multiple offensive categories. He blasted six homers after only having one in the past three seasons. Bell posted 34 RBI, 51 hits, 10 doubles and 38 runs scored. His .305 batting average this year was 54 points higher than his career average up to his senior season. In the field, Bell committed only three errors in 108 chances for .972 field percentage.

Pagliarulo was a welcomed surprise for Dartmouth as he was third in the Ivy League with a .423 average in conference play. He was in the top three in Ivy play with 33 hits, 21 runs scored and 19 RBI. Overall, Pagliarulo blew away his career-highs with 30 runs batted in, 54 hits, six homers, eight doubles and 38 runs scored. He also led the team in being hit as he was plunked by the opposing pitcher 13 times this season.

Santomauro was the power threat for the Big Green down the stretch with four homers in the last eight games and finished the season with a team-high 11 homers, which tied a school record. He finished the season third on the team with a .364 batting average and led Dartmouth in runs batted in with 45. He posted a team-high five triples, 44 runs scored, 30 walks and 112 total bases. Santomauro also led the Big Green with 13 multi-RBI games, including two four-RBI contests.

Smith stepped into the closers role for Dartmouth this year and made a huge impact to the team's success. He finished the season with a school record seven saves and led the Ivy League with five in conference play. Smith was 2-2 for the Big Green, allowing just nine earned runs in 36 innings pitched. He led Dartmouth with 19 appearances and fanned 28 batters, while walking only 14 hitters.

Carpenter put Dartmouth over the top with his performances in each third game of a four-game Ivy weekend. He was tied with Young for the team lead in wins with five and was a perfect 4-0 this season in Ivy play with a 2.95 ERA, which was second in the league. In 36.2 innings pitched in league play, he allowed just 12 earned runs on 43 hits, while fanning 12.

Overall this season, the Big Green broke four team records, in addition to Smith's new school record with seven saves. The the records include; at bats with 1,491, hits with 479, homeruns with 40 and innings pitched with 360.1.