Baseball grabbed the Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Year award and its second consecutive A-10 Player of the Year honor, according to a press release Tuesday.
Freshman second baseman Noah Levin was named A-10 Co-Rookie of the Year and junior shortstop Nate Fassnacht was honored as the A-10 Player of the Year. Senior utility player Dom D’Alessandro also made program history with A-10 First and Second All-Conference Team nods, according to the release.
“Only at GW can we say we’re the first school in the A-10 with two different players of the year in consecutive seasons,” head coach Gregg Ritchie said in the release. “That’s pretty special.”
Fassnacht earned the honor after graduate utility player Isaiah Pasteur took the award last season. Fassnacht led the A-10 in runs (59), runs batted in (60), total bases (148), extra base hits (38) and plate appearances (265). He was one of two Colonials to start and play in all 54 games this season.
On the defensive side, he topped the conference in assists (146) and double plays (38). He also served as the only upperclassman to return this season in a young infield.
This season marks the first in GW history that the Colonials boast both softball and baseball players of the year. Junior utility player Jenna Cone earned the honor earlier this month.
Levin’s co-rookie of the year nod is GW’s fourth in program history and first in 15 years. Levin’s .354 batting average in conference play led the squad and ranked 10th in the A-10. Against conference foes, Levin ranked in the top-three in slugging percentage (.462), RBI (16) and on-base percentage (.442) on the team.
D’Alessandro was named to the First All-Conference Team as a first baseman and the Second All-Conference Team as a designated hitter. He is the first player in A-10 history to make two All-Conference teams in one season.
He led the conference in batting average (.423), hits (88), home runs (13), on-base percentage (.506) and slugging percentage (.668). D’Alessandro showed consistency for the Colonials on defense, committing one error on 140 catches for a .993 fielding percentage in conference play.
Junior right-handed pitcher Jaret Edwards took an additional award for the squad with his second consecutive All-Academic nod.
The Colonials racked up 30 wins on the season but missed the postseason and finished the year with an 11-13 record in conference play. The squad ranked No. 9 in the A-10 this season, one spot away from qualifying for the A-10 tournament.
