Brock baseball receives three OUA honours, Valeriote named OUA Top Hitter

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - Three members of the Brock University baseball team have been named to the 2011 OUA All-Star team. Sophomore Shaun Valeriote (Guelph, Ont.) also received the OUA Top Hitter Award for the second consecutive year after his triple crown season.

Valeriote, senior Matt Kissel (Whitby, Ont.) and rookie Michael Cardinale (Mississauga, Ont.) were all selected to the OUA All-Star Team.

During the 2011 OUA regular season, Valeriote played in all 21 regular season games, leading the league in home runs (5), RBI (20), and batting average (.460) 29-for-63. He also led the league in runs scored (27) and stolen bases (14). He recorded a hit in 17 of 21 games including 10 multiple hit peformances.

In two seasons with the Badgers, Valeriote has already become one of the OUA's all-time top hitters with a .480 career average going 59-for-123, with 34 RBI, 41 runs scored, nine doubles, five home runs and 23 stolen bases.

Kissel had a breakout season in 2011 finishing with a career best .563 average going 18-for-32 with three doubles, one home run, 13 RBI and nine runs scored. He also made just two errors at second base earning him OUA All-Star honours.

In his first season at Brock, Cardinale did it all. He played in all 21 regular season contests finishing 8th in OUA batting with a .368 average going 25-for-68 with seven doubles, one home run, 16 RBI, 22 runs scored and 14 walks. He was named the OUA's top reliever finishing with a 2.25 ERA registering 13 strikeouts over eight innings of work, highlighted by an OUA leading five saves in six appearances.