Landmark Baseball And Softball Players Earn Academic Honors

MADISON, N.J. - Four members of Landmark baseball and softball programs have been recognized for their successes on the field and in the classroom by earning spots on the 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Teams. Three softball players and one baseball performer were honored with the selections.

Moravian College senior Erica Klepeisz was a first-team choice for the District II College Division softball team. Susquehanna University senior infielder Laurie Blaszka and Juniata College infielder Tara Carl both were named to the third team. On the baseball side The University of Scranton sophomore outfielder Chris Stallone was a first-team selection. As first team choices Klepeisz and Stallone will both go on the ballot for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Teams.

Klepeisz, who has a 3.60 GPA and is majoring in elementary education and history, was named to the Landmark All-Conference First Team for a second straight year. Klepeisz, who earned a spot on the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-East Region Second Team in 2006 and 2007 as well, is hitting .364 with 43 hits in 118 at-bats to go with 24 runs, 19 RBIs, four doubles, three triples, two homers, a .500 slugging percentage, ten walks and three stolen bases. Klepeisz, who moved into a tie for second in school history with 191 career hits, has added 53 putouts and four assists in 58 chances while playing left and center fields during the season.

After missing her freshman season due to an injury Blaszka returned to earn the team's Rookie of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year awards the next season. In 2009, she broke the school record for career homeruns while also placing second in school history in single-season homers. Blaszka ranks in the top five in the Landmark this season in four offensive categories, including homeruns and runs batted in. She led the Crusaders in RBI and times hit by a pitch. She sports a 3.57 grade point average as a mathematics-secondary education major at Susquehanna.

Carl has started all 37 games this season for the Eagles at third base, and she is third on the team in batting, fourth in the Landmark Conference, with a .407 average. She also leads Juniata with 38 runs scored, and ranks third among team RBI leaders with 19. Carl earned First team All-Landmark Conference honors earlier this week. Academically, Carl is studying earth and space science at Juniata.

Stallone, who holds a 3.95 cumulative grade point average in business administration, set University of Scranton single-season records for most hits (65) and runs scored (59) this past season. In addition, his .436 batting average was the fifth highest in school history. He hit safely in 32 of 37 games and had 22 multi-hit games, including a five-hit performance in a 19-16 loss to Wilkes University on March 25 at Connell Park in Scranton. Stallone led the Landmark Conference in runs scored (59), sacrifice bunts (6), stolen bases and attempts (34-for-36), and tied for the league lead in hits (65). He was also second in batting average (.436), fifth in total plate appearances (172) and at-bats (149), and sixth in on-base percentage (.494).

Story provided by Juniata, Moravian, Scranton & Susquehanna Sports Information