June 11, 2009
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -
Two days after being selected No. 2 overall in the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, North Carolina junior first baseman Dustin Ackley was honored Thursday as the Rivals.com National Player of the Year. Ackley is the fourth Tar Heel to earn a national player of the year award, joining Dave Lemonds (1968), B.J. Surhoff (1985) and Andrew Miller (2006).
Ackley, who was drafted Tuesday by the Seattle Mariners, leads the Atlantic Coast Conference with 103 hits, 22 home runs and a .412 average. He also tops the league in slugging and with a UNC single-season school record 194 total bases. Ackley also ranks fourth on the Tar Heels' single-season average list, tied for eighth in runs (73), sixth in hits, tied for third in home runs, third in extra-base hits (43), 10th in RBI (70) and tied for sixth in walks (50).
This season, Collegiate Baseball newspaper, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and now Rivals.com have recognized Ackley as a first-team All-America.
The first three-time All-America in school history, Ackley has become Carolina's career record holder in batting average (.410), hits (338), runs (225) and total bases (535) in just three seasons. The Walnut Cove, N.C., native has started all 204 games in his career and is a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award and a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy.
In UNC history, Ackley also ranks seventh in at-bats (824), fifth in doubles (58), tied for fourth in triples (11), tied for eighth in home runs (39), second in extra-base hits (108), fourth in RBI (195) and third in walks (133). He owns 105 career multi-hit games in 204 chances.
NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Dustin Ackley (North Carolina)
NATIONAL PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Stephen Strasburg (San Diego State)
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Josh Spence (Arizona State)
RIVALS.COM ALL-AMERICA TEAM:
C Griffin Benedict (Georgia Southern)
1B Dustin Ackley (North Carolina)
2B Derek McCallum (Minnesota)
SS Bryan Marquez (New Mexico State)
3B Tommy Mendonca (Fresno State)
OF Jason Kipnis (Arizona State)
OF Jarrett Parker (Virginia)
OF Kent Matthes (Alabama)
DH Rich Poythress (Georgia)
UT Bryce Brentz (Middle Tennessee State)
SP Mike Leake (Arizona State)
SP A.J. Morris (Kansas State)
SP Stephen Strasburg (San Diego State)
SP Louis Coleman (LSU)
RP Kyle Bellamy (Miami, Fla.)
RP Austin Wood (Texas)
