The Big Green had the largest presence on this year's First Team All-Ivy Baseball roster as four Dartmouth players were honored in the 1997 year-end coaches' pick, announced yesterday afternoon.
Junior Dan Godfrey was named as the league's top reliever, and Eric Anderson '99 was selected as the Ancient Eight's best catcher, while freshman Brian Nickerson and sophomore Mike Conway were named the top infielders in the shortstop and third-base positions, respectively.
In all, Dartmouth earned eight mentions in the 1997 All-Ivy selections as outfielder Andrew Spencer '97 earned Second-Team honors, while Mike Armstrong '97 was named Honorable-Mention in the second-base position, and Aaron Meyer '00 took Honorable-Mention as Dartmouth's DH.
Nickerson rounded out Dartmouth's billing on the league's elite roster as he was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year -- an honor somewhat dwarfed by his concurrent appearance on the Ivy's First-Team.
Mike Conway '99 was the league's only unanimous First-Team pick as he rifled a sensational 61 hits on the season. He was also one of the league's top batters, hitting .399, including 12 doubles.
The only Big Green player who had better success at the plate this season was Nickerson , who became the first Dartmouth player to earn the league's Rookie of the Year award. The freshman bettered Conway's 61 hits by two as he socked 63 hits in his debut season.
Nickerson also led the league in overall batting with a .463 average. His 63 hits shattered Bobby Jones's '89 old mark of 55.
During the season picks, Nickerson was named Rookie of the Week in the March 25 selection and was named Ivy League Player of the Week three weeks later in the April 15 selection.
This year, First-Team All-Ivy pick Godfrey was the Big Green's ace from the bullpen as he ended with a 6-2 record and four saves in 17 appearances.
Meanwhile, Anderson, who was also a First-Team pick, was Dartmouth's power at the plate, both on offense and defense as he batted .300 with five doubles and 25 RBI on the season while acting as the Big Green's backstop behind the plate.
The Big Green ended their season 22-16 overall, 11-9 Ivy -- good enough for third place in the Ivy League's Red Rolfe Division behind Harvard and Yale.
