Four Big Green baseball players garnered All-Ivy honors earlier this month. William Bashelor '07 was named to the first team, while teammates Josh Bailey '05, Jeff Speights '05 and Brian Zurhellen '05 were honorable mention All-Ivy selections.Bashelor was one of only 13 players to earn first-team honors and was a second-team selection as a freshman.
"It's really an honor. But individual awards aren't really what are important to me, it's more about the performance of the team as a whole," Bashelor said.
Bashelor led Dartmouth in batting average, hits and slugging. He also set a school record with 30 steals on 33 attempts, good enough for fourth in Division I in steals per game. At Wednesday's baseball team banquet, he was awarded the team MVP and Best Offensive Player awards.
"Bashelor had an outstanding season and deserved to make all-league. He played great ball all year and made major contributions to our team," Speights said.
Bashelor was the team's starting center fielder for the second straight year and fielded 81 of 82 chances in the field this spring. The sophomore also notched a 16-game hitting streak this year and reached base in 31 of 34 games. His .457 batting average with runners in scoring position led the team, and he also collected 15 multi-hit games.
"Will Bashelor had an exceptional year and made a huge jump this year as an offensive player. He is a very versatile player and could have easily been a first-team catcher as well as a first-team baseman," head coach Bob Whelan said.
Bailey was named a second-team player last spring and played every inning for the Big Green at second base this year. He raised his batting average significantly in his last three collegiate games by going 9-for-15.
Speights was an honorable mention last spring. The clutch first baseman hit .321 with one home run and collected team highs of 14 doubles and 33 RBIs.
"Being named honorable mention was quite an honor for me. I wasn't quite expecting to get any award for this season, so it was a nice compliment that other coaches in the Ivy League recognized what I had accomplished this year," Speights said.
"Speights contributed immensely to our team, both offensively and defensively. It's been a true pleasure to take the field with him for the last four years," Zurhellen said.
The hardworking Zurhellen was a second-team selection as a sophomore and was named an honorable mention last season. A versatile player who is a solid catcher, he committed only one error on 189 chances and caught seven runners stealing.
"It's somewhat of an honor that I was recognized as honorable mention," Zurhellen said. "However, in my opinion, based on my lofty preseason goals, anything that was not first team is a disappointment for me."
Zurhellen batted .297 with 11 doubles and three homers, walking 16 times and being hit 11 times by a pitch, contributing to his team-best .438 on-base percentage.
