W&J’s Kalinski, Mountain get PAC’s top honors
Washington & Jefferson senior catcher Peter Kalinski and 20th year head coach Jeff Mountain were voted Player of the Year and Coach of the Year respectively when the Presidents’ Athletic Conference announced its baseball award winners and all-conference teams Tuesday.
W&J had 10 players on the All-PAC teams, which were voted upon by the league’s 10 head coaches.
Joining Kalinski on the first team were utility man Tyler Horvat, pitcher Jameson Campbell, pitcher Henry Litman, third baseman Nate Rush, outfielder Roman Samson and outfielder Evan Sante.
W&J closer Dante DiMatteo received second team honors while second baseman Jason Gregovits and shortstop Jacob LaDuca received honorable mention.
Kalinski, a two-time first team All-PAC selection, is W&J’s ninth player of the year and seventh since 2005.
In 42 games (39 starts), Kalinski is hitting .372 with six doubles, four home runs, 38 RBI and 39 runs. His runs are tied for the fourth-most in the league, while his batting average, on-base percentage (.475) and RBI all rank fifth in the PAC. Kalinski has been terrific in run-producing situations, hitting .419 with runners in scoring position with 15 two-out RBI. He also ranks eighth in NCAA Division III with five sacrifice flies.
The coach of the year honor is Mountain’s 10th. He led W&J to the top seed in this year’s PAC tournament and the program’s third-straight league title. It was the 14th conference championship in program history and 10th won by W&J under Mountain.
Grove City’s Tate Ostrowski was named the PAC Pitcher of the Year and Wolverines utility player Mally Kilbane was selected the Newcomer of the year.
Waynesburg did not have a player chosen to the first team. Yellow Jackets freshman utility man Alec Englemore was named to the second team.