Defending Champion Trinity Baseball Ranked Among Nation's Best As Title Defense Begins
Bantams Bayer And Killeen Take Pre-Season All-American Honors
Hartford, Conn., Mar. 14, 2009 - The Trinity College baseball team is ranked No. 2 in the D3Baseball.com National Poll and No. 6 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division III National Poll, as the Bantams head to Orlando, Fla. to begin the 2009 season with 10 games in the Russmatt Central Florida Invitational. Trinity will open play against the University of Massachusetts-Boston on Saturday, March 14 with a 10:30 a.m. doubleheader. Junior RHP Jeremiah Bayer (Greenfield, Mass.) and senior co-captain C Sean Killeen (Greenfield, Mass.) have each been selected to the 2009 D3Baseball.com Pre-Season All-American Team.
The Bantams, coached by Bill Decker (19th season), reached unprecedented heights last spring with a record-breaking, won-loss mark of 45-1 (the best-ever winning percentage in NCAA baseball history at .978) including a second New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship title, a third NCAA Division III Regional Championship crown, and the first NCAA Division III National Team Championship title in College history in any sport. The Bantams breezed through the NESCAC East Division with a 12-0 mark and the regular season with a 34-0 record, and broke the Division III record for fastest start and longest winning streak with 44 wins to start the season. Trinity recovered from its first loss of the year, 4-3, to Johns Hopkins on the final day of the Division III World Series to score two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a national title-clinching, 5-4 triumph over Johns Hopkins in the finals. Trinity finished ranked No. 1 in both the 2008 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), and D3Baseball.com National Polls.
Bayer went 9-0 with a 1.33 ERA (1st in NESCAC, 5th in nation) and one save, 71 strikeouts (3rd in NESCAC) against 17 walks, and 55 hits allowed in 17 games (nine starts) and 81 innings pitched in 2008. He earned All-American, All-New England, All-ECAC, and All-NESCAC honors. A transfer last season from Division I Vermont, Bayer is a graduate of Deerfield Academy. He majors in economics at Trinity and is the son of Cindy and Fred Bayer.
Killeen, an All-New England and All-ECAC honoree a year ago, a two-time All-NESCAC selection and the 2006 NESCAC Rookie of the Year, started all 46 games behind the plate for the Bantams last spring. He finished second on the team and ninth in the league in batting with a .378 average (62-164, 2nd on team and in NESCAC in hits) with 12 doubles (tied for team lead), four triples, seven homers, a team-high 57 runs (1st in NESCAC, 24th in nation), and 43 RBI (3rd on team). He led the team in walks (30, tied College record) and on-base percentage (.498) and threw out 10 out of 36 potential basestealers. Killeen was also selected to the NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team. A graduate of Greenfield High School, Killeen is majoring in economics at Trinity. He is the son of Jody and Jim Killeen.
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