Binko first to capture top honor

Brittney Binko, a junior first baseman for the Lake Erie College (Painesville) softball team from Warren JFK High, has been selected as Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference co-player of the year.

It marked the first time that a Lake Erie player was selected to that top AMCC honor in the Storm’s 11 seasons in the league.

And actually it was a double first-time achievement of sorts because Lake Erie’s freshman third baseman, Katie Puda (Euclid), was named AMCC newcomer of the year.

Binko led the Storm in batting (.422), on base percentage (.460) and RBIs (48), and was second in hits (54), slugging percentage (.680) and homers (9).

Lake Erie’s 22-20 overall record marked only the second time that the Storm has won 20-plus games in one season, and the Storm qualified for the East Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.

In addition, Lake Erie’s 15-3 AMCC record was the team’s best in the league.

Marietta’s Cimino All-OAC first team

Cameron Cimino, a junior third baseman for the Marietta College baseball team from Boardman High, has been selected to the All-Ohio Athletic Conference first team.

He also was was selected to the 2008 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings NCAA Division III All-Region second team.

Cimino led Marietta in eight statistical categories, including walks (26), which also tied for No. 2 in the OAC. He also led the Pioneers in slugging percentage (.622), which ranked No. 4 in the OAC;

Cimino’s other No. 1 team rankings: RBIs (39), doubles (11), triples (3) and walks (26) and total bases (79), while he tied for the lead in hits (47) and batted .370 (47-for-127).

Hiram’s Dobos, Street All-NCAC selections

Two Hiram College baseball players from Howland High — junior designated hitter Craig Dobos and sophomore catcher Justin Street — have been selected to the All-North Coast Athletic Conference team.

Dobos was picked to the second team after making honorable mention in 2007, while Street was an honorable mention his year.

Dobos started all 34 games this season and was Hiram’s second-leading hitter with a .351 bating average (49-for-114). He led the team in RBIs (32), total bases (61) and tied for No. 1 in homers (4), and was 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts.

Street played in 29 games, starting 27, and had nine doubles to rank No. 2 on the team and a .338 batting average (26-for-77) to rank No. 4.

On defense as a catcher, Street had a .969 fielding percentage with 140 putouts and 18 assists.

Ashland’s Rowland All-GLIAC pick again

Tyson Rowland, a junior outfielder for the Ashland University baseball team from Warren Harding, has been named to the All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team for the second straight year, this time as an honorable mention.

In 2007, Rowland made the second team and also won a Gold Glove award for defensive excellence.

Rowland ranked No. 2 in the GLIAC this season in stolen bases with 27. He also was second for Ashland in walks (33) and third in runs (49), while batting .302 (57-for-189) with 23 RBIs and eight doubles.

XJohn Kovach writes about college athletics for The Vindicator. Write to him at kovach@vindy.com.