APPLETON - UW-Stevens Point junior shortstop
Eric Fritz (Custer/SPASH) has been named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-American Third Team while sophomore third baseman
Justin Jirschele (Clintonville, WI/Clintonville) has been named to the Gold Glove All-America Team. Head coach
Pat Bloom was also named the Midwest Region Coach of the Year.
All-American Team
An All-Midwest Region honoree, the shortstop was named the WIAC's Position Player of the Year as he led the conference in batting average (.397), hits (91), doubles (18), total bases (138) and at bats (229). He also led the Pointers in, runs (62), triples (4), steals (8), assists (181) and tied for the team lead with 52 games started. He also had a team-high 17 game hitting streak during in the season. Fritz also holds the record for most hits in a season, ranks second for most at bats in a season and finished tied for second in most triples in a season.
Jirschele, a third team All-Region honoree, tied with Fritz for the most appearances by any Pointer player this season, playing in all 52 games, starting 51. He hit .319 in 207 at-bats, collecting 66 hits including 15 doubles and 65 RBI. He went deep four times and slugged .454. He committed only seven errors at the hot corner in his first year after transferring to UW-Stevens Point.
Bloom, in his seventh season at the helm of the Pointers, led the team to 34 victories, tied for the fourth most in program history. His team set records for most hits, second-most runs scored, third-most doubles and second-most RBI's in a season in 2010 as his team advanced to the College World Series for the fourth time, the third under his guidance. The Pointers received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament after seeing their streak of five straight WIAC Tournament Championships come to and end, but the Pointers won the regional crown, defeating UW-Whitewater in Whitewater to earn the Regional Championship crown. This is the third Midwest Region Coach of the Year award for Bloom, who won the award in 2006 & 2007.
