June 28, 2001

The final national awards have arrived for Notre Dame’s Aaron Heilman (Logansport, Ind.), with the senior righthander becoming a consensus first team All-American after earning that honor from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).

Heilman earlier was named a first team All-America by Baseball America (BA) magazine, Collegiate Baseball (CB) magazine, USA Today Baseball Weekly, the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and The Sporting News. He also was one of nine players nationwide named player of the year for his respective district, as selected by the NCBWA.

Heilman was a leading votegetter for the major national player-of-the-year awards and was one of just six starting players who were named a first team All-American (at the same position) by the ABCA, BA, CB and USA Today. The others include two pitchers-USC’s Mark Prior (the consensus player of the year) and Middle Tennessee’s Dewon Brazelton-plus Baylor catcher Kelly Shoppach, Tennessee shortstop Chris Burke and Florida State outfielder John-Ford Griffin.

The top votegetters for national player-of-the-year honors in 2001 included the pitching trio of Prior, Heilman and Brazelton, plus Burke and Kent State’s John VanBenschoten (a first baseman/pitcher).

Heilman also was named to the ABCA All-Mideast Region team while two Irish players-junior centerfielder Steve Stanley and senior righthander Danny Tamayo-were ABCA second team all-region selections.

The 17th all-time Notre Dame student-athlete to be a four-year All-American in the same sport and just the fifth to do so in a team-oriented sport, Heilman closes his career with a total of 10 All-America awards from the four major organizations (no other ND player has more than three).

Heilman-who was selected by the New York Mets with the 18th overall pick of the 2001 Major League Draft-turned in a dominating 2001 season that included repeating as BIG EAST Conference pitcher of the year and ranking as the nation’s only unbeaten pitcher with more than 13 wins (15-0, second overall in wins) while his 1.74 earned-run average ranked sixth nationwide.

He totaled 111 strikeouts in 114 innings-ranking third in the ND recordbook for season Ks, behind his 118 in both 1999 and 2000-while allowing just 31 walks and 70 hits, which factors out to a walks-plus-hits average of 8.0 per nine innings. Heilman’s 15 starts in 2001 included 12 complete games and three shutouts while his .173 opponent batting avg. included just three home runs allowed and a .220 opponent slugging pct.

He closed his career with wins in 25 of his final 26 decisions and is one of 15 all-time Division I players to reach 40 wins (43-7) and 400 Ks (425), plus a 2.49 career ERA that ranks 2nd in Notre Dame history and best since 1961.

AMERICAN BASEBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION 2001 ALL-AMERICA TEAMS

FIRST TEAM

C - Kelly Shoppach, Baylor, Jr. (.397, 12 HR, 69 RBI, .998 fielding)1B- John VanBenschoten, Kent State, Jr. (.440, 31 HR, 84 RBI)2B - Chris O'Riordan, Stanford, Jr. (.367, 11 HR, 65 RBI, .984 fielding)SS - Chris Burke, Tennessee, Jr. (.439, 18 HR, 47 RBI, 40 SB)3B - Jake Gautreau, Tulane, Jr. (.359, 20 HR, 84 RBI)OF - Ryan Brunner, Northern Iowa, Sr. (.377, 25 HR, 82 RBI)OF - John Cole, Nebraska,  Jr. (.421, 9 HR, 55 RBI, 27 SB)OF - John-Ford Griffin, Florida State, Jr. (.458, 18 HR, 68 RBI)OF - Jason Law, Monmouth, Jr. (.436, 16 HR, 67 RBI)DH - Scott Henley, Georgia Southern, Sr. (.397, 16 HR, 83 RBI)UTIL - Cory Sullivan, Wake Forest, Sr., OF/LHP (.392, 12 HR, 7-0, 3.52 ERA)RHP - Dewon Brazelton, Middle Tenn., Jr. (13-1, 1.44 ERA, 148 Ks, 119 IP)RHP - Aaron Heilman, Notre Dame, Sr. (15-0, 1.74 ERA, 111 Ks, 114 IP)RHP  - Mark Prior, Southern California, Jr. (14-1, 1.50 ERA, 189 Ks, 131.2 IP)RHP - Kirk Saarloos, CS Fullerton, Sr. (14-2, 2.22 ERA, 4 SV, 111 Ks, 137.2IP)REL - Lee Gronkiewicz, So. Carolina, Sr. (1-1, 16 SV, 1.50 ERA)

SECOND TEAM

C - Casey Myers, Arizona State, Sr (.395, 7 HR, 69 RBI)1B - Aaron Clark, Alabama, Sr. (.335, 20 HR, 71 RBI)1B - Dan Johnson, Nebraska, Sr. (.364, 24 HR, 84 RBI)2B - Ryan Kyes, Ohio Univ., Sr. (.393, 12 HR, 55 RBI)2B - Dan Uggla, Memphis, Jr. (.379, 18 HR, 67 RBI)SS - Josh LaBandeira, Fresno St., Sr. (.367, 15 HR, 68 RBI)SS - Javy Rodriguez, Miami (Fla.), Jr. (.388, 5 HR, 51 RBI, 57 SB)3B - Jeff Baker, Clemson, So. (.376, 22 HR, 69 RBI)3B - William Core, La.-Monroe, Sr. (.408, 12 HR, 56 RBI)OF - Anthony Bocchino, Marist, Jr. (.430, 7 HR, 64 RBI)OF - Matt Davis, Va. Commonwealth, Jr. (.403, 2 HR, 23 RBI, 46 SB)OF - Greg Dobbs, Oklahoma, Sr. (.428, 10 HR, 62 RBI)OF - Shelley Duncan, Arizona, Jr. (.336, 24 HR, 78 RBI)OF - Jason Knoedler, Miami (Ohio), Jr. (.402, 17 HR, 50 RBI)DH - Greg Graham, Western Michigan, Jr. (.406, 14 HR, 43 RBI)LHP - Willie Collazo, Fla. Intern'l, Sr. (13-0, 2.86 ERA, 145 Ks, 135 IP)RHP - Shane Komine, Nebraska, Jr. (13-1, 3.53 ERA, 136 Ks, 114.2 IP)LHP - Noah Lowry, Pepperdine, Jr. (14-1, 1.51 ERA, 137 Ks, 113.1 IP)RHP - Todd Pennington, SE Misssouri, Jr. I12-2, 1.33 ERA, 121 Ks, 95 IP)RHP - Justin Pope, Central Florida, Jr. (14-1, 1.34 ERA, 150 Ks, 114 IP)REL - Dave Bush, Wake Forest, Jr. (4-3, 15 SV, 2.69 ERA)UTIL - Paul Henry, Ball State, So., SS/RHP (.420, 11 HR, 60 RBI, 8 SV)

THIRD TEAM

C - Bryan Prince, Georgia Tech, Sr. (.369, 5 HR, 59 RBI)C - Alex Trezza, Stony Brook, Jr. (.337, 23 HR, 68 RBI)1B - Kevin Mitchell, McNeese St., Sr. (.415, 19 HR, 64 RBI)1B - Jared Pitney, Pepperdine, Sr. (.392, 12 HR, 61 RBI)2B - Derin McMains, Ark.-Little Rock, Sr. (.379, 11 HR, 58 RBI)2B - Andrew Salvo, Delaware, Sr. (.370, 6 HR, 38 RBI)SS - Brendan Harris, William & Mary, Jr. (.388, 15 HR, 63 RBI)SS - Mike LaBarbera, Rhode Island, Sr. (.404, 2 HR, 44 RBI, 35 SB)3B - Jack Hannahan, Minnesota, Jr. (.372, 15 HR, 63 RBI)3B - Scott Mardin, Delaware St., So. (.432, 16 HR, 77 RBI)OF - Brian Barre, USC, Jr. (.343, 12 HR, 46 RBI)OF - Bob Malek, Michigan St., So. (.427, 4 HR, 42 RBI)OF - Chris May, Pennsylvania, Sr. (.455, 10 HR, 55 RBI)OF - Bill McCarthy, Rutgers, Jr. (.418, 6 HR, 61 RBI)OF - Donovan Minero, Western Carolina, Hr. (.379, 17 HR, 74 RBI)DH - Mike Saunches, Illinois St., So. (.363, 13 HR, 68 RBI)RHP - Jason Arnold, Central Florida, Sr. (13-2, 1.84 ERA, 134 Ks, 107 IP)LHP - Sam Narron, East Carolina, So. (11-1, 2.75 ERA, 57 Ks, 85 IP)RHP - Steve Reba, Clemson, Jr. (11-3, 2.26 ERA, 91 Ks, 95.2 IP)RHP - Michael Rogers, Oral Roberts, Jr. (14-1, 2.37 ERA, 137 Ks, 121.1 IP)REL - Chad Cordero, CS Fullerton, Fr. (3-3, 13 SV, 1.59 ERA)UTIL - Tim Bittner, Marist, Jr., DH/LHP (.397, 7-3, 3.47 ERA, 79 Ks, 80.1 IP)

2001 District Players of the Year
as selected by the National College Baseball Writers of America

District I  P/1B Paul Kirkby (Sr., St. Joseph's, River Vale, N.J.)District II     OF Billy McCarthy (Jr., Rutgers, Washington Township, N.J.)District III    SS Chris Burke (Jr., Tennessee, Louisville, Ky.)District IV     3B Jeff Baker (Soph. Clemson, Woodbridge, Va.)District V  P Aaron Heilman (Sr., Notre Dame, Logansport, Ind.)District VI     1B Dan Johnson (Sr., Nebraska, Coon Rapids, Minn.)District VII    3B Jake Gautreau (Jr., Tulane, McAllen, Texas)District VIII   P Nate Fernley (Sr., BYU, Long Beach, Calif.)District IX     P Mark Prior (Jr., USC, Bonita, Calif.)
ABCA 2001 ALL-MIDEAST REGION TEAM

First TeamC - Mitch Maier (Toledo)1B - John VanBenschoten (Kent State)2B - Ryan Keyes (Ohio Univ.)SS - Paul Henry (Ball State)3B - Jack Hannahan (Minnesota)OF - Jason Knoedler (Miami), Bob Malek (Michigan State), Andrew See (OhioUniv.)DH - Greg Graham (Western Michigan)P - Bryan Bullington (Ball State), Andy Dickinson (Illinois), Aaron Heilman(Notre Dame)REL - Gavin Gillette (Central Michigan)

Second Team

C - Chris Netwall (Penn State)1B - Nick Swisher (Ohio State)2B - Scott Gillitzer (Wisconsin-Milwaukee)SS - Mike Duursma (Purdue)3B - Kevin Youklis (Cincinnati)OF - Mike Check (Ohio State), Lee Morrison (Bowling Green), Steve Stanley(Notre Dame)DH - Doug Deeds (Ohio State)P - Chris Leonard (Miami), Denny McGee (Ohio Univ.), Danny Tamayo (Notre Dame)REL - Cory Cox (Ohio State)