May 18, 2010

Contact B-CU SID Mark Johnson (386) 481-2206 -

Wildcats' Peter O'Brien Named 2010 MEAC Player of Year; 10 Players Honored Overall

Coach Mervyl Melendez Earns 8th MEAC Coach of the Year Award

B-CU sophomore catcher Peter O'Brien (Miami Gardens, Fla./Braddock High School) was named the MEAC Conference Player of the Year with the MEAC announcing its 2010 honor squad before the post-season championship starts Thursday in Daytona Beach.

O'Brien has had a record-setting sophomore season entering the MEAC Tournament hitting .385 with 19 home runs (tied for 7th in the NCAA), 53 RBI playing in all 52 games for the 32-20 Wildcats. Bethune-Cookman was 18-0 in the MEAC regular season for the first time in school history (B-CU was 15-0 in 2006) and will be competing for its fifth straight MEAC title (and 10 in the last 11 years) this weekend at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

The Wildcats open defense of their title Thursday, 2 p.m. vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore in the opening round. The opening game of the tournament is 10 a.m. Thursday with #2 seed North Carolina A&T playing #5 seed Coppin State.

B-CU Head Coach Mervyl Melendez was named the MEAC Coach of the Year for the fifth straight time and 8th award in his 11 seasons as field boss.

Six B-CU First Team All-MEAC Players; Four On All-AMEAC Second Team

Along with Peter O'Brien who was named first team catcher, B-CU players LHP Juan Perez, 1B Ryan Durrence, OF DJ Leonard, and DH Jeremy Davis were picked to the first team All-MEAC team

Freshman RHP Juan Perez, OF Justin Hoyte, and OF Matt Wright were named to the second team All-MEAC honor squad.

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