(Posted May 31, 2005)

Huntingdon, PA - Juniata College designated hitter Walt Goedkoop (Manheim Township/Lancaster) has been selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America College Division Baseball Team as well as earning a spot on the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings Mid-Atlantic All-Region Team. Goedkoop earned third-team recognition on both teams as a designated hitter. The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team is made up of three teams, with 11 players per team. Each team consists of two pitchers, a catcher, four infielders, three outfielders and a designated hitter. The All-Region Team features three teams of 15 players each. Goedkoop is the only player from a Commonwealth Conference team to earn a spot on the Academic All-America Team and is the first All-Region player Juniata has had in the past five seasons.

Goedkoop enjoyed a stellar offensive season during his junior campaign en route to claiming the first All-Region honors of his career. He captured first-team All-Commonwealth Conference recognition for the second-consecutive season as he led Juniata in both home runs and RBI. He belted eight homers on the season and established a new single-season Juniata record with 49 RBI. His RBI total was tops in the conference as he finished with 15 more RBI than his nearest competitor. He was second in the conference in home runs and also ranked in the top-10 in the Commonwealth in slugging percentage, runs, on-base percentage, hits, doubles, total bases and walks. He finished second for the Eagles with a .336 batting average, and pounded out 45 hits to also rank second on the team. His 34 runs scored ranked him third amongst Juniata players while he also led the team in slugging percentage. Goedkoop was selected as the Commonwealth Conference baseball player of the week on two separate occasions on the season.

Goedkoop holds the single-season Juniata records for RBI and doubles in a season, and ranks second all-time with 31 career two-baggers. He is currently fourth on the career RBI charts with 84 runs driven in. His 11 career homers ranks him seventh in school history, and his 120 hits are good for 10th place all-time. Goedkoop has achieved a career batting average of .323 in his three seasons, and has played and started each of Juniata's 83 games over the past two seasons.

Along with his exploits on the field, Goedkoop closed his junior year with a cumulative grade point average of 3.814 on a 4.0 scale. He has a POE in early childhood and elementary education. Goedkoop has been named to the MASCAC Academic Honor Roll on two occasions, and has earned Dean's List recognition in each of his six semesters.

Goedkoop helped Juniata to a program-record 25 wins in 2005 as the Eagles closed the year with a 25-17 record. The Blue and Gold also earned a berth in the Commonwealth Conference postseason for the second-consecutive year.

The ESPN The Magazine College Division Baseball Team is selected by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). All First-Team Academic All-District selections from each of the eight regions are eligible for the national team. The ABCA/Rawlings All-Region team is selected by the head coaches from the Mid-Atlantic Region.

###

Our readers respond...

Be the first to provide a response.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.