June 22, 2006

Garden City, N.Y. - Senior second baseman/designated hitter Brian Rath (Wantagh, NY), a physical education major at Adelphi University, has been named the 2006 NYCAC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as voted by the league's coaches. Rath, who also won the honor in 2005, has maintained a 3.889 grade point average in addition to an impressive athletic resume.

Rath was a Third-Team All-NYCAC selection this spring, finishing with a .374 batting average (sixth in the NYCAC) to go along with 26 RBI¡¦s, and was even more impressive in Conference action, hitting .414 to place second in the league. In 2005, Rath was named an Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League All-Star. While attending Dowling College in 2004, he was chosen First-Team All NYCAC and Second-Team All Northeast Region in addition to being selected to the NCAA Northeast Regional All-Tournament Team.

"Excelling in academics and in athletics is characteristic of many NYCAC Student-Athletes," said Ed Manetta, NYCAC Commissioner. "Rath has shown great ability and versatility on the field and has had tremendous success in the classroom as well."

A number of NYCAC baseball student-athletes demonstrated excellence in class and on the field during the 2006 season. The NYCAC 2006 Baseball Honor Roll includes: Ryan Aiken, University of New Haven, junior; Dennis Conroy, Molloy College, senior; Tom Haslacher, St. Thomas Aquinas College, junior; Kevin Reese, Dowling College, sophomore; and Tim Sylvester, C.W. Post, sophomore.