May 19, 2003

Salem, Va. - Wake Forest junior third baseman Jamie D'Antona was named as the 2003 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year to headline the All-ACC teams, the conference announced on Monday night.

D'Antona was joined on the first team by Demon Deacon teammates junior right-handed pitcher Kyle Sleeth and senior center fielder Adam Bourassa. Senior outfielder Ryan Johnson was named to the second team.

D'Antona, a native of Trumbull, Conn., finished the regular season as the conference leader in home runs with 21 and runs batted in with 79. Those marks rank in the top three nationally. He has .368 batting average and earlier this year, became the school's all-time home run leader.

D'Antona becomes the fourth Wake Forest player to earn ACC Player of the Year following Kenny Baker in 1977 and Brick Smith in 1981. Bill Merrifield won the award in 1982 and 1983.

Bourassa, Johnson and Sleeth earn All-ACC honors for the second consecutive year. All three were on the first team in 2002.

Bourassa ended the regular season with a .342 batting average, three home runs and 28 runs batted in with 29 stolen bases. He was rated in the preseason as the ACC's best defensive outfielder by Baseball America.

Johnson enters the postseason as the ACC's second leading hitter with a .382 average. He has eight home runs and 50 RBI.

Sleeth, a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, has a 7-2 record with 2.76 earned run average. He has recorded 97 strikeouts in 88 innings.

NC State's Elliot Avent was named ACC Coach of the Year and Georgia Tech's Micah Owings was selected as the Rookie of the Year.

Wake Forest opens the ACC Tournament on Wednesday afternoon against Georgia Tech at 5:00 p.m.