Four Jackets Named to HCAC's Baseball Watch List

GREENWOOD, Ind.  --  With the 2008 baseball season just around the corner, the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference recently announced its list of players to watch. Defiances Tim Pitro, David Jackson, Trey Harris and Brad Timofeev were among the 35 players from around the league to be highlighted.

All four were selected as All-HCAC performers one year ago after combining to hit .340 as a group and contributing one half of DCs runs batted in. Pitro, Jackson, Harris and Timofeev each batted over .325 to pace the Yellow Jacket lineup and posted a stout .832 OPS as a unit.

Pitro was arguably the top offensive threat for Defiance during his rookie campaign, leading the Jackets with a .378 batting average, 20 runs, 45 hits, three home runs, 27 runs batted in, 60 total bases, a .504 slugging percentage and a .444 on-base clip. The Gahanna, Ohio, native was named as the HCAC Freshman of the Year after finishing the season with the eighth-highest average in the conference. Pitro also made his mark on the mound for DC, where he earned four saves as the teams closer. The four saves rate as the third-best, single-season total in school history.                             

Jackson will return for his senior year looking to pick up where he left on in 2007. The Second-Team All-HCAC selection ended the season by posting a .536 batting average and a .786 slugging percentage over DCs final eight games. Jackson finished with new career highs in multiple statistics including batting average, hits and total at bats. Jacksons .345 average and .437 slugging were the second best marks on the squad.

Harris will return for his sophomore year after receiving Honorable Mention All-HCAC honors one year ago. The speedy outfielder served as a spark plug for the Yellow Jacket lineup with his .327 average and 14 stolen bases. Harris struggled out of the gates, hitting just .207 through his first 11 collegiate games, before finding his stroke over the remainder of the season. Harris had at least one hit in 21 of his final 24 contests, hitting a robust .369 over that stretch.

Timofeev was also named Honorable Mention All-HCAC after joining the Yellow Jackets for his sophomore season. The Oregon, Ohio, native was one of DCs top performers at the plate as well as on the mound, while also anchoring the Purple and Gold infield from his third base position. Timofeev was fourth on the team with a .326 average and posted a .402 on-base percentage for the second-best clip on the team. He was equally impressive on the mound, with a 3-4 record and 4.24 ERA in over 40 innings of work. Among Timofeevs highlights was being named as the HCAC Pitcher of the Week after tossing a one hitter and going 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA in 14 innings during DCs Florida trip.

Defiance will be hoping to build on a 12-win season from one year ago when it opens its 2008 schedule at Centre on March 7.