DETROIT - Wayne State University junior catcher
Michael Wiseman (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland) and senior outfielder
Ryan LaPensee (LaSalle, Ont./St. Thomas of Villanova) were recently recognized as Preseason All-Americans by the American Baseball Coaches Association's NCAA Division II All-America Committee, according to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. In addition, senior outfielder
Paul LaMantia (Tecumseh, Ont./St. Anne's) was deemed a "Player to Watch."
Wiseman received Daktronics, Inc. All-Region Second Team and Rawlings/ABCA All-Region Second Team honors in 2009, and garnered a "Golden Glove" award for outstanding defense from the ABCA. He was also named to the All-GLIAC First Team and was selected as WSU's Most Valuable Player and Best Defensive Player. One of two players to appear in all 51 games, he batted .370 last season, second-best on the team and 10th in the GLIAC. Wiseman also had a .985 fielding percentage, with just five errors and five passed balls, and led the GLIAC with 27 runners caught stealing.
LaPensee was an All-GLIAC First Team and a Rawlings/ABCA All-Midwest Region Second Team selection as well last season. He hit .362, fourth-best on the team, with 30 RBI and a team-high 47 runs scored. LaPensee tied for the league lead with 26 stolen bases, seventh-most in WSU single-season history, and finished 14th in the league in batting, fifth in runs scored, tied for sixth in hits (64), and 13th in total bases (89). He has a .391 career batting average, second-best in school history, and is one run away from matching Bobby Marten's WSU career record of 134. LaPensee also ranks fourth in school history with 192 hits, fourth with 56 stolen bases, ninth in doubles (31) and 10th with 255 total bases.
In his first year as a Warrior in 2009, LaMantia batted .347 (fifth-best on the team) with 35 RBI and 43 runs scored. He totaled 15 doubles and five triples, both tied for fifth-most in school history, and also hit four homers to finish with 24 extra-base hits, eighth-most in WSU history. He led the conference in triples and finished fourth in doubles and seventh in runs scored and total bases (97). LaMantia tied LaPensee for the team lead with 20 multiple-hit games and tied Wiseman for second on the squad with 10 multiple-RBI games.
Wayne State University will begin its 70th baseball season February 20 and 21 with a four-game series at West Georgia.