Coach Nocera retires as coach of the year and with a PAC championship

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - The Westminster College baseball team wrapped up its historic 2012 season with its first trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament, along with a school-record 28 wins. The Titans (28-17) won its second Presidents' Athletic Conference Title in school history and had seven players named to the 2012 All-PAC Team, to tie a school record.  Head coach Carmen Nocera, who has resigned after 13 years with the program, was tabbed 2012 PAC Coach of the Year, while senior first baseman Tim Wiand (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts) was the first Titan to earn the conference most valuable player.


The Titans qualified for the PAC tournament for the fifth time in six years by posting a 16-8 conference record. The second seed in the PAC tournament, Westminster completed a perfect 3-0 run through the tournament to earn the school's second PAC baseball title and first since the 2005 season under Nocera. The Titans proved to be the top-pitching staff in the conference while giving up only one earned run in 27 innings of tournament play. Westminster posted a 6-0 shutout victory over top-seeded and nationally ranked Washington & Jefferson in the title game. With the win, Westminster earned the PAC's automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Division III Tournament. In the double elimination tournament, the Titans lost 13-7 to St. John Fisher in the opening round followed by a 3-2 loss to La Roche in the elimination game.


Westminster also enjoyed individual success. Wiand earned First Team D3baseball.com and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Region and First Team All-PAC accolades. His conference-leading 46 RBIs set a school-record. Wiand also led the conference in batting average (.431), slugging percentage (.625), and on base percentage (.503). On defense, Wiand had an impressive .995 fielding percentage with only two errors to go along with a conference-best 362 putouts.


Senior pitcher Justin Prejsnar (New Castle, PA/New Castle) was also named First Team All-PAC. Prejsnar boasted the best earned run average in the conference with a 1.49. His seven wins ranked third in the league. His 54 strikeouts stood fifth in the conference and his 72.2 innings pitched ranked eighth-best. Prejsnar's 248.2 career innings pitched set a school-record, breaking Pat Boyle's 232.0 (2001-04).


Earning Second Team All-PAC honors were senior shortstop Steve Perrotta (New Castle, PA/New Castle), junior outfielder Kyle Allen (New Wilmington, PA/West Middlesex), and senior pitcher Patrick Mulligan (Brookfield, OH/Brookfield). Earning Honorable Mention All-PAC honors were junior second baseman Ty Miller (Clinton, PA/Hopewell) and senior pitcher Vince Iosue (Euclid, OH/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin).


As a team, Westminster led the PAC in strikeouts (245), doubles allowed (49), homers allowed (2), runs allowed (168), and earned runs (121). The Titan offense was also tied for first with 17 home runs.