Sheppard Named New Jersey Coach of the Year
5/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 15, 2001
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ - Seton Hall baseball coach Rob Sheppard was named New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association (NJCBA) Coach of the Year as announced by the association at its weekly luncheon. Junior lefthander Isaac Pavlik was also selected NJCBA Co-Fireman of the year as the Pirates had one first team selection and four second team all-state selections.
Sheppard, who had served as the Pirates' top assistant coach for the past six seasons, led the Pirates to a 29-21-1 record and the third seed in the BIG EAST Tournament. Just three games into the season, he was appointed interim head coach as his father, head coach Mike Sheppard, underwent triple bypass surgery that forced him to miss the entire 2001 campaign.
The Pirates started the season just 1-7, but Sheppard guided the team to a 28-14-1 record the rest of the way. Seton Hall entered the final weekend of BIG EAST play in fifth place, but won its two games against West Virginia to clinch the third seed in the four-team conference tournament. The Pirates will face second seeded Rutgers on Thursday, May 17 at 7 p.m. at Commerce Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ.
In his role as the Pirates' closer, Seton Hall junior Isaac Pavlik (Rutherford, NJ) compiled a 3-0 record with five saves and a 2.84 ERA in 23 relief appearances. Pavlik, who finished second on the team with 55 strikeouts, shared the NJCBA Fireman of the Year award with Rutgers reliever Eric Brown.
Senior catcher Adam Arslanian (Fair Lawn, NJ) earned First Team All-NJCBA honors. A Second Team selection last season, Arslanian was the Pirates' starting catcher in all 26 BIG EAST games. He finished with career highs in doubles (10), triples (3), home runs (3) and runs batted in (35) this season.
The Pirates also had four players represented on the Second Team: senior first baseman Brian Leighton (Brewster, NY), senior rightfielder Joe Cuervo (Warren, NJ), sophomore leftfielder Casey Grimm (Morristown, NJ) and sophomore pitcher Chris Reilly (Bound Brook, NJ).
