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May 12, 2009

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA - University of Massachusetts Boston baseball player Ryan Walsh (Newton, MA) was named a Little East Conference First Team All-Star, while Tim Fontaine (Worcester, MA) was selected as a Second Team All-Star it was announced by the conference today.

Walsh earns a spot on the LEC First Team as a second baseman after enjoying one of the greatest all-around offensive seasons in school history. The sophomore led the team with a .424 (70-165) batting average, which ranked sixth among conference leaders and stands as the third-highest batting mark in school history. Walsh set school records for hits (70) and total bases (98), while tying the school mark for doubles in a season with 18. His hit total placed him second among LEC players, while standing 11th in total bases and fourth in doubles. A graduate of Newton North High School, he finished just one stolen base shy of UMass Boston's single-season record with 24 to lead the Beacons and rank second in the league. He was among the LEC's top 10 in on-base percentage with a team-leading .503 mark, hit by pitch with nine to stand seventh, sacrifice flies with a team-high three to place seventh and fielding assists with 104 to stand sixth and rank as the sixth-highest total in school annals. The second-year player scored 48 times for the second-most in school history and ranked 12th among conference leaders, while drawing 20 bases on balls to put him 17th among league leaders. He also smacked a pair of triples to place 19th in the Little East and knocked in 34 runs for the fifth-highest total in school history. Walsh started all 41 games for UMass Boston after making the switch from shortstop to second base prior to the start of the season, and made the most of every game he was in, hitting safely in all but five games. He registered a hit in each of the first three games of the season to run his hitting streak to 20 straight games, dating back to the final 17 games of the 2008 campaign. The six-foot, 180-pound Walsh went hitless in consecutive games just once all season and reached base via a hit, walk or hit by pitch in all but one game on the year. He also had a streak of 46 games reaching base in that manner that stretched from April 8, 2008 to April 16, 2009. Walsh finished the season with a nine-game hitting streak which was one of three streaks of at least nine straight games on the season for him. The second baseman racked up 23 multiple-hit games to lead the Beacons, including seven three-hit games and a pair of four-hit efforts. He closed out the season with a .488 (20-41) hitting mark in his last nine contests with seven multi-hit performances, including six doubles to go with a triple.

Walsh is currently hitting .367 (116-316) in 82 career games to rank third on the UMB all-time list and owns a .440 on-base mark.

Fontaine followed up a sensational freshman campaign with his selection to the LEC Second Team this year as a sophomore. He led all catchers throwing out 18 would-be base stealers and ranked second among the league's backstops with four pick-offs from behind the dish. The South High School product ranked seventh among league leaders with 209 putouts, while starting all 40 games he appeared in. Fontaine enjoyed an excellent season with the bat as well, hitting .311 (52-167) with 35 runs batted in, which was good for the fourth-highest total in school history. The second-year player also totaled 52 hits for the seventh-most in a season at UMass Boston and reached base six times as a result of being hit by a pitch to place 12th among league leaders. He hit safely in 30 of 40 games and put together an 11-game hitting streak from March 19 to April 5, hitting .438 (21-48) with a .471 on-base mark during the stretch. His 16 multi-hit games, including a pair of four-hit efforts, was the fourth-highest total on the team and his 11 outings with two or more runs batted in tied him with Walsh for fourth at UMB.

Fontaine currently sports a career batting mark of .324 (104-321) and ranks sixth on the school's career putouts list with 414.

UMass Boston finished the season with a 19-22 record, including a school-record 8-6 Little East Conference mark. The Beacons defeated a pair of nationally-ranked teams along the way, including number one University of Southern Maine on April 24 and swept Rhode Island College in the LEC Tournament to advance to the tournament's final four.