FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
S-124-03-04
Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Four Elizabethtown Baseball Players Named to All-Conference Teams, Brad Duppstadt Named Commonwealth Co-MVP

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Four Elizabethtown College baseball players have earned spots on the All-Commonwealth Conference teams. Senior center fielder Brad Duppstadt (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) was named to the All-Commonwealth Conference First Team, while junior outfielder Steve Luongo (Palm Coast, FL—Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge, NJ), sophomore shortstop Jon Kalejta (Boyertown, PA/Boyertown) and first-year outfielder and third baseman Dean Whetham (Wilmington, DE/Brandywine) were all named to the Second Team. Additionally, Duppstadt was named the Co-Most Valuable Player of the Commonwealth Conference.

This is the second year in a row that Duppstadt has won the conference's MVP award and the third year in a row he has made the all-conference team. He was also the conference's Rookie of the Year as a first-year in 2001. He was also an ABCA all-region selection last year and has earned a spot on the MAC All-Academic Team for the first time this year. In 2004, he led Elizabethtown in batting average (.403), slugging percentage (.701), on base percentage (.473), hits (58), runs scored (41), runs batted in (37), triples (5), home runs (9), stolen bases (11), and he tied for the team lead in walks (18). In the field, he did not commit a single error all season.

Over the course of this season, Duppstadt set new Elizabethtown career records in hits (200), home runs (17), at-bats (554), and games played (152). He concluded his career tied for third on Elizabethtown's all-time list in career RBI with 109. His 117 career runs scored rank him eighth all-time at Etown, as do his nine career triples.

This is the second year in a row Luongo has earned all-conference honors, having earned a spot on the first team last year. This season, Luongo batted .325 (41-for-126) with 24 runs scored, 22 runs batted in, four doubles, one triple and five home runs for a slugging percentage of .492. He set an Elizabethtown mark and tied an NCAA Division III record earlier this season with two home runs in a single inning. Although Luongo made the all-conference team as an outfielder this year, he also emerged as one of Etown's top starting pitchers in 2004, going 4-1 with a 3.54 ERA in nine appearances and seven starts, and he struck out 36 batters in 40.2 innings

After three years, Luongo currently ranks fourth all-time at Elizabethtown in career doubles with 35, and his 21 doubles as a first-year in 2002 is a single-season Etown record. He also ranks ninth all-time at Etown in career runs batted in with 93, and his 13 career home runs place him in a tie for fifth on Etown's all-time list. His career batting average through three seasons is .350 (134-for-383) with a career slugging percentage of .554. On the mound, he has a career record of 6-5 with three saves in 29 appearances and 10 starts.

Kalejta has been Etown's starting shortstop since he was a first-year in 2003, and he had a breakthrough season at the plate in 2004, going .303 (43-for-142) at the plate with five doubles, two home runs, 22 RBI, and 25 runs scored. He also tied for the team lead in walks with 18. He was also second on the team in stolen bases in 2004 with nine. He was also named to the MAC All-Academic Team for the first time this year.

Over the course of his career, Kalejta has posted a .268 batting average with 71 hits in 265 at bats, has scored 47 runs and driven in 34 runs, and has compiled 12 doubles, one triple and two home runs.

Whetham began his collegiate career on a tear by rattling off a 19 game hitting streak. After that, he never looked back and wound up with a .338 batting average on a 45-for-133 performance at the plate in his rookie season of 2004. He scored 23 runs and drove in 23 runs, and he tallied eight doubles and one home run.

The Elizabethtown College baseball team completed its 2004 season with a 19-20 overall record. The team reached the Commonwealth Conference playoffs for the fourth consecutive year, every year the Commonwealth playoffs have existed, and it reached the post-season for the sixth consecutive season.