Lewis baseball's Bolling And Albano earn Daktronics and ABCA All-Region Honors

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Second Team honors: Mike Bolling and sophomore right fielder Ben Albano were named to the Daktronics and American Baseball Coaches Association All-Midwest Region Second Teams on Monday. | Photo by Steve Woltmann

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Lewis senior center fielder Mike Bolling (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep/Triton) and sophomore right fielder Ben Albano (West Dundee, Ill./Jacobs) have been named to the Daktronics and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Midwest Region Second Teams. The Daktronics honor is voted on by the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) while the ABCA selection is determined by a vote from the region's coaches. Additionally, Bolling was named to the nine-member ABCA Midwest Region Gold Glove Team for his defensive play in center.

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"Mike and Ben both had outstanding seasons and it is a real honor to have two players named All-Region," Lewis head coach Tim McDonough said.

Bolling was an All-Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division First Team selection for the Flyers in 2012. He hit .349 and held a .414 on base percentage for the season. He had a region-best 34 stolen bases. Defensively, he compiled a .977 fielding percentage with 10 assists. Bolling threw runners out at the plate in the GLVC Tournament and NCAA Midwest Regional.

"Mike was an offensive force for us and his ability to get on base, steal bases and score runs gave us a weapon that not many teams have," McDonough said. "I thought the thing that separated him this year was his clutch hitting with men on base as he came up with some big hits in key RBI situations."

Albano led the GLVC with 11 home runs. He finished the 2012 season hitting a team-high .354 with 42 RBI and a team-high .641 slugging percentage. Albano recorded 20 walks to bring his on-base percentage to .426. Albano was also an All-GLVC East Division First Team honoree. On April 23 he earned the D2BaseballNews.com National Player of the Week and GLVC Player of the Week awards.

"Ben really solidified the middle of our order and became a big time power threat every time he came up," McDonough said. "It is not easy to lead the GLVC in home runs and he really carried us for a portion of the season. There is no doubt that Ben made the other guys in our lineup better by hitting and producing in the cleanup position. Ben also was greatly improved defensively and was a key component to us having so much team success this season."

Bolling and Albano helped Lewis to a 33-22 overall record and Lewis' first NCAA Midwest Regional bid since 1996. The Flyers tied a program record with 21 GLVC wins.

For the entire Daktronics All-Region Team, click here.

For the entire ABCA All-Region Team, click here.

For the entire ABCA Gold Glove Team, click here.