WAYNE, N.J. – William Paterson senior John Elia (Emerson, N.J./Pascack Valley) and junior Mike Guadango (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands) were named to the Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Mid-Atlantic Region All-First Team, while freshman Steve Coral (Totowa, N.J./Passaic Valley) and senior Will Courter (Roseland, N.J./West Essex) were third-team honorees, the group announced May 19.

A member of the All-New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) First Team in the outfield, Elia tied for the NJAC lead and was fifth on the Pioneers' single-season home run list with 12 (30th in Division III). Through games of May 20, he was second in the conference statistics in RBI (53, 56th in NCAA), RBI/game (1.29) and homers/game (0.29, 48th in Division III), third in slugging percentage (.716) and runs/game (1.29), tied for third in total bases (111, 57th in NCAA) and hit by pitches (nine), fourth in runs scored (53, 57th in Division III), ninth in hits (61), tied for ninth in sacrifice flies (three), 10th in average (.394) and 11th in stolen bases (10) as the team's cleanup hitter. Elia finished his two-year William Paterson career ranked eighth in program history in hit by pitches (15), and his nine hit by pitches this spring are tied for the seventh-best total on the Pioneer charts. He reached base safely in 37 of 41 games this season, posted 18 multi-hit and 16 multi-RBI games, and produced a 13-game hit streak (April 2-18).

Guadango, a three-time first-team all-NJAC pick (2007-09), was a member of last year's ABCA All-America Second Team as well as the 2008 All-Region First Team and the 2007 All-Region Second Team. The right fielder paced the Pioneers this spring with 72 hits (tied-third in NJAC, 20th in Division III) and 17 doubles (tied-fourth in NJAC, 44th in NCAA), and through the games of May 20, he was second in the conference statistics in hits/game (1.80), tied for third in total bases (111, 57th in Division III), fourth in RBI (48) and doubles/game (1.10), fifth in RBI/game (1.20), sixth in batting average (.419) and steals/game (0.33), seventh in slugging percentage (.645), stolen bases (13) and runs scored (44), tied for seventh in home runs (six), eighth in homers/game (0.15), and ninth in runs/game (1.10). Guadango was named the NJAC and ECAC Metro Player of the Week (April 27) after hitting .625 (10-16) with two doubles, three home runs, 11 RBI, a sacrifice fly and five runs scored, compiling a 1.313 slugging percentage and a .588 on-base percentage the previous week. The junior outfielder currently ranks second in hits (208), tied for third in doubles (46), fourth in batting average (.422) and tied for ninth in hit by pitches (14) on the William Paterson career charts, and his 2009 season totals placed him in a tie for sixth place in both hits and doubles on the Pioneer charts. Guadango reached base safely in 34 of 40 games this year, had 24 multi-hit and 13 multi-RBI games, and started the season with a 10-game hit streak. 



One of three Pioneers to earn honorable-mention all-NJAC laurels, Coral is tied for fifth in the conference in wins (6-1) with a team-best 4.58 ERA as a rookie, tossing 55.0 innings (tied-12th in NJAC) with 28 strikeouts and a save in 12 appearances and seven starts. Coral pitched a complete-game 10-4 victory against Rowan in the NJAC Tournament May 2, one of his five victories this season against conference competition.  For his efforts, he was named the May 4 NJAC Rookie Pitcher of the Week.

A member of the All-NJAC First Team, Courter, who moved from first to third base this season, led the Pioneers with a .429 batting average (fourth in NJAC), a .521 on-base percentage (.third in conference, 58th in Division III), six triples (tied-second in league, 18th in NCAA) and 54 runs scored (tied-second in NJAC, 49th in Division III). Through games of May 20, he also led the NJAC in runs/game (1.32, 59th in NCAA) and was tied for fourth in walks (27), fifth in hits (69, 35th in Division III), hits/game (1.68) and triples/game (0.15, 39th in Division III), sixth in walks/game (0.66), tied for seventh in total bases (97), eighth in slugging percentage (.602), 10th in RBI (40), and tied for 11th in doubles (13). Courter finished his three-year career tied for 10th place in WP history in triples (nine), and his 2009 totals placed him tied for seventh in triples, tied for ninth in runs scored, 10th in batting average and tied for 10th in hits on the Pioneer single-season charts. He reached base safely in 39 of 41 games this season, had 24 multi-hit and 13 multi-RBI games, posted three 10-game (March 7-19, March 20-April 4, April 5-18) hit streaks this spring and ranked 30th nationally in toughest to strike out.

William Paterson reached the finals of the 2009 NJAC Tournament, posting a 24-17 overall record and a 12-6 mark in conference play.