Giovanny Alfonzo and Stephen Dezzi Take First-Team All-Region Honors

BOCA RATON, Fla. - A total of 32 student-athletes were selected for the Daktronics All-South Region Baseball team on Thursday, with Nova Southeastern's Justin Garcia being named the Player of the Year and Florida Tech's Scotty Ward garnering Pitcher of the Year Accolades.

The University of Tampa placed two on the first team, including seniors Giovanny Alfonzo and Stephen Dezzi.

Voting is conducted among sports information directors from the Gulf South Conference, Sunshine State Conference and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The SSC has 20 selections, GSC schools picked up 11 honorees and independent Palm Beach Atlantic had the final accolade.

Alfonzo, a senior shortstop from Sarasota, Fla., is hitting .353 on the season with 10 home runs and 38 RBI. He leads all Spartans with 54 runs and 15 doubles while starting all 44 games.

Dezzi, a senior designated hitter from Port St. Lucie, Fla., is hitting .321 this season with a team-leading 14 home runs. He also has 42 RBI and a team-best .468 on-base percentage.

Garcia led the SSC in home runs (24), total bases (164), slugging (.901) and on-base percentage (.484) and was second in runs batted in (67). The SSC Player of the Year also helped guide Nova Southeastern to the No. 2 seed in the NCAA South Region Tournament.

Ward, the SSC Pitcher of the Year, was the staff ace for Florida Tech after posting a 9-2 record, 2.04 earned run average and 53 strikeouts in 83.2 innings pitched.

The first team infield is catcher Austin Allen from Florida Tech, first baseman Tanner Rainey of West Alabama, PBA's Brian Walker at second base, third baseman Mitch Holgate of West Alabama and shortstop Giovanny Alfonzo from Tampa. Stephen Dezzi of Tampa was selected as the designated hitter.

Joining Garcia in the outfield is Jhalan Jackson from Florida Southern and GSC Player of the Year Colton Simbeck from Alabama in Huntsville.

Ward, Fernando Gonzales of West Alabama, Ryan Castellanos from Nova Southeastern and Daniel Koger from Alabama in Huntsville earned first team pitching accolades along with reliever Bill Mendek of Lynn University.

Below is the full Daktronics All-South Region team:

First Team
C - Austin Allen, Florida Tech
1B - Tanner Rainey, West Alabama
2B - Brian Walker, Palm Beach Atlantic
3B - Mitch Holgate, West Alabama
SS - Giovanny Alfonzo, Tampa
OF - Justin Garcia, Nova Southeastern
OF - Jhalan Jackson, Florida Southern
OF - Colton Simbeck, Alabama Huntsville
DH - Stephen Dezzi, Tampa
UT (Pitcher) - Kyle Carter, Lynn
SP - Scotty Ward, Florida Tech
SP - Fernando Gonzales, West Alabama
SP - Ryan Castellanos, Nova Southeastern
SP - Daniel Koger, Alabama Huntsville
RP - Bill Mendek, Lynn

Player of the Year - Justin Garcia, Nova Southeastern
Pitcher of the Year - Scotty Ward, Florida Tech

Second Team
C - Alex DeBellis, Lynn
1B - Troy Sieber, Saint Leo
2B - Alex Fernandez, Nova Southeastern
3B - Dylan Harris, Saint Leo
3B - Chris Dennis, Florida Southern
SS - Brett Guzay, North Alabama
OF - Chandler Brock, Alabama Huntsville
OF - John Borup, Lynn
OF -Christian Coburn, Rollins
DH -Ryan Barnes, Alabama Huntsville
UT (Pitcher) - Jonathan Quintana, Barry
SP - Jorge Cruz, West Alabama
SP - Alex Mateo, Nova Southeastern
SP - Brandon Nagem, West Florida
SP - Max Watt, Lynn
RP - Luke Mould, Alabama Huntsville
RP - Zachary Westcott, Nova Southeastern

The D2SIDA All-America and All-Region baseball teams are sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition. The teams are voted on by the members of D2SIDA, NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors Association.

The Division II Conference Commissioners Association encourages and promotes Division II athletics and high standards of sportsmanship as important elements of higher education. The CCA is a key communications link among the conferences as they discuss views, policies and regulations that impact Division II intercollegiate athletics and works closely with the NCAA as a communications channel to NCAA Division II member colleges and universities.

The online nomination and voting processes are powered by Sidearm Sports. Headquartered in Syracuse, N.Y., Sidearm Sports is the official provider of college athletic websites for over 6,000 sports organizations at all levels of competition. To receive more information on how your institution can partner with Sidearm Sports for a customized website solution, visit www.sidearmsports.com.