VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Coppin State baseball’s Andrew O’Dwyer was named the starting center fielder and relief pitcher representing the Berkley Bandits in the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate League (MACL) All-Star game on Saturday, June 25th at Norfolk State University.
“I would like to thank my mother for financing my opportunity to play in the MACL, along with my summer coach for allowing me to participate,” O’Dwyer said. “The group of guys that I play with here on the Berkley Bandits are great and it's allowed me to play at a high level this summer. Playing in Virginia Beach has allowed me to enjoy the beach on off days, which is a great balance to the hard work required on the baseball field. It took some adjustment the first couple of weeks being away from home for the first time during the summer months, but my great teammates made the adjustment easier,” he continued.
During the summer, Andrew has played extremely well for the Bandits posting a batting average of .455 at the plate, with a .567 on base percentage as well as a .545 slugging percentage. On the mound he has a 0.00 earned run average while surrendering no hits in 5.2 innings tossed with nine strikeouts. “Making the league's all-star game is a big honor for me, but I attribute my success to having a great bunch of supportive teammates and coaches who believed in my abilities,” O’Dwyer said.
In his rookie season for the Eagles he played in all 46 games and ranked fifth on the team with 23 runs scored. He hit .226 with 17 RBIs and recorded seven extra base hits including six doubles, one triple and a home run. O’Dwyer also ranked tied for ninth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) with 32 total strikeouts as a pitcher.
“Playing summer ball will better prepare me for bigger and better things during my sophomore year at Coppin State. After a great run in the MEAC Championships, I plan on returning to Coppin as a better player thanks to opportunity I had to work on specific parts of my game here in the MACL,” O’Dwyer stated.
Coppin State has four players featured on the 2016 Berkley Bandits summer roster. Infielders Ryan Fowler and Joshua Doyle along with outfielders Carlos Alviarez and Andrew O’Dwyer are working on returning the Eagles to the MEAC Baseball Tournament in 2017. CSU finished as one of the final four teams at the 2016 MEAC Baseball Tournament after eliminating a pair of teams in Delaware State and North Carolina Central before suffering a heart breaking loss to Norfolk State in extra innings on day three.
“Andrew is probably the first truly successful two-way players that we have seen here at Coppin State,” comments Coppin State head baseball coach Sherman Reed. “He is talented as a pitcher and also at center field. It is great to see him prosper on the collegiate level and also being recognized as a starting outfielder in the summer league all-star game. Sky’s the limit for Andrew and we anticipate great things at Coppin from him in his next three years as an Eagle.”