Five Bears Selected to AD3I All-Independent Teams

OVERLAND PARK, KS – The Association for Division III Independents (AD3I) released their 2011 All-Independent teams, with five Bears being recognized for their play this year. For the second straight season, St. Joseph's had two representatives on the All-Independent First Team. Freshman Joseph Mendez (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) becomes the first Bear to ever make the First Team as a freshman and Jon Mendez (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) earns a spot on the First Team squad for the first time after being named to the Second Team the past two seasons.

Junior Kevin Diaz (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) was named Second Team outfielder and freshmen Mike Cundari (Staten Island, NY/St. Peters) and Donny Pagano (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) were selected as Second Team first basemen and pitcher, respectively. The five honorees matches last year's number for the 10-23 Bears.

Jon Mendez, the 2009 AD3I Rookie of the Year and two-time Second Team nominee, receives First Team credentials for the first time in his career as a utility player. Mendez finished sixth in the association with a .381 batting average, and third with a .581 slugging percentage. He also finished fourth in runs (30) and RBI (29) and in the top 10 in  home runs (3). Mendez saw most of his action at third base for the Bears, but also saw time this season at catcher and designated hitter.

Joe Mendez becomes the first baseball player in St. Joseph's history to be named to the AD3I First Team All-Independent as a freshman. Mendez was named First Team outfielder after batting .319, good for 18th in the Association while driving in 32 runs, where he finished in second place. Mendez also led the AD3I with 16 doubles and had a .504 slugging percentage, the eighth best in the association.

Diaz receives All-Independent recognition for the second straight season. The Second Team outfielder hit over .400 for the second straight year, batting .405, which was second in the AD3I and he led with 70 total bases. Diaz also finished in the top five in the association with a .579 slugging percentage and .474 on base percentage. He was second in both runs scored (35) and hits (49) and fourth in doubles (10), home runs (3) and stolen bases (15). Diaz manned center and left field, committing just three errors in 74 chances, giving him a .959 fielding percentage.

Cundari, a freshman, was named to the Second Team as a first baseman. Cundari hit .294 in his first season with St. Joseph's while collecting 32 hits and driving in 16 runs. The first baseman slugged .404 and got on base at a .400 clip. His 25 runs scored were the third most on the team and his two home runs tied him for second.

Pagano is St. Joseph's first freshman ever to be named All-Independent as a pitcher. The Staten Island native led the Bears in all major pitching categories, finishing with three wins on the year. He started eight games and appeared in 10 amassing a 5.20 ERA, good for 10th in the AD3I. His 55.1 innings pitched were the sixth most in the association and his 50 strikeouts was good for fourth.

The All-Independent baseball teams were selected by the baseball coaches from AD3I member schools.