WASHINGTON – Saint Joseph's lefthander Colton Book was named the Atlantic 10 Baseball Pitcher of the Year, the league office announced on Wednesday morning.  Book was also tabbed for the All-Conference First Team, while freshmen Alex Kelsey and Blake Primrose were voted onto the All-Rookie Team.
 
James Quinn-Irons of George Mason was named the Player of the Year, Ethan Sitzman of Saint Louis was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year, VCU's Jacob Lee was the Rookie of the Year, and Rhode Island's Raphael Cerrato was voted the Coach of the Year.
 
Book is the league's runaway leader in strikeouts, fanning a program single-season record 122 to rank among the national leaders throughout the season.  He also ended the regular season seventh in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio and 12th in WHIP.
 
The Manheim, Pennsylvania, native led all Atlantic 10 starting pitchers in WHIP and ranked in the top four in the league in earned run average, batting average against, and innings pitched.  During the regular season, he pitched into the sixth inning in all but two of his starts and threw six or more innings 10 times, with five starts of seven innings or more.  He also struck out 13 or more hitters four times, highlighted by 14 strikeouts in a one-hit complete game shutout at Mount St. Mary's.
 
Book was named the Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week four times, and also earned College Baseball Foundation National Pitcher of the Week accolades on February 25.  He follows Jordan Carter (2014) as just the second Hawk to be named the league's Pitcher of the Year.
 
Kelsey started all but one game this season, leading the Hawks in batting average as the catalyst atop the lineup.  Hailing from Reading, Pa., he also ranks as the team's leader in triples, walks, and on-base percentage while tying for the team lead in runs scored.  Kelsey also sits second on the team in hits, doubles, and OPS while ranking third in runs batted in.  His 21 multi-hit games are a team-best, and he has reached base safely in each of the last 16 games.  He also posted a 22-game on-base streak immediately before; all told, he has reached safely in 37 of the last 38 games.  Kelsey was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week on May 5.
 
Primrose has appeared in 41 of the Hawks' 51 games this season, ranking second on the team in batting average; he also ranks among the team leaders in hits and RBI.  The Pittsburgh, Pa., product reached base in 19 consecutive games at one point and ranks third on the team with 14 multi-hit games.  He is the only Hawk to post multiple games with five-plus RBI, driving in five at St. Bonaventure on April 4 and six against Davidson on April 19; after a strong weekend against the Bonnies, Primrose was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week on April 7.