Lewis Baseball's Mike Bolling Named To Tino Martinez Award Watch List

Lewis senior outfielder Mike Bolling (Chicago, Ill./Guerin Prep/Triton) has been named to the 2012 Tino Martinez Award Watch List. The award is given annually to the most outstanding Division II baseball player in the nation. The honor is named after the former University of Tampa Spartan, Olympian and MLB All-Star Tino Martinez.
 
Bolling is one of 130 players named to the list. He is one of only six players from the Great Lakes Valley Conference to gain nomination for the award, which will pare the list down in early April and again to semifinalists and finalists in May. The Tino Martinez Award winner will be announced after the NCAA Division II Championships in Cary, N.C., May 26-June 2.
 
Bolling stole a GLVC-best 31 bases last season. His .427 on-base percentage and 37 runs scored led the team. Bolling has also been selected as a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Preseason All-Region player and an American Baseball Coaches Association Midwest Region Preseason All-American for the 2012 season.
 
“To be listed as one of the 130 best players in Division II is a well deserved and tremendous honor for Mike and our program,” Lewis head coach Tim McDonough said. “The Tino Martinez award is the most prestigious honor a baseball player at our level can achieve and Mike is being mentioned alongside the very best in our game. As always, the preseason awards are very nice, but I know Mike and the rest of the team are fully aware that team success is the ultimate goal of everyone involved in our program.”
 
The Flyers open up the 2012 campaign on March 4 against Findlay in Florida.