UMO's Regan, Reitano earn preseason All-American recognition

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 31, 2014 1:47 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- Two key players on the University of Mount Olive baseball team have earned preseason all-Southeast Region and All-American accolades before Saturday's season opener at Winston-Salem State.

Designated hitter Bradon Reitano and starting pitcher Alex Regan were named to the 2014 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) preseason All-American squad. Reitano is a first-team selection, while Regan is a second-team pick.

Each is a first-team all-Southeast Region honoree.

"Alex has pitched well since the summer," UMO head coach Carl Lancaster said. "We've got some good arms. At one time we had the best pitching staff we've ever had, no question. Academically, we did great in school in the fall with a 2.99 team GPA.

"(We) had three academic casualties, which were all right-handed throwers in the bullpen. I still think we're really good compared to our pitching staffs of the past."

Regan, a junior southpaw, earned All-America honors from three organizations last spring. He finished 14-1 with a 1.81 earned run average (ERA) on the bump and threw seven complete games.

Reitano batted .361 with 10 home runs last season.

"Reitano ... everybody in the world knows him now because he put up some crazy numbers last year," Lancaster said. "Then again, he got some good stuff to hit because they didn't pitch to Jermaine (Berry) and didn't want to pitch to Geno (Escalante).

"He's an awesome kid, he's a great leader out there and takes care of things."

The Trojans are ranked No. 4 in the preseason NCBWA poll.

UMO and WSSU will play a doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday. Lancaster's team faces defending Division II College World Series champion Tampa (Fla.) on Feb. 7 and opens the home portion of its schedule Feb. 12 against St. Augustine's.