June 19, 2002
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Standout middle infielder John McCurdy (Crofton, Md.) became the first Maryland baseball All-American since 1992 with his inclusion on the 2002 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), Baseball America and American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-America teams. McCurdy, who was selected in the first round of the 2002 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Oakland Athletics earlier this month, is the first Terrapin to receive All-America honors since Derek Hacopian was tabbed by the ABCA, Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball 10 seasons ago.
The junior was named to the first team by the NCBWA (utility), the second team by Baseball America (designated hitter) and the third team by the ABCA (second base) after a breakout season. On June 4, McCurdy became the third Terrapin in MLB draft history to be selected in the first round, as he was taken by Oakland as the 26th pick overall. McCurdy, who authored one of the most prolific seasons in the history of Maryland baseball as a junior in 2002, was one of four Terrapins drafted in 2002 and became the first Terp to be taken in the first round since Eric Milton in 1996.
McCurdy, a semifinalist for the 2002 Dick Howser Trophy, finished the season second in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a .443 batting average, 77 RBI and an .828 slugging percentage. He established new Terp single-season records for base hits (98) and extra-base hits (43) while his 19 home runs tied for second among Maryland's all-time single-season leaders.
The middle infielder was a key element for a Terp team that won a school-record 34 games in
2002 and set team records for runs (501), hits (641), doubles (147) and RBI (446). Besides the All-America honors, accolades for McCurdy included player of the week citations by Collegiate Baseball News/"Louisville Slugger," USA Today/Baseball Weekly and the ACC.
The Terrapins, who went 17-37 in 2001, improved to 34-22 this season under second-year head coach Terry Rupp. In addition to McCurdy (2002), six Terrapins have been named to various All-America teams: Hacopian (ABCA first team, Baseball America second team, Collegiate Baseball first team; 1992), Dave Suave (ABCA third team; 1971), Gene Hiser (ABCA first team, The Sporting News first team; 1970), John Hetrick (ABCA second team, The Sporting News first team; 1967), Jim Pitt (ABCA second team; 1964) and Tom Brown (ABCA first team; 1962).
