Already one of the most decorated players in school history, Amherst graduate Ryan Rua was named to the 2011 Daktronics, Inc. All-America Baseball Team as an honorable mention selection. Rua is the first Lake Erie College baseball player to earn All-American honors in the program’s 10-year history.

"It’s a tremendous honor to be named to the All-American team," Rua said. "And to be the first baseball player from Lake Erie College to do so is very special."

The team was selected by members of the NCAA Division II College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and has been sponsored by scoring and timing display system manufacturer and supplier Daktronics, Inc. since 2007.

For Rua, it is his fourth post-season all-star team selection. He was previously a first-team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, American Baseball Coaches Association All-Midwest Region and Daktronics, Inc. All-Midwest Region selection as well as a second-team National College Baseball Writers Association All-Midwest Region pick.

"All three (conference, region and All-American) were personal goals of mine this season," said Rua, who was one of three Storm players picked for the All-Region team along with senior Brandon James (Mentor) and Admiral King graduate Matt Toth.

"To have three players on the All-Region teams, and for me to make an All-American squad, really shows how much this program has grown in such little time and where it is headed," Rua said.

"An accomplishment like being the first All-American in baseball school history certainly speaks for itself," Storm head coach Brian McGee said. "It’s the highest individual honor a player can get. In order to reach that standing, you have to play consistent baseball both offensively and defensively throughout the course of an entire season, which can be quite grueling for a student-athlete. And Ryan has done that, not just this season, but throughout his entire career."

Rua, who is ranked as the fourth-highest draftable prospect in Division II by Baseball America prior to the season, had another stellar season at the plate. He batted an even .400 for the second straight season and set Lake Erie single-season records with 68 hits and 19 stolen bases. He also led the team with 44 RBIs, 42 runs scored and 16 doubles while tying for the team lead with five home runs. Rua slugged a team-high .594 and had a Storm-best 1.031 OPS, starting all 47 games.

"I think my play on the field has been directly affected, by the coaches that I have had throughout my 3 years. All coaches that have been here with me have always been willing to help out and workout whenever it was needed."

"For a player to achieve an individual accomplishment of this magnitude, he obviously must perform on the field and put up strong individual numbers," McGee said. "But to do that, he needs teammates who are supportive and hard working and Ryan had that with Matt Toth getting on base in front of him and Brandon James protecting him in the lineup. Of course, you have to take advantage of those opportunities and Ryan did that often and came through with some big plays for us."

In addition to his performance at the plate, Rua also contributed on the mound, going 1-0 with two saves and a 3.18 ERA in six relief appearances.

For his career, Rua has a .374 average with 27 home runs and 131 RBIs. He finishes with 276 hits and 117 runs while stealing 33 bases. He is the school’s career leader in slugging, homers, RBIs, total bases and stolen base percentage.

"Ryan has had three tremendous years for us now," McGee added. "Had we been in a conference before this year, he may have had a shot to be noticed more and be receiving multiple All-American honors, he’s been that good and consistent a player for our program. He definitely is one of the best players in school history, along with guys like James, Toth and Ben Reed."

The 6-foot-3, 185-pound Rua has been listed on several draft scouting services as one of the top 15 shortstops and top 30 middle infield prospects eligible for the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft which takes place June 6-8.

Lorain native Anthony Toth (St. Ignatius) just finished his college career at Michigan, where he played baseball for four years and capped it off being named with Michigan’s Sportsmanship Award honors.

Toth, who played in 39 games before an injury cut his season short, hit .292 with 24 doubles, four triples, a home run and 71 RBIs in his Wolverine career. Toth helped Michigan to a 2007 Nashville Regional title and hit .313 and .309 in 2009 and 2010.

He was named to the All-Big Ten Tournament team in 2010, starting all 57 games in the middle infield that season. He had 10 multi-hit games this season, driving in three runs in a win over Iowa on April 24 and had the game-winning double in the Winthorp win on March 12.

Toth graduated in August of 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sport management from the School of Kinesiology.

The student-athletes chosen for the Sportsmanship Award are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These student-athletes must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.

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Following the most successful season in program history, the Lake Erie College baseball team placed five players on the 2011 All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Team, including Amherst’s Ryan Rua, who is considered the fourth-ranked draftable player in Division II, according to Baseball America.

Rua was named to the All-GLIAC First Team while junior outfielder and Admiral King graduate Matt Toth was a second-team selection.

Rua started all 47 games and batted an even .400 with a Lake Erie College single-season record and GLIAC-leading 68 hits in 170 at bats. He led the league in doubles with 16 and total bases with 101 while ranking second in home runs (five) and stolen bases (19) and third in RBIs (44) and runs scored (42). Rua also pitched in six games, going 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA and two saves while striking out nine in just 5 2/3 innings.

In addition to setting the school record with 25 walks this year, Toth also batted .400 which tied Rua for third in the GLIAC. He went 62-for-155 at the plate with 41 runs scored, a home run and 21 RBIs. The Storm’s leadoff hitter also banged out 13 doubles and stole 13 bases while committing just one error in right field along with five outfield assists. Toth led the team in on-base percentage and did not hit into a double play all season.

Lake Erie finished with a 21-26 overall record and was 14-20 in the GLIAC. The Storm finished sixth in the league and was in contention for a playoff spot until the next-to-last day of the season.

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Admiral King graduate Matt Toth received recognition for his strong two-year career thus far with the Storm by being named the 15th best player at NCAA Division II schools in Ohio by Buckeye State Baseball.

"It’s always nice to see your guys recognized for their accomplishments," Head Coach Brian McGee said. "Matt’s been one of our most consistant players hitting over .300 every year. He definitely has the capability to being All-GLIAC this season."

Toth played in and started all 45 games in the outfield in 2010 and hit .344 (56-for-163). He led Lake Erie with 13 steals and was second on the team with 40 runs scored.

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Amherst native Brian McGee notched his school-record 45th coaching victory, as seven players had two or more hits for Lake Erie College in their 19-13 win over the University of Charleston (W. Va.) at Appalachian Power Park.

Admiral King’s Matt Toth doubled twice and matched his career-high with four RBIs.

The Storm has won nearly as many games in three seasons under McGee than it had in its first six seasons of existence. His 45th win breaks a tie with Ken Krsolovic (2004-2007) for the most coaching wins in Storm baseball history.

Toth had an RBI doubled to start the scoring in the fourth and then came around on a wild pitch and errant throw by the catcher.

In the fifth, Toth singled in two runs, while Ryan Rua also brought in a run. Rua finished with two RBIs.

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Toth shown on Sunday

Lake Erie College baseball recorded its first ever win over a Division I opponent as the Storm rained all over Cleveland State on Sunday afternoon at All Pro Freight Stadium.

Admiral King’s Matt Toth, a sophomore, hit his second career home run and Vermilion’s Adam Beach, a red-shirt freshman, pitched six solid innings to lead the Storm (9-8) over the Vikings, 19-4 through a steady drizzle of rain.

The win was the Storm’s school record-tying fifth straight and moved the team above .500 this late into a season for the first time in the program’s nine-year history.
“We’ve made tremendous strides as a program, but it’s not as important as where we are as where we are going, and we are going in a great direction,” Lake Erie College coach Brian McGee said through a press release. “I’m really proud of our coaching staff and the players who believe in this program and work hard every day at getting better.”

The game also marked the first time that Lake Erie College had ever faced a Division I school.

“I think early on, our guys had some jitters and maybe some nerves about playing a Division I team, but they were really excited about the opportunity as well,” McGee added. “After the first few innings, we seemed to settle in and start to play our way - hard and aggressive - and just got rolling.”

Other than the single runs in the second and third innings, the Vikings could do little against Beach, who won his third-straight start. He scattered five hits in six innings of work. With the wet weather making it difficult to grip the ball at times, Beach still struck out a career-high nine hitters, including the first five outs of the game.

“Adam was fantastic today,” McGee said. “He spotted his fastball really well. And he battled through the early part of the game when he didn’t have his best stuff or great control. But he just kept going after guys and attacking. He has a very tough mentality, which is rare in first-year pitchers.”

Toth drove in a career-high four runs and has six RBI in the last two games.

The Storm will get its second shot at a D-I opponent on Tuesday when it travels to the University of Akron.

Toth hit his first college home run for Lake Erie College against Baldwin-Wallace on Saturday.

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Amherst's Ryan Rua and Vermilion's Adam Beach wanted to do something different this summer.

And it has paid off.

For the first time in their baseball careers, Rua and Beach took to lumber — playing in a premier wooden bat summer league sanctioned by the NCAA.

The pair played on the Carolina Stingers in the Southern Collegiate Baseball League, where they even earned all-star recognition and helped their team make the playoffs.

Beach went 4-0 with a 1.19 ERA in 46 innings, only allowing five runs all season. He also struck out 47 batters. That earned him all-star honors, where he even earned the win in the SCBL All-Star Game in South Carolina, after pitching a hitless inning with a strikeout.

"I had a good defense behind me," said Beach, whose fastball tops out at 91 MPH. "They made a lot of spectactular plays, more than I have ever seen. The competition overall was tremendous. I never expected to do as well as I did. For me and Rua to make the all-star game was pretty special."

That's pretty good for not playing this past college season. He wasn't eligible at Lake Erie College because of a misunderstanding with his paperwork, causing him to have to red-shirt. He decided to get some game experience in the summer and thought a wooden bat league would be a good experience.

"I was pretty upset about not being able to play," Beach said. "It actually helped me more than I ever imagined by just getting stronger and developing more as a player. (Coach McGee) has helped me get some exposure and experience. Coach has helped make me a better overall player."

Rua was hitting .367 from the three-hole when getting the call for the all-star game, and finished with a .300 batting average for the season. He had just came off a phenomenal freshman season at Lake Erie College, where he batted .320 in 47 starts. He led the team with 11 home runs, 37 runs scored and 47 RBIs. His 11 homers set the LEC single-season home run mark. The Storm finished its season with a 16-35 record, in its first year of playing Division II.

"Offensively, it's a big difference with the wooden bats," said Rua, who didn't homer, but hit three triples, eight doubles and plated 25 RBIs. "The pitching was a step-up from the college game. The pitchers are more accurate and more consistent. This should help me when I get back to college ball. Going down there was definitely a great experience."

Admiral King's Matt Toth and Southview's Cameron Castro, who are also on the Lake Erie team, also played in wooden bat leagues. Toth was also on the Stingers this summer, while Castro played on the Ohio Titans, before getting the call to join the NorthCoast Knights, to finish out the season.

"A lot of college programs will send their players away for the summer in order to develop them better and give them more experience," Lake Erie Coach Brian McGee said. "As young as we were, it was evident that we had to send them away to make sure they were at their best for next year — since they will be two major contributers to the team."

Rua and Beach look forward to their sophomore season at Lake Erie College, which is managed by McGee, an Amherst native. McGee, who just finished his second season as manager of LEC's baseball team, is a 1996 graduate of Amherst and a 2000 graduate of Tiffin University.

"The future is bright at Lake Erie College," McGee said. "Despite being 16-35, I feel that we handled the transition very well, especially for as young as we were. And now that we have another year of experience under their belt, we're going to be very competitive — much more competitive than we were last year. It's an exciting time for us."

His first year at the helm, he led the Storms to the most wins (17) in a season in school history. The team also earned its highest Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) finish of third place and earned its first bid to the postseason, winning twice in the first round of the AMCC Tournament in order to make it to the semifinals.

McGee's early coaching stints include a head position at Lorain Catholic High School in the spring of 2003, an assistant position at the University of Toledo from 2001-02 and an assistant varsity and head freshman position at St. Frances High School in 2001. He also served as the assistant varsity and head junior varsity coach at Greensboro College from 2003-07.

Elyria Catholic's Kyle Koberna and North Ridgeville's Dan Dowdell are also locals that played on LEC this past season. Dowdell appeared in 40 games, which included 15 starts and hit .279 with two doubles, five RBIs and 11 runs scored. Koberna made 10 relief appearances, pitching 9 2/3 innings and struck out six. His ERA was 8.38.

Toth started 28 games and finished with a .321 batting average, which included two doubles, a triple, six RBIs and 17 runs scored. Castro appeared in 18 games with one start. He finished with a 2-1 mark with 15 strikeouts and a 6.85 ERA.

Keystone's Tyler Minnich and Southview's Rey Carrion are incoming freshman that will join the Storm next season.

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Amherst’s Ryan Rua is coming off a stellar freshman season at Lake Erie College.

Rua set the Lake Erie College single-season home run mark with 11 while playing for Lake Erie, who finished its season with a 8-1 win over Columbia Union College and finish the season at 16-35 in its first season in NCAA Division II.

Rua led the Storm with season record-setting totals in home runs (11), runs (37) and RBIs (47). He also finished with a .320 batting average, which includes 11 doubles, three triples and four stolen bases.

Freshman Matt Toth (Admiral King) started 28 games and finished with a .321 batting average, which includes two doubles, a triple, six RBIs and 17 runs scored.

North Ridgeville’s Dan Dowdell, a sophomore, appeared in 40 games, including 15 starts and hit .279 with two doubles, five RBIs and 11 runs scored.

Southview’s Cameron Castro appeared in 18 games with one start. He finished with a 2-1 mark with 15 strikeouts and a 6.85 ERA in just his freshman year.

Elyria Catholic’s Kyle Koberna, also a freshman, made 10 relief appearances, pitching 9 2/3 innings and struck out six. His ERA was 8.38.

Vermilion's Adam Beach was a red-shirt freshman this season, but expects to make a big impact on the team next year.

Amherst grad and head coach Brian McGee is excited about this team, which will also add locals Rey Carrion (Southview) and Tyler Minnich (Keystone).

Last season in his first year at the helm, he led the Storms to the most wins (17) in a season in school history. The team also earned its highest Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) finish of third place and earned its first bid to the postseason, winning twice in the first round of the AMCC Tournament in order to make it to the semifinals.

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PAINSVILLE, Ohio - The jump from Division III to Division II isn’t always easy.

Just ask Amherst graduate Brian McGee, who is entering his second season as manager of Lake Erie College’s baseball team.

Although McGee, a 1996 graduate of Amherst and a 2000 graduate of Tiffin University, is struggling through a 2-13 season. Thursday night’s home-opening 22-1 win over Case Western Reserve snapped an 11-game losing streak.

“It‘s a tremendous jump,” said McGee, who has 21 freshmen on the team. “We’re playing a real tough schedule and we’re challenging the guys. Even with the enormous jump, we’re at the front end of it . ... I always tell the guys, ‘If we want to be the best team — we gotta be able to beat the best teams.’”

After 15 games, the Storm are far from the best team, but McGee believes in his team that they will turn it around.

“I’m a tough guy to play for,” McGee said. “I’m not the kind of guy that is going to sugarcoat anything. I’m not the kind of coach that’s always going to be there to pat them on the back. My expectations of these guys are extremely high. I don’t care if they’re freshmen or seniors — they’re the guys that I believe in and I believe they can get the job done.”

Last year in his first year at the helm, he led the Storm to the most wins (17) in a season in school history. The team also earned its highest Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) finish of third place and earned its first bid to the postseason, winning twice in the first round of the AMCC Tournament in order to make it to the semifinals.

“This is the place where you want to be,” McGee said. “This is a program on the rise. We have exceptionally good talent on this program and they’re going to learn and build together. Right now people may be laughing and saying ‘They’re not as good as people were saying they were going to be’, but the jokes going to be on them in the next couple years.”

McGee’s early coaching stints include a head position at Lorain Catholic High School in the spring of 2003, an assistant position at the University of Toledo from 2001-02 and an assistant varsity and head freshman position at St. Frances High School in 2001. He also served as the assistant varsity and head junior varsity coach at Greensboro College from 2003-07.

“I‘ve always felt that Lorain had a lot of players that were overlooked,” McGee said. “Lorain County is an untapped resource. I’ve always thought about two things when I got out of college and I got my own head coaching job. One — I wanted to give back to the community that gave me the opportunity to excel to play the game of baseball that I love; and two — I wanted to be the first one to come in and tap into those resources.”

Freshmen Ryan Rua (Amherst), Cameron Castro (Southview), Matt Toth (Admiral King), Kyle Koberna (Elyria Catholic) and Adam Beach (Vermilion), along with sophomore Dan Dowdell (North Ridgeville), are locals that made the team this year.

Rua is batting .373 and has started all 14 games and sports a .967 fielding percentage from his shortstop position. He has also hit four homeruns, two triples, four doubles and has 17 RBIs, which all lead the team. He has also pitched 2 2/3 innings and has four strikeouts.

“Ryan has been a tremendous asset to this program,” McGee said. “I couldn’t be more pleased with the type of character he holds and the ability and the way he’s performed on the field for us. He’s playing at a higher level than I thought he would be, starting off at, but it does not surprise me — because he works really hard.”

Castro has made six pitching appearances and is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA. He has pitched 8 2/3 innings and has allowed just three earned runs.

“Cameron is academically very sound, coming in with a 4.0 GPA or close to,” McGee said. “He’s very smart and fields his position very well. On the pitching side of things, he’s been a go-to guy therefore he leads the team in appearances.”

Toth has started 11 games and is batting .231 (9 of 39) with a double, triple and three RBIs.

“Matt’s working real hard,” McGee said. “He is a little tough on himself right now — he’s not hitting the way that he’d want to, but he’s making a lot of hard outs. A batting average doesn’t dictate to me how well a guy is swinging a bat. He’s a total team guy. He’s contributed in more ways than people would understand.”

Dowdell, a sophomore, splits time in the outfield and is batting .261 with three RBIs. Koberna, a left hand pitcher, who is battling with arm troubles has made three appearances. Beach is a red-shirt freshman that McGee is excited about — even saying he might just be his best arm on the team.

“I try to stay positive with them as much as possible,” McGee said. “I’m hard on them, but at the same time, I give them a lot of love and a lot of respect. They know that I care about them.”

McGee himself was a four-year letter winner as a starting third baseman and outfielder at Tiffin. He was a team captain, earned all-conference and was selected to Team USA to compete in Austria, Czechoslovakia and Germany.

Tyler Minnich (Keystone) and Rey Carrion (Southview) are also two local prospects that McGee is pursuing for next year.

“I want to represent my alumni well and the community I was raised in and grew up in,” McGee added. “I’m very proud of where I’m from.”

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