July 2, 2008
ATLANTA – Accolades continue to roll in for Georgia Tech shortstop Derek Dietrich, who most recently was named the National Freshman Player of the Year by Rivals.com.
Dietrich concluded his first season on the Flats pacing the Yellow Jackets in RBI (66) and total bases (141), hitting .332 while belting 14 home runs and 16 doubles in 2008. The Parma, Ohio native started all 62 games at shortstop after being selected in the third round of the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft.
The Yellow Jacket standout is currently competing for the USA National Team that just concluded a six-game sweep of Chinese Taipei in Cary, NC and will travel to Europe before finishing the summer at the IV FISU World Collegiate Baseball Championships the Czech Republic.
Dietrich was named a first-team Freshman All-America by Rivals.com, the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Collegiate Baseball, while the NCBWA tabbed him their National Freshman Hitter of the Year. The Yellow Jacket freshman was also named to the ABCA All-Atlantic Region second team and the All-ACC second team shortstop in 2008.
For the complete release on Dietrich being named the Rivals.com National Freshman Player of the Year, go to: http://collegebaseball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=823639 or click HERE.
