Meridian's Tyler Moore is named Player of the Year for NJCAA Division II Baseball

(MERIDIAN)- The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) has selected Meridian Community College (Miss.) first baseman Tyler Moore as the 2007 NJCAA Division II Baseball Player of the Year.

Moore, a sophomore from Brandon, Miss., ranked in the top 10 in the NJCAA Division II ranks in batting average, home runs and RBIs. Moore ranked fourth in the nation with a .472 regular season batting average. His 19 home runs ranked first, which also set a new Meridian school record and his 62 RBIs was good for 10th-best in the country.

He also posted a .989 fielding percentage at first base, recording 410 putouts, 56 assists and just five errors.

“I really didn’t expect to get this award, but it feels great,” said Moore in a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon.

“I credit this award to good coaching. Coach (Chris) Rose and Coach (Joe) Caruso did an outstanding job. Coach Caruso really taught us hitting and more specifically how to hit college pitching. I feel like half of this award belongs to our coaches.”

A 33rd round selection of the Washington Nationals last year, Moore led his team in almost every offensive category: home runs (19) - school record, doubles (22), RBIs (62), Runs (48), on base percentage (.535) - school record, and slugging percentage (.927).

Moore's play helped lead the Eagles to a 41-15 overall record. He will continue his academic and baseball career at NCAA Division I Mississippi State University.

Moore became the second MCC baseball player in the past four years to be named the NJCAA Division II Baseball Player of the Year. In 2005, MCC’s Michael Murray was named both the NJCAA Div II Athlete of the Year and Baseball Player of the Year.

Moore started as a freshman on the 2006 MCC squad that went 39-17 and captured the MACJC Central Division title as well as the MACJC State Championship for then rookie head coach Chris Rose.

“The first thing that stands out about Tyler is the person that he is,” said MCC head baseball coach Chris Rose.

“He’s done so much for this program. On the field he hit for power and average, set school records and had amazing success. Off the field he was a leader. Tyler will be successful at whatever he does in life, which I expect to be playing professional baseball.”

Moore played mostly first base for the Eagles during the 2007 season in which the Eagles won over 40 games on their way to the MACJC Central Division championship.

“As a coach, you hope that you made an impact on this kind of player, but I know for certain that he made me and this coaching staff better.”

First year assistant coach, Joe Caruso, who was Moore’s hitting coach at MCC, said that it wasn’t a surprise to see Moore receive this award.

“It wasn’t surprising simply because of the hard work that Tyler put in,” said Caruso.

“Tyler worked harder than anyone else and it’s good to see when players that work that hard get rewarded.”

“His presence made everyone else better; Tyler is a guy that you want on your team every year.”