OMAHA, Neb. - UC San Diego ace Justin Donatella was named on Friday as one of 32 semifinalists for the second annual Brett Tomko Award, presented by D2 Baseball News to the pitcher of the year at the NCAA Division II level.
The second-year award is named after Brett Tomko, who in 1995, went 15-2 with a 1.35 ERA and 154 strikeouts over 126 innings in leading Florida Southern College to the national championship, prior to a lengthy career in Major League Baseball.
Donatella (8-1), a junior right-hander out of Saugus (Saugus HS), leads the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) in wins, ERA (0.55) and strikeouts (88). Just hours after the announcement, he took the mound and strengthened his case to be the second-ever recipient of the Tomko Award, tossing eight more shutout, two-hit innings with no walks and six strikeouts in No. 27 UCSD's 11-0 victory at Cal State Stanislaus. The second-place Tritons improved to 27-14 overall and 22-10 in league play. They are a perfect 9-0 to open CCAA sets behind Donatella.
Friday night's performance moved Donatella up from No. 6 to No. 3 nationally in ERA, but he has pitched almost as many innings (65.1) as the duo in front of him combined (71.0). His current ERA would constitute both a CCAA (0.98) and school (1.29) record. His next start will come on Thursday night, April 30, at Cal State L.A.
The winner of the 2015 Brett Tomko Award will be named on Monday, June 1, following the conclusion of the NCAA Division II Championship, which will be held in Cary, N.C., for the seventh straight year, from May 23-30. A list of three finalists is expected to be announced just prior to that eight-team tournament.
In 2014, the Brett Tomko Award went to Mercyhurst's Dan Altavilla, who was 9-1 with a 1.23 ERA and a school-record 129 strikeouts over 12 starts and 80.1 innings.
Donatella is one of seven semifinalists from the West Region, joined by CCAA foes Luke Barker of Chico State, Ryan Olson and Cody Ponce of Cal Poly Pomona, and freshman Greg Steinbeck of Cal State Monterey Bay, as well as Point Loma closer Coleman Huntley III and Azusa Pacific flame-thrower Josh Staumont. CPP, the current CCAA leader, is the only program nationally with multiple semifinalists.
UCSD and Cal State Stanislaus continue their four-game weekend series with a doubleheader Saturday at Warrior Baseball Field in Turlock beginning at 2 p.m.
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