Rowland named regional Coach of the Year

SUNY Brockport Head Baseball Coach Mark Rowland has been named the 2004 NCAA Division III ABCA/Rawlings New York Region Coach of the Year.

Rowland guided the Golden Eagles to the most successful season in the 58-year history of baseball at the college. The Golden Eagles not only won the SUNYAC Championship for the first time since 1975, but also received an NCAA playoff bid for the first time ever. Brockport's 34 victories broke the record set the year before. The Golden Eagles swept Cortland at Cortland on May 2 to take the SUNYAC Championship and automatic NCAA bid. Then, Brockport downed Cortland again, as well as #6 Ithaca twice, to win the regionals. At the NCAA Division III Nationals, Brockport defeated Aurora before losing 2-1 to four-time national champion Eastern Connecticut and 4-3 to Wisconsin-Whitewater.