OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (Feb. 28, 2013) – Senior catcher Jeff Melillo (Annandale, N.J.) of the Rutgers baseball team has been selected as a candidate for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award. He is one of 30 NCAA baseball student-athletes in the running for the prestigious honor.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.

A finance major, Melillo has been named to the Dean’s List every semester since 2010 and maintains a 3.62 GPA. He is a member of the National College Athlete Honor Society and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee at Rutgers. Melillo has won the Ron Kish Academic Excellence Award the past two seasons, having the highest GPA on the baseball team.

Also heavily involved in the community, the senior catcher participated in the program “Basebald” over the summer. The initiative involves players shaving their heads to help raise money for the St. Baldrick’s Children Research Center.

He was named a First Team All-BIG EAST catcher last season and has batted cleanup for the Scarlet Knights in all six games so far in 2013.

The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2013 NCAA College World Series in Omaha June 15-26.

For more information on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.

2013 Baseball Candidates

Mark Appel, Stanford
Shane Basen, Charlotte
Blake Beemer, Ball State
Brandon Boudreaux, Tulane
Chase Brookshire, Belmont
Joe Burg, Hofstra
Chase Byerly, Butler
Nick Camastro, Manhattan
Boomer Collins, Dallas Baptist
Johnny Coy, Wichita State
LB Dantzler, South Carolina
Jordan Enos, Holy Cross
Michael Felton, Campbell
Nick Ferraresi, Columbia
Mitch Garver, New Mexico
Sean Hagan, St. John's
Reed Harper, Austin Peay
Mike Le Bel, Rhode Island
Carlos Lopez, Cal State Fullerton
Jeff Melillo, Rutgers
Alex Mendez, South Florida
Austin Montgomery, Southern Illinois
Matt Pare, Boston
Colton Plaia, Loyola Marymount