NEWARK, NJ—Three freshman NJIT baseball players were voted onto the 2010 New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association Division I All-Rookie team. The three honored Highlanders are: Teddy Bickert , Mark Leiter Jr , and Matt Petrone.

Bickert and Petrone each saw action at multiple positions on both the infield and in the outfield and Leiter is a right-handed starting pitcher.

Bickert, who broke the school record for both hits (66; old record was 59) and games played (56; old record was 50), also led the 2010 Highlanders in batting average (.322), sacrifice bunts (4), games played and started (56), and at-bats and plate appearances.

His final totals showed the .322 average, 205 at-bats, 21 runs, 66 hits, 6 doubles, a triple, a home run and 20 runs batted in. He was third on the team with 15 multiple-hit games and his 11-game hitting streak from March 31 to April 24 was best on the team. He also began his college career with a 10-game streak and he hit safely in 45 of his 56 games.

By position, he played first base in 29 games, left field in 14 games, center field in 11 games and was the third baseman once and the designated hitter once.

Petrone, who fought through some injuries that caused him to miss seven games, had a strong year with a .290 average, 186 at-bats, 31 runs (second on the team), 6 doubles, a team-best 3 triples, a home run, and 17 runs batted in. His 17 stolen bases were a new school Division I record and Petrone was also second on the 2010 team with 16 multiple-hit games.

Petrone's primary position was left field, where he started 35 times, but he also played center field (6 games), was the designated hitter in five games, and the second baseman in three.

Leiter, who comes from one of New Jersey's leading baseball families (his father, Mark, Sr., and uncle, Al, are retired long-time major league pitchers, and his uncle, Kurt, is also a retired professional pitcher) was a workhorse for NJIT as a freshman.

He shared the team lead in wins (3) with classmate Tripp Davis and led NJIT in innings pitched (81.1) and strikeouts (60), while accounting for four of his team's six complete games. His 14 games started also tied Davis for the team lead.

Among his season's highlights were: a complete-game, 11-strikeout, 7-inning, 6-1 win over North Carolina A&T in his second college game; eight innings with three earned runs against North Dakota State in his third college game; a nine-inning, 10-strikeout complete-game win at Chicago State; and, a nine-inning, complete-game win at NYIT.

NJIT is one of eight schools whose players are eligible for inclusion on the NJCBA Division I All-State teams, joining Fairleigh Dickinson (Teaneck), Monmouth, Princeton, Rider, Rutgers, Saint Peter's, and Seton Hall. The teams are chosen in an annual meeting with representatives of each school (usually the head coach) holding one vote and being restricted from voting for their own players.