Caravella, Rice Represent OWU on All-Decade Baseball Team
Drew Caravella ’02. (Photo by Matt Emmons)
Two Ohio Wesleyan alumni were named to the d3baseball.com All-Decade Team, a list of the best players in NCAA Division III from 2000-2010.
Drew Caravella ’02 was named to the first team and Shaun Rice ’02 was an honorable mention selection.
Athletics Director Roger Ingles was the Battling Bishop baseball coach while Caravella and Rice were playing. He says they were outstanding players, and “two of the best in the history of the school.” The team went undefeated in conference play in 2000 and made regional championship runs during every season Caravella and Rice were at OWU.
Caravella, a first baseman, was drafted by the Detroit Tigers after college. He was named the ABCA/Rawlings All-America Division III Player of the Year. He was first OWU baseball player to earn Division III Player of the Year honors and the first to be a 3-time All-America pick. He set conference records with his .534 batting average and 89 RBI during the 2002 season.
Rice, who played outfield, was injured and did not get drafted, but he did represent Ohio Wesleyan as one of two NCAA Division III representatives in the NCAA Home Run Challenge held at the 2002 NCAA Men’s College World Series after smashing 18 home runs that season. Ingles says he “was the best leadoff hitter in our history.”
“These two guys were hard workers and great athletes,” he says. “They were great team leaders and very much deserve this recognition as being among the best in all of Division III.”
Players from a host of other schools were on the list, and Ingles said they were all great competition.
“… all were talented and all were great fun to compete against during those years,” he says.