WEST POINT, N.Y.  – In building an Eastern baseball power, Army’s players and coaches have garnered a lion’s share of national and regional honors the past several years. One of the individuals most responsible for those riches was honored on the national level recently as Army associate head coach Fritz Hamburg was named Baseball America/American Baseball Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year.

An integral component in Army’s recent run atop the Patriot League standings, Hamburg is highly respected in baseball circles for his teaching and talent evaluating skills. He was promoted to the position of associate head coach three years ago and has been one of the architects behind Army’s record-setting run of success, presiding over one of the nation’s top pitching staffs the past four years.

“It’s certainly an honor, but to have the opportunity to spend time with the players in this program makes it that much more worthwhile,” stated Hamburg. “Being selected for the award was a complete surprise. It’s nice to be recognized by your colleagues. From that standpoint it was a great honor.”

Under Hamburg’s direction, Army has ranked among national leaders in earned run average each of the past four years. The Black Knights ranked seventh nationally (3.28) in ERA in 2006, improving from the No. 8 spot (3.08) it held in the national rankings the previous year. Army also ranked 12th nationally (3.44) in ERA in 2004 and finished 27th in the category last spring (3.77). Army was the only Division I team to list in the top 12 nationally in ERA from 2004 through 2006 and one of two clubs to stand in the top eight during the 2005 and 2006 campaigns. Additionally, the Black Knights are one of just seven Division I squads to rank among the top 27 teams nationally in earned run average the past four seasons. Over the past four years, the Black Knights’ staff has combined to fire 22 shutouts.

Individually, left-hander Nick Hill became the first player to earn outright Patriot League Pitcher of the Year honors three  times (2004, 2005, 2007) and the first West Point player to garner two straight All-America certificates. When closer Milan Dinga received third team All-America laurels in 2006, it marked the third straight year an Army hurler had been named an All-American by an agency with national distribution.

With Black Knight pitchers filling two slots on the Patriot League’s two all-star teams last spring, Army moundsmen have now claimed 13 All-Patriot League citations the past four seasons.

Prior to this year, Army never had one of its baseball players selected in the top 10 rounds of Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft. All of that changed in June as Hill and Dinga were chosen in the seventh and 10th rounds, respectively, by the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels. It also marked the first time in school history that two Army players were selected in the draft during the same year.

In addition to overseeing Army’s pitching fortunes, Hamburg works directly with the Black Knights’ catchers. Army’s Schuyler Williamson, who was named 2004 Patriot League “Player of the Year,” became only the second Black Knight selected in Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft in June 2005 and spent that summer with the Detroit Tigers’ farm club in Oneonta, N.Y.

A 1989 graduate of Ithaca College, Hamburg spent four years as an assistant coach at his alma mater before arriving at the Academy. He spearheads Army’s recruiting efforts on the West Coast and in the talent-rich state of Texas to complement his on-field coaching responsibilities.

Hamburg first crossed paths with Joe Sottolano during the duo’s undergraduate days at Ithaca. With Hamburg earning All-America honors at catcher and Sottolano, a pitcher, tabbed as the “Most Outstanding Player” of the College World Series, the battery mates led Ithaca to the 1988 NCAA Division III national championship.

A transfer from Virginia Tech University, Hamburg stepped into the Bombers’ starting lineup in 1987 and lettered twice, posting a .375 batting average as a senior.

Following his college career, the native of Doylestown, Pa., played one season in the Philadelphia Phillies organization after signing a professional contract in 1989. He later began his coaching career at Cornell University (1992-94) and went on to coaching stints at New Mexico State University (1994-95), California Polytechnic State University at Pomona (1995), University of Georgia (1996) and Ithaca (1996-2000).

Hamburg has also been very active in regional summer leagues, gaining valuable head coaching experience. After guiding New Market to the playoffs of the Valley League in 1995, he began a three-year tenure with Newark of the NCBL that culminated with a league title in 1999.

During the past four years alone, Army hurlers have captured five All-America and 13 all-league citings under his tutelage. Black Knight hurlers have collected four Patriot League Pitcher of the Year awards during that time as well.

“It’s a great accomplishment and certainly one that is well-deserved for coach Hamburg,” said  Sottolano. “There are a lot of people that are deserving of this award, but the success that Fritz has experienced  with our players over a prolonged period of time places him in a special category. We’re very proud of him and also proud of the players that share in this achievement.

“Whenever an individual receives an award of this stature, it tells you that people are aware of the things you are accomplishing as a program. It speaks volumes about the type of players that have played in this program the past several years. The national exposure the program has received in recent years has helped raise our visibility around the country. It shows not only where the program has been, but hopefully the direction that we’re heading in the future.”

Army, which finished second in the Patriot League last season and earned its third conference tournament berth in four years, opens the 2008 campaign against Oral Roberts on Feb. 22 in San Antonio, Texas.