2001 All-WAC Baseball Teams Announced
5/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 21, 2001
DENVER - The Western Athletic Conference today released its 2001 all-WAC baseball teams and postseason awards as selected by the league's head coaches. Fresno State senior shortstop Josh Labandeira was named the Player of the Year, Rice senior Kenny Baugh earned Pitcher of the Year honors, and the Freshman of the Year award went to Rice outfielder Austin Davis. Fresno State head coach Bob Bennett was selected as Coach of the Year.
Rice led the conference with five players on the all-WAC first team. Nevada and TCU were second with three players followed by Fresno State with two and Hawai'i and San Jose State with one each. Only Kenny Baugh was a repeat selection from a year ago. TCU placed five players on the second team, followed by Fresno State with four, San Jose State two and Hawai'i, Hawai`i-Hilo, Nevada and Rice with one apiece.
Senior outfielder Tom Bates was the lone position player for the Frogs to earn first-team honors. Bates, who received second-team All-WAC honors last season was also named the team MVP in voting by his teammates. He hit .306 with nine home runs and a team-leading 55 runs batted in. Also receiving first-team honors were pitchers Chris Bradshaw and Stan Newton. Bradshaw led the Frogs with an 8-5 record and a 4.10 earned run average. Newton, who rwas named the TCU pitcher of the year by his teammates, ended the season with a 7-1 record and seven saves.
The five Frogs that received second team honors were: catcher Jason Price, shortstop Erick Macha, third baseman Mike Settle, outfielder Terry Trofholz and utility player Rudy Ontiveros. Price, a senior, ended the season with a .295 average and a .997 fielding percentage. Macha, a junior, led the Frogs with a .350 batting average and 18 steals. Settle, a sophomore, hit .300 and recorded a team-high 19 doubles. Ontiveros and Trofholz, a pair of mid-term transfers, rounded out the squad. Ontiveros, a junior transfer from New Mexico State, hit .364 on the year, and .404 in WAC action. Trofholz, a sophomore transfer from Creighton, hit .316 with 12 steals.
Labandeira, a senior from Porterville, Calif. (College of Sequoias), hit .331 with 36 RBI, 10 doubles, two triples, six home runs and scored 37 runs in 36 conference games. In all games, he hit .366 and led the WAC in hits (93), RBI (67), home runs (14), total bases (161) and slugging percentage (.634).
Baugh, a senior from Houston, Texas (Lamar), earned the WAC's Pitcher of the Year award for the second straight season. Baugh was 12-2 with a 1.82 ERA and 135 strikeouts to lead the league in all of those categories. In conference games, he was 11-1 with a 1.82 ERA and 91 strikeouts, all WAC-highs.
Davis, a native of Houston (Spring Branch Memorial), hit .344 in 60 games for Rice. He had 15 doubles, two triples, six home runs, scored 64 runs and drove in 25. His average was the second highest on the team.
Bennett, in his 33rd season with the Bulldogs, led Fresno State to a second place finish in the WAC with a 22-14 record. Overall, the Bulldogs were 39-23 and earned their second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and 21st under Bennett.
2001 ALL-WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE BASEBALL TEAM
First Team
| Name | Team | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | Pos. | Hometown (Last School) | |
| Brad Harper | Fresno State | 6-0 | 220 | Jr. | C | Madera, Calif. (Madera) | |
| JaRell McIntyre | Nevada | 6-2 | 190 | Jr. | 1B | Elk Grove, Calif. (Laguna Creek) | |
| Gabe Lopez | San Jose State | 5-9 | 175 | Jr. | 2B | Pico Rivera, Calif. (Cerritos JC) | |
| Josh Labandeira | Fresno State | 5-7 | 175 | Sr. | SS | Porterville, Calif. (College of Sequoias) | |
| Hunter Brown | Rice | 6-2 | 195 | Jr. | 3B | Houston, Texas (Galveston College) | |
| Tom Bates | TCU | 6-1 | 200 | Sr. | OF | Sugar Land, Texas (Clements) | |
| Austin Davis | Rice | 5-10 | 165 | Fr. | OF | Houston, Texas (Spring Branch Memorial) | |
| A.J. Porfirio | Rice | 6-2 | 180 | Jr. | OF | Houston, Texas (Tyler JC) | |
| Chis Dickerson | Nevada | 6-3 | 205 | Fr. | OF | Sherman Oaks, Calif. (Notre Dame HS) | |
| Bo Bryant | Nevada | 6-1 | 205 | Sr. | DH | Yorba Linda, Calif. (Arkansas) | |
| Matthew Purtell | Hawai'i | 5-8 | 160 | Sr. | UTI | Sonoma, Calif. (Santa Rosa JC) | |
| Kenny Baugh* | Rice | 6-4 | 195 | Sr. | SP | Houston, Texas (Lamar) | |
| Chris Bradshaw | TCU | 6-4 | 220 | Sr. | SP | Fort Worth, Texas (Eastern Hills) | |
| Jon Skaggs | Rice | 6-5 | 225 | Sr. | SP | Sugar Land, Texas (Dulles) | |
| Stan Newton | TCU | 6-1 | 215 | Sr. | RP | Russellville, Ark. (Russellville) | |
Second Team
| Name | Team | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | Pos. | Hometown (Last School) |
| Jason Price | TCU | 5-10 | 175 | Sr. | C | Sugar Lane,Texas (Clements) |
| Brandon Gemoll* | Fresno State | 6-3 | 210 | Jr. | 1B | San Jose, Calif. (Leland) |
| Oscar Lopez | Fresno State | 5-10 | 170 | Sr. | 2B | San Diego, Calif. (Saint Augustine) |
| Erick Macha | TCU | 6-1 | 180 | Jr. | SS | Victoria, Texas (Victoria) |
| Mike Settle | TCU | 6-0 | 196 | So. | 3B | Fort Worth, Texas (Country Day) |
| Casey McGehee | Fresno State | 6-1 | 165 | Fr. | OF | Aptos, Calif. (Soquel) |
| Junior Ruiz* | San Jose State | 5-10 | 185 | Jr. | OF | Union City, Calif. (James Logan HS) |
| Ryan Petersen# | Hawai'i-Hilo | 6-0 | 190 | Sr. | OF | Central Point, Ore. (Western Oregon) |
| Terry Trofholz | TCU | 6-2 | 185 | So. | OF | Plano, Texas (Creighton) |
| Cortland Wilson | Hawai'i | 5-10 | 180 | Fr. | DH | Sandy, Utah (Skyline HS) |
| Rudy Ontiveros | TCU | 5-8 | 160 | Jr. | UTI | Taylor, Texas (New Mexico State) |
| Chris Sherman | San Jose State | 6-2 | 195 | Sr. | SP | Aptos, Calif. (Soquel HS) |
| Mateo Miramontes | Nevada | 6-4 | 190 | Fr. | SP | Pleasanton, Calif. (Monte Vista) |
| Bob Runyon | Fresno State | 6-2 | 185 | Jr. | SP | Atwater, Calif. (Merced) |
| Philip Barzilla | Rice | 6-0 | 180 | Sr. | RP | Sugar Land, Texas (Alvin CC) |
WAC Player of the Year: Josh Labandeira, Sr., Fresno State
WAC Pitcher of the Year: Kenny Baugh, Sr., Rice
WAC Freshman of the Year: Austin Davis (OF), Rice
WAC Coach of the Year: Bob Bennett, Fresno State
*2000 First Team All-WAC #2000 Second Team All-WAC
