SPOKANE -- Central Washington University seniors
DERRICK WEBB (Ephrata) and
DAVID LEID (Carson City, Nev./Carson HS) have been named to the 2012 all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference baseball first team, highlighting 10 total selections for the Wildcats as announced by the conference office.
Webb, who batted a team-best .365 and started at least one game at all four infield positions in 2012, was named to the team as a utility infielder. His primary positions were first and third base, where he started 18 games each, and he ended the year as the Wildcats' team leader with 16 doubles.
Leid earned all-conference accolades at designated hitter, batting .329 with four home runs and 35 runs batted in. His RBI total ranked second on the team, while he added 11 doubles among his 48 hits on the season. He also made seven starts at catcher for the Wildcats.
Collecting second-team all-conference honors were senior pitcher
BRANDON ROHDE (Gig Harbor), outfielders
BRETT BIELEC (Sr., Port Orchard/North Mason HS) and
JIMMY RYERSON (Jr., Seattle/Roosevelt HS), and senior second baseman
BRANDON WANG (Mill Creek/Jackson HS).
Rohde and Wang both battled injuries throughout the 2012 season, with Rohde missing starts in two conference series. He still finished the season with a 6-3 record and 4.81 earned-run average, and had 28 strikeouts in his final 14 innings to wrap up the year. Wang, meanwhile, batted .350 with three home runs and 19 runs batted in while committing just three errors in 111 chances at second base. He appeared in 34 games, making 33 starts.
Bielec and Ryerson were mainstays in the Wildcats' outfield whose batting averages hovered around the .300 mark for most of the season. Bielec led the team in stolen bases with eight and batted .281, while Ryerson hit .292 with four home runs and 29 RBI. Those two combined to make just one error in 221 defensive chances.
Honorable mention all-conference selections were senior pitcher
KYLE LONG (Edmonds/Edmonds-Woodway HS), junior catcher
KYLE SANI (Kennewick/Southridge HS), senior shortstop
BRADY KINCANNON (Federal Way/Decatur HS), and sophomore outfielder
ETHAN STERKEL (Ellensburg).
Western Oregon University, which won its 11th consecutive GNAC title, had nine players named to the all-conference first team and won three of four specialty awards from the conference.
Central Washington finished the 2012 season in a tie for fourth place in the conference standings with an 11-21 league record and a 19-31 overall mark.
2012 GNAC ALL-CONFERENCE BASEBALL TEAM
FIRST TEAM: Pitchers - +*Grady Wood, Western Oregon (6-0, 185, Sr., Junction City, Ore.); +Travis Bradshaw, Western Oregon (6-7, 215, Sr., Woodinville); +**Kirk Lind, Western Oregon (5-10, 210, Sr., Vancouver); Jason Wilson, Western Oregon (6-2, 200, Sr., Bend, Ore.). Relief Pitcher - Aaron Vaughn, Northwest Nazarene (5-10, 185, So., Tucson, Ariz.). Catcher - +Chandler Tracy, Saint Martin's (6-2, 220, Fr., Issaquah). First Base - +*Bo Folkinga, Western Oregon (6-3, 210, Sr., Twin Falls, Idaho). Second Base - Mario Sanelli, Saint Martin's (5-11, 185, Jr., Issaquah). Shortstop - +Blake Miller, Western Oregon (6-3, 190, Jr., Salem, Ore.). Third Base - +*Griff Boyd, Western Oregon (6-1, 185, Sr., Medford, Ore.).
Infield - DERRICK WEBB, Central Washington (6-2, 205, Sr., Ephrata). Designated Hitter - DAVID LEID, Central Washington (5-10, 200, Sr., Carson City, Nev.). Outfield - +David Amberson, Western Oregon (6-2, 210, Jr., Everett); +*Sean McDonald, Northwest Nazarene (5-9, 185, Sr., Boise, Idaho); +Matt Nylen, Western Oregon (6-2, 200, Jr., Damascus, Ore.); Zach Steele, Northwest Nazarene (6-2, 205, Sr., Santa Barbara, Calif.). *Repeater **Two-Time Repeater (Lind from 2009 & 2011) +Unanimous
SECOND TEAM: Pitchers - BRANDON ROHDE, Central Washington (6-3, 215, Sr., Gig Harbor); Tommy DeBoer, Saint Martin's (5-10, 170, Sr., Olympia); Sam Paterson, Montana State Billings (5-9, 165, Jr., McMinnville, Ore.). Relief Pitcher - Ian MacDougall, Western Oregon (5-11, 175, Sr., Bend, Ore.). Catcher - Kyle Blackwell, Western Oregon (5-11, 210, Jr., Fruitland, Idaho). First Base - Derek Bettinson, Northwest Nazarene (6-1, 200, Sr., Boise, Idaho).
Second Base - BRANDON WANG, Central Washington (5-10, 180, Sr., Mill Creek). Shortstop - Colby Robison, Montana State Billings (6-1, 190, Jr., Rexburg, Idaho). Third Base - Ty Gilmore, Montana State Billings (5-10, 175, Fr., Billings, Mont.). Designated Hitter - Charlie Gorzo, Northwest Nazarene (6-1, 210, Jr., Murrietta, Calif.).
Outfield - BRETT BIELEC, Central Washington (5-10, 180, Sr., Port Orchard); JIMMY RYERSON, Central Washington (5-11, 175, Jr., Seattle); AJ Royal, Western Oregon (6-3, 205, Sr., Roseburg, Ore.); Zack Leonard, Saint Martin's (5-9, 180, Sr., Graham).
HONORABLE MENTION: Pitchers - Brady Muller, Montana State Billings (6-1, 165, Fr., Billings, Mont.); Matt Eames, Montana State Billings (6-5, 200, Jr., Billings, Mont.); Zeb Sneed, Northwest Nazarene (6-5, 205, Jr., Twin Falls, Idaho);
KYLE LONG, Central Washington (6-0, 175, Sr., Edmonds). Relief Pitchers - Bobby Ragasa, Montana State Billings (5-9, 190. Jr., Milwaukie, Ore.); AJ Burke, Western Oregon (6-3, 210, Jr., Hillsboro, Ore.).
Catchers - KYLE SANI, Central Washington (6-1, 245, Jr., Kennewick); Jamie Mitchell, Northwest Nazarene (6-0, 210, Jr., Calgary, Alberta). First Base - Blake Loran, Montana State Billings (6-0, 200, So., Billings, Mont.).
Shortstop - BRADY KINCANNON, Central Washington (6-3, 195, Sr., Federal Way). Third Base - Kaleb DeHaas, Northwest Nazarene (5-10, 185, Fr., Coeur d'Alene, Idaho).
Outfield - Charlie Gorzo, Northwest Nazarene (6-1, 210, Jr., Murrietta, Calif.); Logan Parker, Northwest Nazarene (5-10, 195, Jr., Jerome, Idaho);
ETHAN STERKEL, Central Washington (6-2, 210, So., Ellensburg).
SPECIAL AWARDS: Player-of-the-Year - Bo Folkinga, Western Oregon (1B, 6-3, 210, Sr., Twin Falls, Idaho) and Blake Miller, Western Oregon (6-3, 190, Jr., Salem, Ore.). Pitcher-of-the-Year - Grady Wood, Western Oregon (SP, 6-0, 185, Sr., Junction City, Ore.). Newcomer-of-the-Year - Blake Miller, Western Oregon (SS, 6-3, 190, Jr., Salem, Ore.). Freshman-of-the-Year - Chandler Tracy, Saint Martin's (C, 6-2, 220, Fr., Issaquah). Coach-of-the-Year – Jeremiah Robbins, Western Oregon.