GREENSBORO, NC - Jeremy Wolf of Trinity University earned another accolade on his outstanding season after being named American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings West Region Player of the Year on Tuesday. He joins eleven total SCAC baseball players named All-West Region.
SCAC selections named to the first team include Trinity's Wolf, Drew Butler and Connor Moore. Southwestern University's Will Cates and Texas Lutheran's Nathan Malinovsky also landed on the first team. Second team selections include Centenary College's Chris Zapata and Michael Schimpf and Trinity's Michael Walker and Chris Tate. Third team nods include Trinity's Nick Jewett and Centenary's Kaleb Kirk.
Wolf, a senior outfielder from Scottsdale, Ariz., added another award to his name with the ABCA/Rawlings West Region Player of the Year which joins an SCAC Player of the Year nod and the D3baseball.com All-West Region Player of the Year. Wolf led the Tigers to their fourth consecutive SCAC tournament title and the programs second consecutive World Series berth. Wolf leads the league in slugging percentage (.780), hits (77), RBI's (64), home runs (11) and total bases (142). He is second in the league in batting average (.423), OBP (.516) and runs (56). Wolf was named the West Regional Tournament MVP for the second consecutive year and set the single-season SCAC doubles record with 28, a record that had held for 13 years.
Butler, a senior catcher from Phoenix, Ariz., was named to the D3baseball.com All-West Region first team earlier this week and was an All-SCAC first team selection. He currently has a .360 batting average, .571 slugging percentage, 63 hits, 46 RBI's, 14 doubles and 7 home runs. Butler also earned a spot on the SCAC All-Tournament team.
Moore, a senior shortstop from Phoenix, Ariz., was also named to the D3baseball.com All-West Region first team this week in addition to an All-SCAC first team and All-Tournament nod. He leads the SCAC in runs scored (60), walks (34), stolen bases (30) and is top five in hits (65).
Cates, a senior outfielder from Houston, Texas, had quite the resume in his senior year as well racking up a D3baseball.com All-West Region third team selections, was first team All-SCAC, a member of the All-Tournament team and was named Academic All-District. Cates finished top five in the SCAC in batting average (.388), slugging percentage (.671), runs scored (45), hits (66), home runs (8), stolen bases (28) and total bases (114). He also led the league in triples (7).
Malinovsky, a freshman pitcher from New Braunfels, Texas, earned All-West Region Rookie of the Year this week from D3baseball.com. He also became the first player in SCAC history to earn both SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year and Freshman-of-the-Year in the same season. He posted a league-best 1.97 ERA and .215 opposing batting average, and was also top five in the league in strikeouts (58) and wins (9). In addition to his first team All-SCAC nod, he also earned a spot on the SCAC All-Tournament team.
Zapata, a sophomore catcher from Saratoga, Calif., earned an All-SCAC second team nod this year after finishing leading the Gents in RBI's (43), doubles (16) and home runs (5). He was also top five on the team in batting average (.335), slugging percentage (.540), OBP (.390) and runs scored (33).
Schimpf, a junior outfielder from Shreveport, La., earned a D3baseball.com All-West Region third team nod in addition to a first team All-SCAC selection, All-Tournament team selection and was named Academic All-District this year. He leads the SCAC in batting average (.425) and OBP (.521). He is also top five in slugging percentage (.595), hits (65) and walks (24).
Walker, a senior pitcher from Humble, Texas, was a D3baseball.com second team selection, a second team All-SCAC selection in addition to an All-Tournament nod. He is top five in the SCAC in ERA (2.93) and tied for second with nine wins. He earned the All-Tournament selection after pitching a complete game against TLU in the SCAC semifinal game to put the Tigers in position to win their fourth straight title.
Tate, a junior pitcher from Chandler, Ariz., was an All-SCAC first team selection this year after leading the Tigers in saves (3). He currently posts a 1.42 ERA, a 4-0 record and has recorded 52 strikeouts out of the pen this year.
Jewett, a senior first baseman from Phoenix, Ariz., was a D3baseball.com All-West Region third team selection, a first team All-SCAC selection and was named to the conference All-Tournament team and West Regional All-Tournament team. He is top five in the SCAC in nearly every offensive category including batting average (.421), slugging percentage (.634), OBP (.497), runs scored (47), doubles (16) and total bases (104). At the West Regional tournament, he hit a whopping .526 on a team-best 10 hits and slugged .579 to help send the Tigers to their second straight World Series.
Kirk, a sophomore pitcher from Nacogdoches, Texas, was an All-SCAC first team selection after leading the league in wins (10) and was second in strikeouts (68). He finished the year with a 3.08 ERA and a 10-4 record.
ABCA/Rawlings All-Region First Team selections are nominated for ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors. ABCA/Rawlings All-Americans and Gold Glove winners will be announced Thursday evening.
The ABCA All-America team was first recognized in 1949 and now includes nine divisions: NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA Divisions I, II and III, Pacific Association Division, and high school.
