FROM NCBWA RELEASE
STARKVILLE, Miss. – While the Olympics and other international baseball events dominated much of the 2008 baseball scene, the ninth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Pro-Line Athletic pre-2009 All-America team features many of the standouts from the various “dream” teams.
First team pitcher Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State was prominent on the mound staffs of both the U.S. Olympic team (composed mainly of top professional baseball stalwarts) as well as the U.S. National Team, which finished 24-0 and set a national team summer earned run average of 1.87.
Fresno State first baseman Alan Ahmady of both the Bulldogs’ 2008 NCAA-winning edition and Team USA earned second team All-America laurels on teams loaded with the top projected collegiate talent for ’09.
While pitching numbers reflect the depth and star power of 2009 college competition, all three units are composed of teams which could make runs at NCAA regional and national crowns.
There are 19 conferences and 43 different schools (most in the nine-year annals of NCBWA preseason All-America choices) represented among the selections by the NCBWA preseason All-America committee, and, as the coaches often say, the difference may be pitching.
Besides Olympian Strasburg (8-3, 1.57 ERA, 133 SO in 97-plus innings), standout returnee Chris Hernandez (11-0, 2.72 ERA, 117 SO in just over 112 frames) of Miami (Fla.)’s NCAA World Series entry and Alex White (13-3, 2.83 ERA) from North Carolina’s 2008 CWS squad join Oklahoma State’s Tyler Lyons (12-2, 3.31 ERA), Missouri State’s Tim Clubb (11-0, 2.52 ERA) and Jacksonville State’s Ben Tootle (10-2, 3.87 ERA) as starters on the NCBWA initial “dream team.”
Relief standouts A.J. Griffin (1.96 ERA, 14 saves) of San Diego and Eric Pettis (2.21 ERA, 17 saves) of UC Irvine compliment 2008 postseason NCBWA second team All-America closer Scott Bittle (7-1, 1.78 ERA, 8 saves) of Mississippi in a splendid first team bullpen.
The remainder of the NCBWA top unit is composed of several returning conference Players of the Year, youngsters who carried teams to Omaha in ’08 and a sound array of power hitters.
Indiana catcher Josh Phegley brings back a Big Ten Conference-topping .438 batting average along with 15 homers and 80 RBI in 61 contests. North Carolina 1B Dustin Ackley also sizzled with a .417 batting average (tops among Atlantic Coast Conference returnees for ’09), 116 hits, 21 doubles, seven homers, 51 RBI, and 19 stolen bases in 25 attempts while batting in the leadoff spot (a rarity for first sackers on any level). 2B Brandon Sizemore of College of Charleston led all second basemen nationally in 2007 with 20 homers and 82 RBI and adds major wallop in the infield.
Shortstop belongs to Miami Hurricane Ryan Jackson with a .360 average and 50 RBI for the NCAA World Series qualifier while the first team third baseman is Louisville’s Chris Dominguez with impressive .365-21 HR-75 RBI numbers from 2007.
Rounding out the multi-talent-blessed top squad are Southland Conference Player of the Year OF Michael Rockett (.360-10 HR-68 RBI) of UT-San Antonio, Arizona State OF Jason Kipnis (.371-14-73, 24 SB in 28 tries), Tennessee OF Kentrail Davis of 2008 Team USA, designated hitter Chad Cregar (.360-21-82) of Western Kentucky, and another Arizona State multi-purpose standout in utility player Mike Leake (11-3 as a pitcher, 3.49 ERA, .340 batting average).
Many of these preseason standouts will be nominated for the 23nd annual Dick Howser Trophy, presented by the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Area chamber of Commerce and voted upon by the NCBWA membership. The Howser Trophy will be awarded on Saturday, June 13, 2009 prior to Game One of the NCAA World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
2009 Preseason NCBWA All-America Team (2008 Stats)
First Team
Pos. Name, School Class BA G AB R H 2B-3B-HR RBI
C Josh Phegley, Indiana Jr. .438 61 224 69 98 20-2-15 80
1B Dustin Ackley, North Carolina Jr. .417 64 278 82 116 21-4-7 51
2B Brandon Sizemore, C of Charleston Sr. .325 59 252 69 82 24-2-20 82
3B Chris Dominguez, Louisville Jr. .365 62 249 68 91 13-2-21 75
SS Ryan Jackson, Miami (Fla.) Jr. .360 63 242 49 87 19-1-4 50
OF Michael Rockett, UT-San Antonio Sr. .360 57 247 60 89 25-5-10 68
OF Jason Kipnis, Arizona State Jr. .371 62 237 76 88 16-6-14 73
OF Kentrail Davis, Tennessee So. .330 54 204 45 68 7-3-13 44
DH Chad Cregar, Western Kentucky Sr. .360 60 250 47 90 15-1-21 82
UT Mike Leake, Arizona State Jr. .340 31 47 16 16 3-1-2 11
Pitching: 11-3 record, 3.49 ERA, 19 G, 16 GS, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 121.1 IP, 118 H, 61 R, 47 ER, 20 BB, 104 SO
Pitchers
Name, School Cl. ERA W-L G IP H BB SO
SP Stephen Strasburg, San Diego State Jr. 1.57 8-3 13 97.1 61 16 133
SP Tyler Lyons, Oklahoma State Jr. 3.31 12-2 15 108.2 111 19 92
SP Ben Tootle, Jacksonville State Jr. 3.87 10-2 15 86 87 29 79
SP Chris Hernandez, Miami (Fla.) So. 2.72 11-0 18 112.2 92 18 117
SP Alex White, North Carolina Jr. 2.83 13-3 20 101.2 78 42 113
SP Tim Clubb, Missouri State Jr. 2.52 11-0 14 103.2 90 32 82
RP A.J. Griffin, San Diego Jr. 1.96 1-1 29 14 SV 33 12 49
RP Scott Bittle, Mississippi Sr. 1.78 7-1 27 8 SV 35 30 130
RP Eric Pettis, UC Irvine Jr. 2.62 4-3 31 17 SV 37 20 50
Second Team
Pos. Name, School Class BA G AB R H 2B-3B-HR RBI
C Bryce Massanari, Georgia Sr. .325 70 252 39 82 12-1-11 65
1B Alan Ahmady, Fresno State Jr. .382 77 285 59 110 17-1-13 92
2B Jed Gyorko, West Virginia So. .409 56 232 62 95 17-3-8 63
3B Bennett Davis, Elon Sr. .350 61 220 66 77 15-0-18 82
SS (tie) Grant Green, Southern Calif. Jr. .390 50 205 46 80 15-5-9 46
SS Josh Rutledge, Alabama So. .369 62 268 62 99 8-2-2 31
OF Nate Lape, Marshall Sr. .388 59 214 62 83 17-0-17 63
OF Matt den Dekker, Florida Jr. .333 55 213 55 71 9-2-8 48
OF Cory Harrilchak, Elon Sr. .410 56 205 71 84 12-5-11 46
DH Ben Carlson, Missouri State Jr. .379 57 237 57 92 11-1-17 67
UT Brandon May, Alabama Jr. .365 63 252 60 92 18-0-9 50
Pitchers
Name, School Cl. ERA W-L G IP H BB SO
SP Justin Marks, Louisville Jr. 2.37 9-2 16 91 77 29 89
SP Shane Davis, Canisius So. 2.42 12-1 13 89.1 89 24 47
SP Seth Maness, East Carolina So. 3.57 9-2 16 98.1 99 20 81
SP Chris Fetter, Michigan Sr. 2.47 10-2 16 94.2 71 28 82
SP Mike Minor, Vanderbilt Jr. 4.28 7-3 15 103 99 28 101
SP Christian Bergman, UC Irvine Jr. 1.94 5-2 25 60.1 59 16 37
RP Kyle Bellamy, Miami (Fla.) Jr. 1.86 6-0 43 3 SV 40 13 75
RP Jimmy Gilheeney, NC State Jr. 1.12 2-0 21 10 SV 24 12 42
RP Nick Gaudi, Pepperdine Sr. 2.68 5-1 29 15 SV 43 13 36
Third Team
Pos. Name, School Class BA G AB R H 2B-3B-HR RBI
C Griffin Benedict, Georgia Southern Sr. .355 57 217 60 77 17-2-12 65
1B David Anderson, Coastal Carolina Sr. .333 61 252 52 84 17-1-20 59
2B Ben Soignier, Louisiana-Monroe Sr. .394 57 236 83 93 21-2-16 46
3B Stuart Tapley, Florida State So. .397 53 174 50 69 14-1-7 35
SS Derek Dietrich, Georgia Tech So. .332 62 238 53 79 16-2-14 66
OF (tie) Aaron Senne, Missouri Jr. .347 59 216 51 75 14-0-13 67
OF Sonny Meade, The Citadel Sr. .393 56 229 49 90 16-0-5 46
OF Brian Cavazos-Galvez, New Mexico Sr. .367 54 210 51 77 17-3-11 55
OF Kyle Conley, Washington Jr. .337 54 181 49 61 13-2-19 57
DH Ty Wright, Georgia Southern Sr. .398 50 196 63 78 22-1-17 52
UT (tie) Blake Dean, LSU Jr. .353 67 269 62 95 18-3-20 73
UT Rob Segedin, Tulane So. .322 62 233 37 75 18-1-6 59
Pitching: 1-2 record, 4.66 ERA, 14 G, 0 GS, 0 CG, 0 SHO, 19.1 IP, 23 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 4 BB, 21 SO, 5 SV
Pitchers
Name, School Cl. ERA W-L G IP H BB SO
SP Scott Ruffin, Texas So. 1.96 8-3 17 78 54 24 82
SP Ryan Berry, Rice Jr. 3.63 8-5 17 104 103 31 86
SP Matt Harvey, North Carolina So. 2.79 7-2 19 67.2 52 47 80
SP Daniel Bibona, UC Irvine Jr. 3.09 9-3 20 102.1 97 21 97
SP Tyler Lockwood, TCU Jr. 2.75 7-2 17 104.2 97 15 71
SP Bryan Morgado, Tennessee So. 4.59 5-5 14 80.1 70 37 104
RP Zach Calhoon, UT-San Antonio Jr. 1.54 4-1 26 13 SV 41 35 54
RP Chase Dempsay, Houston So. 2.53 8-3 33 11 SV 64 19 49
RP Jason Stoffel, Arizona Jr. 3.00 4-2 34 13 SV 34 15 79
