Four different West Coast Conference programs shared in the All-Conference individual honors, with San Diego’s James Meador and Gonzaga’s Matt Fields highlighting this year’s honorees. Meador and Fields were near unanimous selections as WCC Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, while Saint Mary’s Troy Channing was a unanimous selection for Freshman of the Year honors, and Pepperdine’s Denny Duron took home the second-ever WCC Defensive Player of the Year award. Gonzaga Head Coach Mark Machtolf was named WCC Coach of the Year after leading the Zags to the program’s first ever regular season crown.
Meador is the second Torero in three year’s to win the conference’s top award and the fourth overall. He had a highly productive 2009 campaign as he led the league in batting (.438) hits (39), and total bases (60) during conference play. He was also tied for fifth in RBI (23) and was third in doubles (9) during league play. He was extremely consistent for San Diego as he recorded multiple hits in 15 of 21 league games. Overall, Meador was fourth in the league in batting (.376) and was second in hits (80). The Ramona, CA native was just two hits and three doubles away from entering the Toreros’ all-time single season list.
Fields is the second Bulldog to win Pitcher of the Year in three years, following Clayton Mortensen in 2007. He completed conference play with an undefeated 5-0 record to go along with a 2.81 ERA. Overall, Fields finished the season with a 7-1 record and ranked second in the league in ERA at 2.85. Throughout the season he only allowed four earned runs once and didnt allow more than three in any other game that he started and went at least five innings in every game. He also recorded one complete game shutout this season.
Channing is the third Gael to win the award as the conference’s top freshman. He had one of the most successfull rookie campaigns in WCC history as he almost became just the third player in conference history to win the Triple Crown, finishing the season ranked first in the league in home runs (20), RBI (75), and second in batting average (.379). Channing also led all freshman nationally in home runs, RBI, total bases (149), and slugging percentage (.723).
Machtolf won the Coach of the Year Award for the second time in Gonzaga history after leading the Zags to their first ever WCC regular seson title. He also guided Gonzaga to its third straight 30+ win season for the first time in program history since joining the WCC. It also marks the first time the school will be hosting the WCC Championship Series.
Duron was named the WCC’s Defensive Player of the Year in its second year of existence. He committed just three errors all season and only one during conference play, while compiling a .982 fielding percentage.
Player of the Year: James Meador, USD
Pitcher of the Year: Matt Fields, GON
Freshman of the Year: Troy Channing, SMC
Defensive Player of the Year: Denny Duron, PEP
Coach of the Year: Mark Machtolf, GON
All-WCC First Team
Dane Braunecker, USF
Matt Bywater, PEP
Troy Channing, SMC
Matt Fields, GON
Nate Garcia, SCU
Nick Gaudi, PEP
AJ Griffin, USD
Kyle Jensen, SMC
Drew Johnson, USF
Jonathan Johnson, LMU
Brian Justice, SMC
Jon Karcich, SCU
Zach Kim, USF
Geoff Klein, SCU
James Meador, USD
Doug Murray, USF
Sean Nicol, USD
Derek Poppert, USF
Lee Roberts, LMU
Nate Simon, PEP
Anthony Synegal, GON
Tyson Van Winkle, GON
Zach Walters, USD
Ryan Wheeler, LMU
Ryan Wiegand, GON
Honorable Mention
Scott Alexander, PEP
Anthony Aliotti, SMC
Steven Ames, GON
Brandon Berl, SMC
TJ Bernardy, LMU
Cort Carpenter, POR
Bobby Ethel, USF
Ryan Hawthorne, LMU
Riley Henricks, POR
Matt Hiserman, USF
Kris Kauppila, POR
Matt Long, SCU
Nick McCoy, USD
Cory Miller, SMC
Shon Roe, LMU
Kyle Spraker, LMU
Bryce Uhrig, PEP
Zach Varce, POR
All-Freshman Team
Kyle Barraclough, SMC
Andrew Biancardi, SCU
Troy Channing, SMC
Cole Cook, PEP
Bryan Haar, USD
Ryan Hawthorne, LMU
Brian Humphries, PEP
Kris Kauppila, POR
Kyle Kraus, POR
Shon Roe, LMU
