2012 NCBWA Preseason All-American Teams Announced

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FROM NCBWA RELEASE
WICHITA, Kan. – One of the youngest groups in the decade-plus history of selections, the 12th annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason All-America team has a strong element of 2011 NCAA World Series returnees and loads of exceptional 2012 season sophomores and juniors.

After back-to-back NCAA titles for South Carolina and numerous defections to the professional ranks in ‘11, the 2012 projected team may be a mini-view of the NCAA World Series next June.

The defending champ Gamecocks landed pitcher Matt Price, who led the nation with 20 saves and kept USC in the running throughout the CWS with clutch relief appearances, on the first unit, along with starting ace Michael Roth (14-3, 1.06 earned run average, 112 strikeouts in a workhorse 145 innings pitched. Also off of Ray Tanner’s title crew is 1B Christian Walker, a second team selection, after posting a .358 batting average with 10 home runs and 62 RBIs.

First team All-America catcher Mike Zunino of Florida brings back NCAA team runner-up credentials and 2011 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year statistics – 19 homers, 67 RBIs and a .371 average. Teammates first squad utility player Brian Johnson (8-3 pitching record, .307-5-29), relief standout Austin Maddox (3-0, 0.67 ERA, 5 saves) and DH Preston Tucker (.308-15-74) – the latter two second team – graced the A-A rosters.

In consultation with individual schools’ media relations offices, the NCBWA All-America committee for pre-2012 listed both the Gamecocks’ Price and Virginia’s Branden Kline as starting pitchers, where they are projected by their coaching staffs in ’12.

In addition to the USC and UF returnees from the World Series, many other young standouts with 2011 postseason credentials were honored.

Standouts from other Series participants California, North Carolina, Texas, Texas A&M, and Virginia are throughout the dream team compilations.

Cal CWS vets 2B Tony Renda and pitcher Justin Jones joined North Carolina 3B Colin Moran. Texas pitcher Cory Knebel (2011 NCBWA Stopper of the Year and Freshman Pitcher of the Year) and 3B Erich Weiss, Texas A&M OF Tyler Naquin and pitcher Ross Stripling, and UVa’s Kline, as well known collegians on the pre-2012 squads.

Others of note were NCBWA Freshman Hitter of the Year OF Daniel Aldrich (.347-22 HR-73 RBI) of College of Charleston and national 2011 home run leader OF Victor Roache (30 dingers) of Georgia Southern and undefeated pitcher Tyler Ray (12-0) of Troy on a multi-talented group of student-athletes. LJ Mazzilli, whose father Lee Mazzilli had a long playing career and managed in the Major Leagues, of NCAA-contending Connecticut was the first team second sacker.

The combined winning percentage of .795 (58-15 composite) among the first unit pitcher compares favorably with the marks of the pre-2010 squad (67-12) and the pre-2011 NCBWA standouts (74-11). There were 15 freshmen, sophomores or juniors from the 2011 season who were either Players, Hitters or Pitchers of the Year in their respective conferences.

The 12th annual NCBWA preseason All-America group also had representatives of 19 different conferences and 37 schools from the NCAA Division I ranks. The eight starting or relief pitchers on the first squad each had earned run averages of 2.40 or less.

Most of these preseason standouts will be nominated for the 26th annual Dick Howser Trophy, presented by Easton Foundations and the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Area Chamber of Commerce and voted upon by the NCBWA membership. The Howser Trophy will be awarded in Omaha, Neb., in June 2012, after an extensive nomination and national balloting process.

2012 Preseason NCBWA All-America Teams
First Team
Player School Class Avg. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB/SBA
C Mike Zunino Florida Jr. .371 72 264 75 98 23 0 19 67 32 52 7/9
1B Adam Brett Walker Jacksonville Jr. .409 61 242 65 99 23 2 13 75 35 63 14/14
2B LJ Mazzilli Connecticut Jr. .338 65 275 48 93 23 5 3 32 21 28 11/21
3B Stephen Piscotty Stanford Jr. .364 57 225 35 82 13 1 3 40 17 27 2/5
SS Bo Cuthbertson Southern Utah Sr. .432 51 192 51 83 20 7 5 47 27 33 15/18
OF Victor Roache Georgia Southern Jr. .326 62 230 58 75 10 2 30 84 37 42 3/7
OF Daniel Aldrich Coll. of Charleston So. .347 59 222 43 77 17 2 22 73 18 59 1/1
OF Tyler Naquin Texas A&M Jr. .381 67 273 68 104 23 7 2 44 29 35 6/13
DH Brad Zebedis Presbyterian So. .425 56 212 47 90 23 0 13 57 16 22 1/2

Player School Class Avg. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB/SBA
ERA W-L APP GS CG SV IP H R ER BB SO
UT Brian Johnson Florida Jr. .307 61 192 26 59 11 2 5 29 21 36 2/2
Pitching 3.62 8-3 16 15 0 0 79.2 78 36 32 15 72

Pitcher School Class ERA W-L APP GS CG SV IP H R ER BB SO
SP Michael Roth South Carolina Sr. 1.06 14-3 21 20 1 0 145 108 36 17 41 112
SP Tyler Ray Troy Jr. 2.34 12-0 16 16 3 0 116.2 103 35 31 16 69
SP Ross Stripling Texas A&M Sr. 2.29 14-2 20 20 2 0 125.2 91 43 32 18 113
SP Branden Kline Virginia So. 1.88 4-1 32 0 0 18 43 30 12 9 22 56
SP Matt Price South Carolina So. 1.83 7-3 36 0 0 20 59 44 12 12 20 75
RP Tony Bryant Oregon State So. 1.52 3-2 28 0 0 12 47.1 39 9 8 11 40
RP Caleb Reed Mississippi State Sr. 1.55 1-2 29 0 0 12 64 51 14 11 23 66
RP Corey Knebel Texas So. 1.13 3-2 38 0 0 19 56.2 28 8 7 12 60

Second Team
Player School Class Avg. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB/SBA
C Josh Elander TCU Jr. .333 48 171 38 57 11 2 5 38 28 36 9/9
1B Christian Walker South Carolina Jr. .358 69 271 64 97 21 1 10 62 36 30 4/7
2B Tony Renda California Jr. .332 61 265 38 88 14 2 3 44 13 28 9/11
3B Colin Moran North Carolina So. .335 67 248 46 83 20 2 9 71 47 33 2/4
SS Alex Mejia Arizona Jr. .335 60 230 40 77 12 4 0 42 4 23 7/13
OF Kyle Wren Georgia Tech So. .340 63 265 57 90 11 7 1 32 30 32 16/23
OF James Ramsey Florida State Jr. .364 65 250 58 91 18 3 10 67 31 52 11/14
OF Landon Anderson Dallas Baptist Sr. .356 62 250 72 89 13 7 7 58 22 23 21/24
DH Preston Tucker Florida Sr. .308 72 286 55 88 23 0 15 74 28 29 5/8
UT Marco Gonzales Gonzaga So. .291 36 110 20 32 10 0 0 14 17 19 1/1
Pitching 2.57 11-2 15 15 0 0 105 83 36 30 21 90

Pitcher School Class ERA W-L APP GS CG SV IP H R ER BB SO
SP Sean Tierney James Madison Sr. 3.43 10-1 18 8 1 0 63 62 30 24 25 47
SP Ty Blach Creighton Jr. 2.65 10-3 19 18 0 0 102 94 33 30 29 100
SP Kyle Kraus Portland Jr. 3.30 10-3 15 15 3 0 109 111 46 40 18 89
SP DJ Baxendale Arkansas Jr. 1.58 10-2 19 12 1 3 85.1 69 19 15 21 77
SP Buck Farmer Georgia Tech Jr. 2.82 11-3 16 16 2 0 108.1 95 47 34 31 106
RP John Neely Texas Tech Sr. 2.97 9-1 30 0 0 7 60.2 59 20 20 21 56
RP Austin Maddox Florida Jr. 0.67 3-0 21 0 0 5 27 20 3 2 3 21
RP Tyler Smith Rider Jr. 2.58 3-3 29 0 0 15 38.1 26 11 11 7 41

Third Team (Ties in Voting)
Player School Class Avg. G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB/SBA
C Jeremy Schaffer Tulane Sr. .338 57 210 45 71 23 2 6 37 39 28 0/0
1B Joey DiMichele Arizona State Jr. .368 52 193 37 71 16 7 9 51 14 27 6/8
2B Devon Travis Florida State Jr. .329 60 231 58 76 26 0 6 33 45 32 5/9
3B Erich Weiss Texas So. .348 68 224 46 78 12 7 4 45 53 37 12/17
SS Deven Marrero Arizona State Jr. .313 54 219 33 69 14 3 2 20 14 30 10/15
SS Tyler Hannah Troy Sr. .370 62 235 62 87 27 2 7 53 38 27 6/10
OF Pablo Bermudez FIU Sr. .373 58 233 63 87 16 2 5 37 51 49 17/26
OF Andrew Rash Virginia Tech Jr. .335 51 191 49 64 17 0 18 53 18 50 4/7
OF Travis Jankowski Stony Brook Jr. .355 54 186 39 66 7 3 2 38 20 22 30/34
OF Thomas Pope UNC Wilmington Sr. .396 59 202 48 80 13 2 5 46 32 29 19/24
DH Zac Fisher New Mexico State Jr. .398 52 171 35 68 15 0 8 56 18 27 0/1
UT Josh Dezse Ohio State So. .332 53 193 30 64 11 2 4 42 27 47 0/1
Pitching 5.53 4-2 26 0 0 3 27.2 30 23 17 22 32
D.J. Hicks UCF Jr. .351 61 228 42 80 11 0 14 66 35 49 1/2
Pitching 8.03 2-1 12 0 0 1 12.1 19 12 11 2 14

Pitcher School Class ERA W-L APP GS CG SV IP H R ER BB SO
SP Brady Rodgers Arizona State Jr. 2.75 9-4 15 15 1 0 98.1 88 38 30 9 87
SP Justin Jones California So. 2.93 9-6 20 14 3 0 119.2 113 48 39 31 81
SP Austin Kubitza Rice So. 2.34 6-5 15 15 1 0 100 95 38 26 24 102
SP Andrew Smith Charlotte Sr. 1.81 10-4 16 16 1 0 109.1 83 27 22 26 92
SP Justin Amlung Louisville Jr. 2.31 10-2 15 15 0 0 105 78 31 27 27 80
SP Karsten Whitson Florida So. 2.40 8-1 19 19 0 0 97.1 84 29 26 28 92
RP Jake Dyer Georgia State Sr. 1.67 3-0 24 0 0 8 32.1 33 6 6 7 23
RP Nitt Wittgren Purdue Jr. 3.18 2-3 29 1 0 12 51 47 22 18 10 55
RP Chris Overman NC State Jr. 2.39 6-3 30 0 0 7 49 38 17 13 7 45