KEIZER, OREGON – West Coast League President Dennis Koho announced the 2014 All-West Coast League teams and individual league awards as voted on by the league’s field managers. This year’s WCL Champions, the Bellingham Bells, placed three pitchers on the All-WCL first team and collected a number of honors including Pitcher of the Year, Coach of the Year, Executive of the Year, and the Jim Dietz Sportsmanship Award. Bellingham beat WCL defending-champion Corvallis in the West Coast League Championship Series two games to one and posted the league’s top record at 37-17.
Yakima Valley Pippins slugger Vince Fernandez of UC Riverside took home league Most Valuable Player honors. The sophomore-to-be outfielder led the league and set new single-season WCL marks in home runs with 10 and RBIs with 51.
Bellingham Bells ace Seth Martinez of Arizona State was named Pitcher of the Year. Martinez followed up his perfect spring with a perfect summer, as the sophomore-to-be right-hander went 6-0 and posted a league-low ERA of 2.07. During the spring, Martinez went 5-0 with the Sun Devils. He finished his freshman college season with 11 victories and no defeats.
Bells’ skipper Jeff James of Washington was named Coach of the Year, and the Bells won the Jim Dietz Sportsmanship Award for the second consecutive year. To complete a near sweep of league awards, Bellingham’s General Manager Nick Caples was named Executive of the Year, his second Exec of the Year award as Caples also earned the honor in 2012. The Bells drew 7,939 for three home playoff games and recorded a franchise-high average attendance of 1,331 per game this past regular season (fifth best in the WCL).
First-Team All-WCL
C – Ryan Matranga (San Francisco), Kitsap BlueJackets
1B – Steven Packard (Oregon), Klamath Falls Gems
2B – Marc Gallegos (Corban), Corvallis Knights
3B – Dennis Morton (Palomar College), Klamath Falls Gems
SS – Alex DeGoti (Long Beach State), Victoria HarbourCats
OF – Vince Fernandez (UC Riverside), Yakima Valley Pippins
OF – Andrew Mendenhall (Lewis-Clark State), Walla Walla Sweets
OF – Hunter Mercado-Hood (San Diego), Victoria HarbourCats
UTL – Dalton Kelly (UC Santa Barbara), Corvallis Knights
SP – Jackson Lockwood (Portland), Corvallis Knights
SP – Shane Bieber (UC Santa Barbara), Cowlitz Black Bears
SP – Eder Erives (Arizona State), Bellingham Bells
SP – Seth Martinez (Arizona State), Bellingham Bells
SP – Eli Morgan (frosh-to-be at Gonzaga), Yakima Valley Pippins
RP – David Bigelow (Gonzaga), Bellingham Bells
RP – Kevin Sheets (Abilene Christian), Bend Elks
Second-Team All-WCL
C – Michael McCann (Seattle), Wenatchee AppleSox
1B – Kevin Kline (Dixie State), Corvallis Knights
2B – Caleb Wood (Gonzaga), Wenatchee AppleSox
SS – Michael Duarte (UC Irvine), Walla Walla Sweets
3B – Brock Carpenter (Seattle), Bend Elks
OF – Sam Brown (Gonzaga), Wenatchee AppleSox
OF – Grant Melker (San Diego), Corvallis Knights
OF – Daniel Woodrow (Creighton), Kitsap BlueJackets
UTL – Danny Miller (Chico State), Bellingham Bells
SP – Zach Johnson (Edmonds CC), Bellingham Bells
SP – Andrew Woods (VMI), Yakima Valley Pippins
SP – Brandon Bailey (Gonzaga), Wenatchee AppleSox
SP – Angel Landazuri (UC Riverside), Corvallis Knights
SP – Aaron Sandefur (Bellevue College), Bellingham Bells
RP – Brandon Choate (Washington), Corvallis Knights
RP – Jay Flaa (North Dakota State), Walla Walla Sweets
Honorable Mention
Bellingham Bells – Dallas Carroll (Utah), Scott Heath (Maine), Dan Ludwig (Belmont), Eric Webber (Georgetown); Bend Elks– Luis Cohen (Cal State Northridge), Nick Lopez (Creighton), Jake Peevyhouse (Arizona State); Corvallis Knights – Chris Haddeland (Linfield), Logan Ice (Oregon State), Michael Lucarelli (Portland), Dane Lund (Oregon State), Jackson Soto (frosh-to-be at Oregon State); Cowlitz Black Bears – Daniel Orr (Corban), Kort Peterson (UCLA), Joe Reta (Orange Coast College), Billy Sahlinger (Portland), Jonathan Serven (Long Beach State); Kelowna Falcons– Joshua Nuernberg (College of Southern Nevada), Connor Waltner (San Diego); Kitsap BlueJackets – Josh Moss (St. Martin’s), Matt Narahara (San Francisco), Dylan LaVelle (Everett CC); Klamath Falls Gems – Thomas Walker (UC Riverside); Medford Rogues –Jackson Bertsch (Lane CC), Christian Cox (Nebraska), Ivan Dilda (Pepperdine), Nathan Etheridge (Western Oregon), David Peterson (frosh-to-be at Oregon), Shane Quarterly (Lane CC), Trent Shelton (Oregon State), Spencer Smith (Lane CC); Victoria HarbourCats – Gabe Clark (Oregon State), Nathan Lukes (Sacramento State), Mikey Wright (San Jose State); Walla Walla Sweets – Conner O’Neill (Central Arizona College), Jarod Gonzales (Walla Walla CC); Wenatchee AppleSox – AJ Alcantara (UC Irvine), Tyler Frost (frosh-to-be at Gonzaga), Shaun Vetrovec (frosh-to-be at UC Irvine); Yakima Valley Pippins – Alex Guenette (UC Irvine), Kenny Rosenberg (Cal State Northridge), Mitch Skaggs (College of Idaho), Shawn Wardian (AIB College of Business), Brandon Williams (Central Washington).
WCL MVPs
2014 – Vince Fernandez (UC Riverside) of Yakima Valley
2013 – Alex Calbick (Maine) of Bellingham
2012 – Mitchell Gunsolus (Gonzaga) of Wenatchee
2011 – Alex Stanford (Gonzaga) of Walla Walla
2010 – Tommy Richards (Washington State) of Bend
2009 – Richie Jimenez (Riverside CC) of Corvallis
2008 – Drew Heid (Gonzaga) of Bend
2007 – Zach Kim (San Francisco) of Moses Lake; Brandon Kuykendall (Benedictine College) of Kitsap
2006 – Darin Holcomb (Gonzaga) of Spokane
2005 – Steve Marquardt (Columbia Basin College) of Wenatchee
WCL Pitchers of the Year
2014 – Seth Martinez (Arizona State) of Bellingham
2013 – Nick Sabo (Long Beach State) of Klamath Falls
2012 – Cord Cockrell (Louisiana-Lafayette) of Kelowna
2011 – Owen Jones (Portland) of Wenatchee
2010 – Dayne Quist (UC Davis) of Kelowna
2009 – Matt Andriese (UC Riverside) of Corvallis
2008 – Jared Eskew (Cal Poly) of Corvallis
2007 – Paul Applebee (UC Riverside) of Bellingham
2006 – Ross Humes (Washington State) of Kitsap
2005 – Tommy Hanson (Riverside CC) of Aloha
WCL Coaches of the Year
2014 – Jeff James, Bellingham
2013 – Brooke Knight, Corvallis
2012 – Ed Knaggs, Wenatchee
2011 – Brooke Knight, Corvallis
2010 – Ed Knaggs, Wenatchee
2009 – Brooke Knight, Corvallis; Ed Knaggs, Wenatchee
2008 – Brooke Knight, Corvallis
2007 – Gabe Boruff, Moses Lake
2006 – Steve Hertz, Spokane
2005 – Ed Knaggs, Wenatchee
WCL Executives of the Year
2014 – Nick Caples, Bellingham
2013 – Holly Jones, Victoria
2012 – Nick Caples, Bellingham
2011 – Eddie Poplawski, Bellingham
2010 – Zachary Fraser, Walla Walla
2009 – Dan Segel, Corvallis
2008 – Dan Segel, Corvallis
2007 – Dan Segel, Corvallis
2006 – Brent & Amy Kirwan, Moses Lake
2005 – Rick Smith & partners, Kitsap
Jim Dietz Sportsmanship Award*
2014 – Bellingham Bells
2013 – Bellingham Bells
2012 – Cowlitz Black Bears
2011 – Cowlitz Black Bears
2010 – Moses Lake Pirates
2009 – Moses Lake Pirates
2008 – Corvallis Knights
*established in 2008, and named after the league’s inaugural commissioner Jim Dietz.
