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Baseball All-WAC.pdf
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DENVER - The Western Athletic Conference today released its 2002 all-WAC baseball teams and postseason awards as selected by the league's head coaches. Rice freshman first baseman Vincent Sinisi was named the Player of the Year, Fresno State junior Ben Fritz earned Pitcher of the Year honors, and the Freshman of the Year award went to Rice pitcher Philip Humber. Rice head coach Wayne Graham was selected as Coach of the Year.
Sinisi, a freshman from The Woodlands, Texas (The Woodlands HS/Texas), hit .500 with 43 RBI, nine doubles, one triple, seven home runs and scored 38 runs in 30 conference games. He led the WAC in batting average, hits (61), runs, RBI, home runs and total bases (93). In all games, he hit a WAC-best .433 and led the conference in hits (104), RBI (73), total bases (157) and slugging percentage (.654). Sinisi is the first Owl to win the Player of the Year Award since Damon Thames in 1998.
Fritz, a junior from San Jose, Calif. (Oak Grove HS), earned the WAC's Pitcher of the Year award after putting together a record of 6-3 in 10 WAC starts. He had an ERA of 2.50 and was second in the conference with 72 strikeouts. Fritz also started at catcher, first base and designated hitter during the conference season and hit .296 in 30 games with 24 RBI and 22 runs scored.
Humber, a native of Carthage, Texas (Carthage HS), was 8-0 in 10 conference starts with a 2.36 ERA and a league-leading 78 strikeouts. In all games, he was 11-1 with a 2.50 ERA and 121 strikeouts. Humber is Rice's second straight player to win the Freshman of the Year Award as outfielder Austin Davis won it in 2001.
Graham, in his 11th season with the Owls, led Rice to its sixth straight WAC title with a 28-2 record, the most wins in conference history. Overall, the Owls are 47-11 and earned their eighth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, all under Graham.
Rice led the conference with seven players on the all-WAC first team. San Jose State was second with four players followed by Fresno State with two and Louisiana Tech with one. Repeat selections from 2001's first team included San Jose State's Gabe Lopez, Rice's Hunter Brown and Rice's Austin Davis. Fritz earned two spots on the first team as he was voted to one of the three starting pitcher spots and the utility position.
Rice placed five players on the second team, followed by San Jose State with four, Louisiana Tech and Nevada with two and Fresno State and Hawai`i with one each.
2002 ALL-WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE BASEBALL TEAMFirst TeamName, Team, Ht., Wt., Yr., Pos., Hometown (Last School)Adam Shorsher, San Jose State, 6-2, 218, Sr., C, San Jose, Calif. (Leland HS)
Vincent Sinisi, Rice, 6-0, 195, Fr., 1B, The Woodlands, Texas (Texas)
*Gabe Lopez, San Jose State, 5-9, 175, Sr., 2B, Pico Rivera, Calif. (Cerritos JC)
Paul Janish, Rice, 6-2, 160, Fr., SS, Cypress, Texas (Cypress Creek HS)
*Hunter Brown, Rice, 6-2, 200, Sr., 3B, Houston, Texas (Galveston College)
#Casey McGehee, Fresno State, 6-1, 186, So., 3B, Aptos, Calif. (Soquel HS)
*Austin Davis, Rice, 5-10, 170, So., OF, Houston, Texas (Spring Branch Memorial HS)
Chris Kolkhorst, Rice, 5-9, 170, So., OF, Houston, Texas (Blinn JC)
Dino Quintero, San Jose State, 5-10, 170, Jr., OF, Mountain View, Calif. (Mission JC)
Hector Zamora, San Jose State, 6-1, 215, Jr., DH, Culver City, Calif. (Cerritos JC)
Ben Fritz, Fresno State, 6-4, 225, Jr., UTI, San Jose, Calif. (Oak Grove HS)
Ben Fritz, Fresno State, 6-4, 225, Jr., SP, San Jose, Calif. (Oak Grove HS)
Steven Herce, Rice, 6-3, 220, Jr., SP, Houston, Texas (St. Thomas HS)
Philip Humber, Rice, 6-4, 210, Fr., SP, Carthage, Texas (Carthage HS)
Derek Brewster, Louisiana Tech, 5-10, 200, Sr., RP, Carthage, Texas (Panola JC)
Second TeamName, Team, Ht., Wt., Yr., Pos., Hometown (Last School)Justin Ruchti, Rice, 6-2, 200, Jr., C, Houston, Texas (San Jacinto-North College)
Gregg Omori, Hawai`i, 5-11, 185, Sr., 1B, Kaneohe, Oahu (San Francisco)
Kyle Humphreys, Louisiana Tech, 6-2, 215, Jr., 1B, Spring, Texas (Blinn JC)
Eric Arnold, Rice, 6-1, 190, Sr., 2B, LaPorte, Texas (LaPorte HS)
Chris Patrick, Fresno State, 5-10, 170, So., SS, Fresno, Calif. (Clovis HS)
Kevin Frandsen, San Jose State, 6-0, 160, So., 3B, San Jose, Calif. (Bellarmine Prep)
Nate Corrick, San Jose State, 6-1, 185, Fr., OF, San Jose, Calif. (Valley Christian HS)
*A.J. Porfirio, Rice, 6-2, 195, Sr., OF, Houston, Texas (Tyler JC)
Cullen Simmons, Louisiana Tech, 6-0, 204, Sr., OF, Ruston, La. (Ruston HS)
Dane Bubela, Rice, 5-10, 190, Jr., DH, Houston, Texas (Blinn JC)
Mike Gillies, Nevada, 6-2, 210, Sr., UTI, Port Moody, B.C. (Southern Idaho)
Matt Durkin, San Jose State, 6-4, 210, Fr., SP, San Jose, Calif. (Willow Glen HS)
Jahseam George, San Jose State, 6-5, 220, Sr., SP, Clovis, Calif. (BYU)
Darrell Rasner, Nevada, 6-4, 215, Jr., SP, Carson City, Nev. (Carson HS)
Wade Townsend, Rice, 6-4, 220, Fr., RP, Dripping Springs, Texas (Dripping Springs HS)
WAC Player of the Year: Vincent Sinisi, Fr. Rice
WAC Pitcher of the Year: Ben Fritz, Jr., Fresno State
WAC Freshman of the Year: Philip Humber, SP, Rice
WAC Coach of the Year: Wayne Graham, Rice
*2001 First Team All-WAC
#2001 Second Team All-WAC