SAN BRUNO, Calif. --- Portland senior catcher Rocky Gale was named the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year and earned his first career All-WCC First Team honor, the league announced on Thursday. Gale was one of seven Pilots honored, which is the program’s most to earn all-conference recognition since UP joined the WCC for baseball in 1996.
Portland is coming off its second most successful season ever, finishing the year with a 34-18 overall record. The 34 wins are second to only the 1980 squad, which went 36-12. The Pilots also went 14-7 in the WCC and finished in second place for their best finish ever in the conference.
Gale, who was a unanimous selection, is joined on the All-WCC First Team by junior pitcher Chris Dennis, junior second baseman Riley Henricks and sophomore pitcher Kyle Kraus, who was also a unanimous selection. Senior first baseman C.J. Cullen, junior pitcher Zach Varce and freshman outfielder Nick Armenta landed all-conference honorable mention, while Armenta was also voted to the WCC All-Freshman Team.
League champion San Diego landed eight players on the WCC’s 25-man all-conference team, including the Player of the Year in senior outfielder James Meador and the Pitcher of the Year in junior RHP Kyle Blair. USD Head Coach Rich Hill was named the WCC Coach of the Year after guiding the Toreros to their third WCC title in the last four seasons. Rounding out this year’s individual honors is LMU’s Matt Lowenstein, who earned Freshman of the Year.
Gale, a native of Keizer, Ore., had a stellar senior year, leading the Pilots on defense and at the plate. He hit a team and career-high .347, hit .431 during league play, belted two home runs, had 11 doubles, scored 20 runs and brought home 16. He also threw out a staggering 18 of 23 attempted base stealers, for a national-leading percentage of .782.
Dennis, a right-hander who transferred to Portland from Edmonds CC last summer, registered 14 saves during his first season at UP, setting new career and single-season marks for the Pilots. The native of Bothell, Wash., also went 5-1 overall and posted a miniscule earned run average of 1.88. He held opposing hitters to a .204 batting average, walked just nine in 43.0 innings of work and notched 51 strikeouts, for a per-game average of 10.7. His 14 saves are tied for the second most in the country.
Henricks, who earned All-WCC honorable mention last year and earned first-team recognition as a freshman, came on strong during league play and finished with a .302 batting average. The native of Mukilteo, Wash., matched the program single-season record with seven triples and he led the team in runs (43) and doubles (13). He also had six homers and 29 RBI’s.
Kraus, a right-hander, was masterful all season long and he became just the second pitcher in UP history to register double-digit wins. At 10-3, the West Linn, Ore., native matched Ted Devore’s program record for wins during a season, which came in 1989 when Devore went 10-6. Kraus won his first nine games before picking up a loss, posted a 3.30 ERA, led the league in wins and allowed the opposition to a .259 batting average. He struck out 89, which included a game with 14 K’s, walked only 18 in 109.0 innings and tallied three complete-game wins.
Cullen had a break-out year and was perhaps Portland’s most consistent hitter. He posted a career-high batting average of .335 and finished a team-high 64 hits, four home runs, eight doubles, a triple, 34 RBI’s and 38 runs scored. A former shortstop, the Seattle, Wash., native was solid at first base, finishing with just three errors in 446 chances for a fielding percentage of .993.
Varce, a right-hander, was nearly unhittable at times as he made the transition from UP’s closer last year to the No. 1 starter this spring. The Seattle, Wash., native went 6-2 overall with an ERA of 3.29. He was third in the WCC and 18th in the nation with 111 strikeouts, which ranks third all-time for a single-season at UP. On Feb. 27, Varce combined with Dennis to strikeout a program record 19 during a 2-1, 10-inning win over Seattle. Varce fanned 14, while Dennis K’d five.
Armenta’s bat came alive during league play as the native of Clovis, Calif., hit .310 against WCC foes. He also finished with 11 RBI’s overall, four doubles, a homer, 16 runs and six stolen bases. He was perfect in the field with a 1.000 fielding percentage and he registered 63 putouts and three assists.
The All-WCC teams and individual conference honors are voted on by the league’s coaches.
2010 All-WCC Baseball Teams
Player of the Year: James Meador*, USD
Pitcher of the Year: Kyle Blair*, USD
Defensive Player of the Year: Rocky Gale, POR
Freshman of the Year: Matt Lowenstein, LMU
Coach of the Year: Rich Hill, USD
*Indicates unanimous selection
First Team
Nik Balog, USF
Conor Bernatz*, USF
Kyle Blair*, USD
Matt Bywater*, PEP
Mark Castellitto, GON
Troy Channing, SMC
Cole Cook*, PEP
Chris Dennis, POR
Chris Engell*, USD
Rocky Gale*, POR
AJ Griffin, USD
Ryan Hawthorne, LMU
Drew Heid*, GON
Riley Henricks, POR
Brian Humphries, PEP
Geoff Klein, SCU
Kyle Kraus*, POR
Nick McCoy*, USD
James Meador*, USD
Tommy Medica*, SCU
Kevin Muno, USD
Colin Rooney, PEP
Sammy Solis*, USD
Matt Thomson, USD
Stephen Yarrow, USF
Honorable Mention
Nick Armenta, POR
Kyle Barraclough, SMC
Dillon Checkal, USD
CJ Cullen, POR
Robert Dickman, PEP
Chris Eusebio, LMU
Justin Fazio, SMC
Mike Ferraro, USD
Floyd Given, PEP
Nate Johnson, PEP
Pete Lavin, USF
Ryan Lipkin, USF
Matt Lowenstein, LMU
Doug Murray, USF
Matt Ozanne, SCU
Evan Peters, SCU
Derek Poppert, USF
Ryan Rieger, SCU
Joe Sever, PEP
Zach Vincej, PEP
Zach Varce, POR
All-Freshman Team
Nick Armenta, POR
Clayton Eslick, GON
Steven Halcomb, GON
Matt Lowenstein*, LMU
Jason Mahood*, USF
Matt Ozanne, SCU
Ryan Rieger*, SCU
Joe Sever*, PEP
Zach Vincej*, PEP
Patrick Wisdom, SMC
