Monday, May 4, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. – Montana State Billings senior second baseman Brody Miller was selected as the GNAC Player of the Year for the second year in a row while MSUB coach Rob Bishop was named the Coach of the Year Monday.

One of the most potent bats in GNAC history, Miller ranks in the top five all-time in starts, hits, RBI’s, home runs and total bases. This season, Miller led the conference in home runs (14), RBI’s (59) and total bases (128) while batting .360. His 59 RBI’s rank 27th nationally in Division II while his 14 home runs hit are 19th.

The senior was also the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Associations (NCBWA) West Region Player of the Week April 6-12 after recording 14 RBI’s and hitting four home runs in four games.

Bishop brought his team from a fourth-place finish a year ago to earn it’s first-ever GNAC regular-season championship in 2015. MSUB’s 27 wins tie for the most in the conference. The seventh win for the Yellowjackets this year was also Bishop’s 500th career victory.

GNAC Pitcher of the Year honors went to Western Oregon’s Jesse Pratt. The Monmouth native led the conference in wins with seven while also posting its lowest ERA at 2.62, nearly a full run lower than the rest of the field.

Pratt was named GNAC Pitcher of the Week twice, his second award coming after throwing a complete-game shutout where he allowed just a single-hit in his seven-innings pitched.

The conference Newcomer of the Year award was shared by Central Washington’s Darren Honeysett and Northwest Nazarene’s Tyler Davis.

Honeysett led the Wildcats in runs scored, home runs and doubles in 2015 while boasting a .978 fielding percentage in the outfield. Davis was one of six GNAC baseball players to earn NCBWA West Region Player of the Week honors. The junior led the GNAC in doubles with 20 while recording the fourth most home runs in the conference.

The GNAC Freshman of the Year was Western Oregon relief pitcher Brady Miller. In his 17 appearances in 2015, Miller went 2-0 with a 1.56 ERA. He allowed just six earned runs the entire year while striking-out 39 batters, the third most on the team.

Eleven players were unanimous selections to the GNAC first-team, including Brody Miller, Pratt, Honeysett and Davis.

Saint Martin’s Chandler Tracy was named first-team all-GNAC for the third time in his career. The GNAC’s career home run leader, Tracy led the GNAC in on-base percentage (.495) and slugging percentage (.717) while ranking fifth nationally in walks (39).

Other unanimous first-team selections include CWU’s Kasey Bielec, MSUB’s Brady Muller and Luke Reinschmidt, NNU’s Josh Hatfield and Andrew Helmstadter and WOU’s Matt Taylor.

Seven other players were named to the GNAC first-team, highlighted by Western Oregon first-team repeater, Garret Harpole.

Montana State Billings, Western Oregon and Northwest Nazarene will all compete in the GNAC Championships Thursday and Friday at Dehler Park in Billings, Mont.

2015 GNAC ALL-CONFERENCE

SPECIAL AWARDS:
Player of the Year – Brody Miller, MSUB (2B, 5-9, 190, Sr., Missoula, MT) 
Pitcher of the Year – Jesse Pratt, WOU (6-5, 215, Sr., Monmouth, OR) 
Newcomers of the Year – Darren Honeysett, CWU (OF, 6-0, 190, Jr., Port Coquitlam, BC) and Tyler Davis, NNU (2B, 6-0, 187, Jr., Orinda, CA)
Freshman of the Year – Brady Miller, WOU (RP, 6-2, 175, Fr., Gilbert, AZ)
Coach of the Year – Rob Bishop, MSU Billings

First Team: Starting Pitchers – *Jesse Pratt, WOU (6-5, 215, Sr., Monmouth, OR); *+Brady Muller, MSUB (6-1, 185, Sr., Billings, MT); Zach Johnson, CWU (6-0, 205, Jr., Kirkland, WA); Tanner Johnson, MSUB (6-3, 215, Jr., Belgrade, MT). Relief Pitcher – Shawn Domke, WOU (6-3, 195, Jr., Oak Park, CA).  Catcher – *++Chandler Tracy, SMU (6-2, 225, Sr., Bellevue, WA); *Andrew Helmstadter, NNU (6-0, 180, So., Palm Desert, CA). First Base – Nate Etheridge, WOU (6-5, 225, Jr., Grants Pass  OR). Second Base – *+Brody Miller, MSUB (5-9, 190, Sr., Missoula, MT). Shortstop – Corey Morris, MSUB (5-9, 165, Jr., Richland, WA). Third Base – +Garret Harpole, WOU (6-1, 205, Sr., Elmira, OR). Infield – *Tyler Davis, NNU (2B, 6-0, 187, Jr., Orinda, CA). Utility – *+Kasey Bielec, CWU (1B-2B-3B, 5-11, 205, Sr., Port Orchard, WA).  Designated Hitter – Trevor Nix, MSUB (5-11, 190, Sr., Tigard, OR). Outfielders – *+Luke Reinschmidt, MSUB (5-11, 180, Jr., Billings, MT); *Darren Honeysett, CWU (6-0, 190, Jr., Port Coquitlam, BC); *Josh Hatfield, NNU (5-10, 180, Jr., Meridian, ID); *+Matt Taylor, WOU (6-1, 195. Sr., Corona, CA).  *Unanimous  +Repeater (Muller from 2013)  ++Two-time repeater (Chandler from 2012, 14).

Second Team:  Starting Pitchers – Cory Welch, CWU (6-0, 180, Sr., Las Vegas, NV); Garrett Alvarez, WOU (6-2, 170, Jr., Madera, CA); Darrien Moran, WOU (6-0, 195, Jr., Federal Way, WA). Relief Pitcher – Brady Miller, WOU (6-2, 175, Fr., Gilbert, AZ).  Catcher – Conner Holbrook, MSUB (5-8, 165, Sr., Walla Walla, WA).   First Base – Randy Fuller, CWU (6-3, 220, Jr., Clarkston, WA). Shortstop – Jonathan Dailey, CWU (6-3, 165, Jr., Sherwood, OR).  Third Base – Travis Shaw, SMU (6-0, 195, Sr., Mililani, HI). Outfielders – Casey Merritt, MSUB (5-11, 180, So., Twin Falls, ID); Carl Svanevik, SMU (6-2, 210, Sr., Woodinville, WA); Cody Sullivan, WOU (6-0, 195, Jr., Port Angeles, WA).

Honorable Mention: Pitchers – Mitch Yada, CWU (6-0, 195, So., Moses Lake, WA); Jake Reppert, NNU (6-5, 200, Sr., Monroe, WA); Blake Mitchell, NNU (6-0, 180, Jr., Anaheim, CA); Colton Loomis, NNU (6-0, 160, Jr., Cashmere, WA); Colben McGuire, NNU (5-11, 190, Sr., Idaho Falls, ID); Josh Moss, SMU (6-2, 230, Sr., Rochester, WA); Zach Carter, SMU (6-0, 190, Sr., Camas, WA). Catcher – Benjamin Dunbar, CWU (5-10, 190, Jr., Lantzville, BC).  Shortstop – Marcus Hinkle, WOU (6-0, 185, Sr., Puyallup, WA).  Third Base – Jeff Beckman, CWU (6-1, 185, Sr., Renton, WA). Outfielders – Myles Berkram, MSUB (5-7, So., Billings, MT); Jesse Hilyard, NNU (6-4, 200, Fr., Klamath Falls, OR).