Friday, January 27, 2017

PORTLAND, Ore. – One week before the official start of the 2017 NCAA Division II baseball season, four GNAC baseball players were named to the National College Baseball Writers’ Association Preseason All-West Region Team.

The team of 16 players featured four GNAC athletes from four different programs, including Western Oregon starting pitcher Brady Miller, Concordia outfielder Gerhett Moser, Montana State Billings designated hitter Adam Cox and Northwest Nazarene catcher Drew Helmstadter.

Miller is the defending GNAC Pitcher of the Year after leading the conference with 10 wins in Western Oregon’s run to become co-conference champion. Miller, a 6-foot-2 right-handed pitcher going into his junior season, recorded a 3.14 ERA and struck out 89 batters in 80.1 innings in 2016. Miller picked up his 10th win in the elimination bracket final of the GNAC Championships, throwing six one-run innings with seven strikeouts for an 18-1 victory over MSUB.

Moser made the most of his 2016 campaign as both a pitcher and an outfielder. The Portland native batted .427 with three doubles and 14 RBIs. Moser also pitched in 13 games, where he recorded a 5.97 ERA with a team-high 78.1 innings pitched. Moser was a unanimous selection for Second Team All-GNAC in his first year competing in the league.

Cox was selected to the NCBWA Preseason All-West Region team as a designated hitter, but the junior out of Encino, Calif. also figures to be a key part of the Yellowjackets’ pitching staff in 2017. Cox had a .371 batting average in 2016 with nine home runs and a team-high 47 RBIs. On the mound, he put together and impressive 6-1 record in 17 relief appearances. He threw 27.1 innings and struck out 37 batters to be named a Second Team All-GNAC pitcher.

Helmstadter will be a key part in the GNAC’s preseason favorite’s bid to defend its regular season GNAC title and GNAC Championships triumph. The senior catcher batted .331 with 26 extra-base hits in 2016. He led the team with 18 doubles and drove in 37 runs. Behind the plate, Helmstadter had a .970 fielding percentage whiling guiding the Crusader pitching staff to a team ERA of 5.02.

The 2017 GNAC season gets underway on Friday with Concordia traveling to UCSD. Western Oregon will also get its season started next weekend with a Saturday double-header against Corban in Monmouth, Ore. Both Western Oregon and Northwest Nazarene, which were selected in a tie for 10th place in the NCBWA West Region Preseason Poll, will play the following Thursday with the Crusaders opening their 2017 campaign against Cal State L.A. The rest of the league will start its season the following weekend.