Monday, May 14, 2012

Western Oregon first baseman Bo Folkinga and Wolf shortstop Blake Miller have been voted the 2012 GNAC Co-Players of the Year.

Western Oregon ace Grady Wood earned GNAC Pitcher of the Year honors for the second year in a row posting a perfect 12-0 record and extending his win streak to 20. That is just one shy of the NCAA Division II all-time record of 21. He is the first athlete in GNAC history to win Pitcher of the Year honors twice.

WOU coach Jeremiah Robbins, who led the Wolves to a 40-9 record and their 11th consecutive GNAC baseball title, was voted the GNAC Coach of the Year for the seventh year in a row. Robbins, who is a 2001 graduate of Eastern Oregon University, has a career record of 252-107 in his seven seasons in Monmouth.

Miller, who is a transfer from Sacramento State, was also selected the GNAC Newcomer of the Year . He leads the GNAC in hitting with a .412 average and also has six home runs and 48 RBI.

Saint Martin's catcher Chandler Tracy was voted the GNAC Freshman of the Year. Tracy led the Saints in hitting (.329), home runs (8) and RBI (39).

Folkinga batted .384 for the Wolves and is the conference leader in home runs (13) and RBI (66). His runs batted in total is just three shy of the GNAC all-time record of 69, set by Chris Ridenour of Western Oregon in 2002.

Folkinga was the GNAC Triple Crown winner in conference games, batting .453, slugging 11 home runs and driving in 46 runs. The latter two figures are GNAC records.

In addition to his 12-0 record, Wood takes a 1.30 earned run average into the NCAA Division II West Regionals which begin Thursday at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer, Ore. His win total equals the GNAC record and his ERA is on pace to smash the conference record of 1.53 set last year by WOU's Kirk Lind.

Folkinga, Miller and Wood were among nine Western Oregon players named to the GNAC 16-man first team all-star team.

They were also among 10 unanimous selections. Also earning unanimous accolades were Tracy, Lind, WOU pitcher Travis Bradshaw, Wolf third baseman Griff Boyd, outfielders David Amberson and Matt Nylen, both from Western Oregon, and Northwest Nazarene outfielder Sean McDonald.

Lind was a first team selection for the third time. He is just the fifth player to GNAC history to earn first team honors three or more times. Wood, Folkinga, Boyd and McDonald were also repeaters from last year.

Other first team selections included Western Oregon pitcher Jason Wilson, Northwest Nazarene reliever Aaron Vaughan, Saint Martin's second baseman Mario Sanelli, Central Washington infielder Derrick Webb and Wildcat designated hitter David Leid and Northwest Nazarene outfielder Zach Steele.