Thursday, May 21, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. – Montana State Billings second baseman Brody Miller was named an All-American by two organizations this week.

On Thursday, Miller and Central Washington utility player Kasey Bielec were selected as All-Americans by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). Miller was also a third-team honoree by Daktronics on Friday.

Miller was named to the third team for the second consecutive season by the NCBWA after becoming the first-ever MSUB baseball player to earn an All-American honor in 2014. Bielec is the second-straight Wildcat to be selected to the honorable mention team.

Miller was named to the American Baseball Coaches Associations (ABCA) West Region first-team Tuesday after earning NCBWA and Daktronics first-team honors last week. Bielec was selected as a second-teamer by both organizations as well.

Miller, the two-time GNAC Player of the Year, was the home run and RBI leader in the GNAC his senior season hitting 14 long balls while driving in 59 runs. His 148 assists in the field were also the second most in the conference this season. The second baseman was named the GNAC Player of the Week twice and the NCBWA West Region Player of the Week once after hitting four home runs and driving in 14 runs in a four-game series in early April.

Bielec was the GNAC batting champion in 2015, having a .409 batting average while leading his team in slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits and RBI’s, just to name a few categories.

This is Bielec’s third post-season honor and Miller’s fifth. Miller and teammate Luke Reinschmidt were named to the ABCA West Region first-team Tuesday after earning NCBWA and Daktronics first-team honors last week.

MSUB’s Reinschmidt tied for the conference-high in hits this year with 74 while ranking second in the GNA in runs scored, RBI’s, stolen bases and total bases. Reinschmidt was named the NCBWA National Player of the Week in February, the second time ever a GNAC player was honored with this award.

Miller and Reinschmidt led their team to the GNAC regular-season title in 2015 and hosted the GNAC Championships the first week of May.

Western Oregon's Matt Taylor was a second-team ABCA selection. Taylor led the Wolves in eight different categories in 2015, including batting average (.371), on-base percentage (.449) and runs scored (37). The outfielder was also selected as part of the NCBWA West Region honorable-mention team last week.

Western Oregon’s Jesse Pratt was named to the Daktronics second All-West Region team. Pratt was the GNAC Pitcher of the Year after leading the conference in wins, strikeouts and earned run average. He was selected honorable-mention by the NCBWA on Tuesday.

Four other GNAC players were selected on one of the three NCBWA teams.

SMU's Chandler Tracy was a first-team honoree. Tracy, the all-time home run leader in GNAC history, hit 12 this season while also hammering 15 doubles. His .495 on-base percentage and .717 slugging percentage also led the conference. Knowing how dangerous Tracy’s bat was this season, opposing pitchers stayed off the plate when facing him resulting in a GNAC-high 39 walks. This tied for fifth nationally in Division II.

Pitchers Cory Welch and Pratt were selected to the honorable-mention team as was outfielders Taylor and Josh Hatfield.

CWU’s Welch was a GNAC second-team selection, having thrown four complete-games his senior season. Northwest Nazarene’s Hatfield led his team in batting average, on-base percentage, runs scored and hits while posting a .968 fielding percentage. 

The West Region Player and Pitcher of the Year for all three associations was Kamran Young from Cal State Dominguez Hills and Justin Donatella from UC San Diego, respectively. The Coach of the Year by the NCBWA was awarded to Randy Betten of Cal Poly Pomona.

Donatella was also selected as the NCAA DII National Pitcher of the Year by the NCBWA. Catawba's Will Albertson was selected as the national Player of the Year by both Daktronics and the NCBWA. The Daktronics Pitcher of the Year went to Reese Gregory of St. Cloud State while his coach, Pat Dolan, was selected as the Coach of the Year by the NCBWA.

Miller, who is a two-time All-American already this season, and Reinschmidt are eligible for the ABCA All-American teams released Monday.

DAKTRONICS All-American

Third-Team: Brody Miller, Montana State Billings (2B, 5-8, Sr., Missoula, MT). 

NCBWA All-American

Third-Team: Brody Miller, Montana State Billings (2B, 5-8, Sr., Missoula, MT). Honorable-Mention: Kasey Bielec, Central Washington (Utl, 5-11, Sr., Port Orchard, WA).

NCBWA West Region

First-Team: Brody Miller, Montana State Billings (2B, 5-8, Sr., Missoula, MT); Luke Reinschmidt, Montana State Billings (CF, 5-11, Jr., Billings, MT); Chandler Tracy, Saint Martin's (C, 6-2, Sr., Bellevue, WA). Second-Team: Kasey Bielec, Central Washington (Utl, 5-11, Sr., Port Orchard, WA). Honorable-Mention: Cory Welch, Central Washington (RHP, 6-0, Sr., Las Vegas, NV); Josh Hatfield, Northwest Nazarene (Cf, 5-10, Jr., Meridian, ID); Jesse Pratt, Western Oregon (RHP, 6-5, Sr., Monmouth, OR); Matt Taylor, Western Oregon (LF, 6-1, Sr., Corona, CA).

DAKTRONICS West Region

First-Team: Brody Miller, Montana State Billings (2B, 5-8, Sr., Missoula, MT); Luke Reinschmidt, Montana State Billings (CF, 5-11, Jr., Billings, MT). Second-Team: Kasey Bielec, Central Washington (Utl, 5-11, Sr., Port Orchard, WA); Jesse Pratt, Western Oregon (RHP, 6-5, Sr., Monmouth, OR).

ABCA/Rawlings West Region

First-Team: Brody Miller, Montana State Billings (2B, 5-8, Sr., Missoula, MT); Luke Reinschmidt, Montana State Billings (CF, 5-11, Jr., Billings, MT). Second-Team: Matt Taylor, Western Oregon (LF, 6-1, Sr., Corona, CA).