Friday, August 28, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. – The West Coast League announced its seasonal awards for 2015, with eight GNAC players receiving honors and Western Oregon pitcher Brady Miller being named Pitcher of the Year.

Miller finished the summer season going 6-0, with a 2.18 ERA in seven starts with the Kelowna Falcons. He is heading into his sophomore season with the Wolves after being named GNAC Freshman of the Year as a relief pitcher this past spring.

Along with Miller, Northwest Nazarene third baseman Tyler Davis and Central Washington relief pitcher Lars Rider were named to the First Team All-WCL. Concordia relief pitcher Harrison McGhee received second team honors. Western Oregon’s Brandon Oliver and Nathan Etheridge and CWU’s Dustin Hamilton and Mitch Yada were named honorable mention.

Davis heads into his senior season with the Crusaders after being named the GNAC’s Co-Newcomer of the Year and a first-team selection as a fifth infielder. Davis led the WCL with 50 RBIs, 25 doubles and 70 hits. He was fifth in the league with a .352 batting average, while also hitting seven home runs for the Bend Elks.

Rider is a transfer out of Wenatchee Valley Community College, having not yet thrown a pitch for the Wildcats. In the WCL, Rider led the way out of the bullpen with 13 saves and a 0.98 ERA, striking out 33 batters in just 18.1 innings pitched for the Cowlitz Black Bears.

Pitching for the Corvallis Knights, McGhee finished third in saves in the WCL with eight, along with a 0.98 ERA. He struck out 23 batters in 18.1 innings pitched.

Oliver hit .289 with Kelowna, driving in 18 with a home run from the catcher position. Etheridge tied for eighth in RBIs with 32, hitting .278 with four home runs for the Medford Rogues. Hamilton recorded five saves out of the pen with a 2.76 ERA for the Wenatchee Apple Sox and Yada went 4-3 with a 3.01 ERA in nine starts for the Yakima Valley Pippins.

The WCL is a wood bat, summer, baseball league for college-eligible student athletes that wish to continue to hone their skills and to get a taste of the day-to-day life of a baseball career. With 12 teams across the northwest and players from all three NCAA Divisions, the league provides opportunities for players of varying levels.