Gillespie, Kunda, Casey Nab Top Pac-10 Honors
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State junior outfielder Cole Gillespie, senior second baseman Chris Kunda and head coach Pat Casey were among the top honorees when the Pacific-10 announced its all-conference selections on Wednesday. Gillespie (West Linn, Ore./West Linn HS) was named the Pacific-10 Player of the Year; Kunda (Philomath, Ore./Philomath HS) was named the Pacific-10 Defensive Player of the Year; and Casey was named the Coach of the Year.
It was the second straight season that OSU garnered the Player of the Year and Coach of the Year honors. In 2005, former OSU outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury had shared the Player of the Year award and Casey had been named Coach of the Year.
A trio of Beavers earned all-conference first team honors for the second straight season - sophomore shortstop Darwin Barney (Beaverton, Ore./Southridge HS), junior righthanders Dallas Buck (Newberg, Ore./Newberg HS) and Jonah Nickerson (Oregon City, Ore./Oregon City HS) and junior lefthander Kevin Gunderson (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic HS). Earning honorable mention from OSU were sophomore catcher Mitch Canham (Lake Stevens, Wash./Lake Stevens HS), senior third baseman Shea McFeely (Federal Way, Wash./Tacoma CC) and Kunda.
Gillespie scored 69 runs in the 2006 regular season, the most by any Pac-10 player this season and a new Oregon State single-season record. He led the conference with a .683 slugging percentage and tied for first with a .492 on-base percentage, while ranking among the Pac-10 leaders in batting average (.370, 4th), RBI (50, 7th), doubles (20, 3rd), home runs (11, 5th) total bases (129, 5th), and stolen bases (14, tied for 4th). A Pac-10 Player of the Week honoree on May 29, Gillespie is a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award.
Kunda earns the Pac-10's first Defensive Player of the Year honor. The senior ranks among the Pac-10 leaders, fielding 33 doubles plays this season (tied for 8th), and 21 doubles plays in Conference games only (6th). Kunda holds a .977 fielding percentage, putting out 88 and making 120 assists on 213 chances.
Casey earns his third Pac-10 Coach of the Year award after leading the Beavers to a second consecutive Pac-10 championship with a 16-7 record in league play. Oregon State was picked to finish first in the Pac-10 coaches' preseason poll, and the Beavers were a unanimous top-10 pick in the national polls.
OSU has been ranked among the nation's best with a 3.53 earned run average and a .973 fielding percentage, while scoring 7.13 runs per game. In 12 years at Oregon State, Casey has a record of 375-248-4. On the way to his 2005 award, Oregon State earned the most conference wins by any Pac-10 team since the league merged its Northern and Southern divisions prior to 1999. Casey also was named the Pac-10 North Co-Coach of the Year in 1997.
2006 ALL-PACIFIC-10 BASEBALL
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Cole Gillespie, jr. OF, Oregon State. PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Tim Linecum, jr., Washington. DEFENSIVE PLAYER THE YEAR: Chris Kunda, sr. 2B, Oregon State. FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Ike Davis, UT, Arizona State. COACH OF THE YEAR
Pat Casey, Oregon State.
FIRST TEAM: Hector Ambriz, jr. DH, UCLA; Ryan Babineau, fr. C, UCLA; Darwin Barney (2), so. SS, OSU; Dallas Buck (2), jr. RHP, OSU; Zach Clem (2), sr. OF, UW; Colin Curtis, jr. OF, ASU; Matt Cusick, so. IF, USC; Cole Gillespie, jr. OF, OSU; Kevin Gunderson (2), jr. LHP, OSU; Matt Hague, so. OF, UW; Cyle Hankerd, jr. OF, USC; Dave Huff, jr. LHP, UCLA; Tim Lincecum (3), jr. RHP, UW; Jay Miller, sr. OF, WSU; Chris Minaker, sr. IF, STAN; Brandon Morrow, jr. RHP, CAL; Jonah Nickerson (2), jr. RHP, OSU; Preston Paramore, fr. C, ASU; Jared Prince, fr. RHP-OF, WSU; Curt Rindal, jr. 1B, UW; Eric Sogard, so. IF, ASU.
Note: (2) - 2-time all-conference selection; (3) - 3-time all-conference selection
HONORABLE MENTION: Daryl Arreola, Sr., ASU; Tony Barnette, Sr., ASU; Brennan Boesch, Jr., CAL; Brett Bordes, Sr., ASU; Brad Boyer, Sr., ARIZ; Mitch Canham, So., OSU; Travis Coulter, Fr., WSU; Jermaine Curtis, Fr., UCLA; Allen Craig, Sr., CAL; Brandon Crawford, Fr., UCLA; Elliott Cribby, So., WASH; Jason Donald, Jr., ARIZ; Hector Estrella, Jr., USC; Baron Frost, Sr., USC; John Gaston, Fr., ARIZ; Chris Jensen, RsSr., UCLA; Ian Kennedy, Jr., USC; Chris Kunda, Sr., OSU; Matt Lane, Jr., WASH; Chris Lewis, Sr., STAN; Shea McFeeley, Sr., OSU; Matt Manship, Sr., STAN; Jim Murphy, So., WSU; Jeff Miller, Jr., WSU; Paul Oseguera, RsJr., UCLA; Greg Reynolds, Jr., STAN; Bill Rhinehart, Jr., ARIZ; Tyson Ross, Fr., CAL; Colt Sedbrook, So., ARIZ ; Blake Sharpe, Sr., USC; TJ Steele, Fr., ARIZ; Darin Vieira, Sr., USC; Brett Wallace, Fr., ASU; Travis Webb, Jr., WSU.
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