Oral Roberts dominates Mid-Con baseball post-season awards

[tmh8286]

ELMHURST, ILL. ? Oral Roberts, which claimed its eighth consecutive regular-season baseball title with a 17-2 record in Mid-Con play, was rewarded for its efforts with all four of the Mid-Continent Conference?s major baseball awards. Junior Chris Ashman garnered Pitcher of the Year and Co-Player of the Year honors, while his teammate Chad Rothford shared Player of the Year accolades with Ashman. Rothford also garnered Co-Newcomer of the Year accolades along with teammate Andy Bouchie. Oral Roberts manager Rob Walton was honored as the Coach of the Year.

Ashman becomes just the third player in conference history to win Pitcher of the Year and Player of the Year accolades in the same season, joining former ORU standout Dennis Bigley and Wright State star Brian Anderson. Ashman earns dual honors after posting a perfect 5-0 record in conference play with a 0.72 ERA and 25 strikeouts. He also held league foes to a .206 batting average, which is second in the Mid-Con. Overall, the junior starter has a league-best 9-1 record to go along with his 1.93 ERA, 59 strikeouts, .232 opponents? batting average and one shutout. The May 1 Pitcher of the Week, Ashman?s earned run average is 19th among NCAA hurlers and his nine victories place him in a tie for 41st on the national charts.

Rothford is the third player in league history to take home Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year honors in the same season (ORU?s Steve Holm in 2000 and Michael Hollimon in 2005). Rothford is 11th in the conference with a .339 overall batting average and leads the league with 51 RBI on the year. The junior first baseman is among the Mid-Con leaders in home runs (10), total bases (105), on-base percentage (.431), walks (27) and slugging percentage (.574). Against Mid-Con opponents, Rothford posted a .338 batting average with 15 runs scored and 20 RBI. He also notched seven of his 13 doubles and four of his 10 home runs in conference action.

Bouchie is the fifth Oral Roberts player to claim Newcomer of the Year accolades. The junior catcher is fourth in the Mid-Con with a .371 overall batting average and ranks in the Top 5 in the league in hits (73), runs scored (46), home runs (12), doubles (15), RBI (49), total bases (124) and slugging percentage (.626). Bouchie, who was the May 22 Mid-Con Player of the Week, came on strong in conference play, boasting a league-best .459 batting average to go along with 20 runs scored, 26 RBI and six home runs. Defensively, Bouchie threw out 11 potential base stealers this season and posted a .995 fielding percentage with just one error in 195 chances.

Walton led his team to its eighth-straight regular-season title with a 17-2 record in conference play and a 35-14 mark overall, which includes wins over nationally-ranked Tulane, Arkansas and Oklahoma State. The Golden Eagles lead the Mid-Con in batting average (.330), earned run average (3.67) and fielding percentage (.972). ORU?s .330 mark at the plate is ninth in NCAA Division I as of May 22 while its fielding percentage places the team 26th among NCAA squads. Oral Roberts enters the Mid-Con Championship having won 25 of its last 28 games.

Regular-season champion Oral Roberts had a league-high nine players recognized on the all-conference teams, while Oakland and Western Illinois landed five players on the all-star squads each. Centenary and Valparaiso each laid claim to three honorees, followed by Chicago State and Southern Utah with one selection apiece.

The Oral Roberts contingent on the All-Conference first team include Ashman, Bouchie, Rothford, junior second baseman Jake Kahaulelio (.330, 47 R, 18 2B), senior shortstop Tim Torres (.320, 49 R, 10 HR), sophomore outfielder Brendan Duffy (.346, 59 R, 34 RBI), senior starting pitcher Nick Jones (7-3, 3.56 ERA, 75 K) and junior reliever Chance Chapman (5-1, 1.34 ERA, .199 opp. avg.). Torres and Jones are both two-time all-stars after appearances on the second team squad a year ago. Centenary landed three players on the first team in junior third baseman Jimmy Baker (.305, 40 R, 38 RBI), senior outfielder Tim Ryan (.398, 44 R, 36 RBI) and senior designated hitter Justin Darr (.339, 24 R, 35 RBI). Junior utility player Kevin Carkeek (.293, 30 R, 35 RBI) and junior reliever Scott Boleski (7 saves, 4.13, 21 K) represent Oakland on the top all-star squad, while Chicago State junior third baseman Roc Latino (.326, 42 R, 34 RBI), Southern Utah senior outfielder Justin Sotelo (.378, 40 R, 20 2B) and Western Illinois junior starter Quinn Leath (8-2, 1.70 ERA, 53 K) round out the first team.

Western Illinois led the All-Conference second team with four recipients in sophomore first baseman Matt Newquist (.299, 36 R, 37 RBI), senior shortstop/starting pitcher Ryan Schmidgall (.292, 33 R; 5-4, 4.00 ERA), junior outfielder Travis Check (.371, 35 R, 33 RBI) and sophomore utility player T.J. Kistner (.309, 30 R, 23 RBI). Oakland placed junior second baseman Kyle Crepeau (.348, 20 R, 14 SB), freshman outfielder Justin Wilson (.341, 40 R, 6 HR) and junior starter Brad Noel (4-4, 5.07 ERA, 49.2 IP), while Valparaiso?s contingent includes junior catcher Josh Piazza (.296, 12 R, 30 RBI), senior outfielder Kevin Kutansky (.342, 40 R, 4 3B) and senior starter Kyle Obenauf (1-2, 2.60 ERA, 46 K). Oral Roberts senior DH Brian Aguailar (.331, 30 R, 34 RBI) completes the All-Conference second team.

The Mid-Continent Conference Championship begins Thursday, May 25 at 3:30 p.m. when the second-seeded Western Illinois Leathernecks take on the third-seeded Oakland Golden Grizzlies. The nightcap Thursday features the host and top-seeded Oral Roberts Golden Eagles against the fourth-seeded Centenary Gents at 7 p.m. The Championship will continue with three games Friday, May 26 beginning at noon and will conclude with the Championship game on Saturday, May 27.

2006 Baseball All-Conference teams

FIRST TEAM *

Name, School, Pos., Yr.

Andy Bouchie, Oral Roberts, C, Jr.

Chad Rothford, Oral Roberts, 1B, Jr.

Jake Kahaulelio, Oral Roberts, 2B, Jr.

Tim Torres, Oral Roberts, SS, Sr.

Jimmy Baker, Centenary, 3B, Jr.

Roc Latino, Chicago State, 3B, Jr.

Brendan Duffy, Oral Roberts, OF, So.

Tim Ryan, Centenary, OF, Sr.

Justin Sotelo, Southern Utah, OF, Sr.

Justin Darr, Centenary, DH, Sr.

Kevin Carkeek, Oakland, UTL, Jr.

Chris Ashman, Oral Roberts, SP, Jr.

Nick Jones, Oral Roberts, SP, Sr.

Quinn Leath, Western Illinois, SP, Jr.

Scott Boleski, Oakland, RP, Jr.

Chance Chapman, Oral Roberts, RP, Jr.

SECOND TEAM ^

Josh Piazza, Valparaiso, C, Jr.

Matt Newquist, Western Illinois, 1B, So.

Kyle Crepeau, Oakland, 2B, Jr.

Ryan Schmidgall, Western Illinois, SS/SP, Sr.

Travis Check, Western Illinois, OF, Jr.

Kevin Kutansky, Valparaiso, OF, Sr.

Justin Wilson, Oakland, OF, Fr.

Brian Aguailar, Oral Roberts, DH, Sr.

T.J. Kistner, Western Illinois, UTL, So.

Brad Noel, Oakland, SP, Jr.

Kyle Obenauf, Valparaiso, SP, Sr.

CO-PLAYERS OF THE YEAR

Chris Ashman, Oral Roberts

Chad Rothford, Oral Roberts

PITCHER OF THE YEAR

Chris Ashman, Oral Roberts

CO-NEWCOMERS OF THE YEAR

Andy Bouchie, Oral Roberts

Chad Rothford, Oral Roberts

COACH OF THE YEAR

Rob Walton, Oral Roberts

* - due to ties in the voting, there are two first team third baseman and two first team relief pitchers.

^ - Schmidgall earned second team All-Conference honors as a shortstop and a starting pitcher.