Program Record Nine Zags Earn WCC All-Conference Honors; Mark Machtolf Tabbed Coach of the Year, Cade McGee Freshman of the Year, Connor Coballes DPOY
5/24/2022 11:00:00 AM | Baseball
SPOKANE, Wash. — No. 10 Gonzaga baseball's best West Coast Conference run in program history was rewarded with a bevy of All-Conference awards ahead of the WCC Tournament in Stockton, Calif. this week – nine Zags earned all-conference nods to match the record set last season and three took home three of the league's five major individual awards to match another record set in 2013, the WCC announced Tuesday, adding another feather in the cap of a team that reached its highest national ranking under Coach Mark Machtolf and is projected to at least match its best-ever national seeding if the Zags don't host an opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Machtolf was named WCC Coach of the Year, his fifth time bringing home the award since first winning it in 2009. Machtolf navigated a season after the Zags lost a total of five starters – including 2021 WCC Award winners Alek Jacob and Brett Harris – due to graduation or the draft as well as the passing of Associate Head Coach Danny Evans in April en route to GU's second-straight WCC Regular Season Championship and fifth in the last six years.
Meanwhile, Zags third baseman Cade McGee took home Freshman of the Year honors after a season in which he led the team in homers (7) and finished second on the team in hits (30) and total bases (46). The freshman out of Tucson, Ariz., is only the second GU player to earn the award and first since Marco Gonzales was Co-Freshman of the Year in 2011.
Shortstop Connor Coballes' defensive consistency over a season that saw him commit just two errors in WCC play netted GU's third-ever Defensive Player of the Year award and second-straight after Brett Harris took home the award last season. He finished conference play with a team-high 62 assists to go with 27 putouts, turning eight double plays in the process.
Gabriel Hughes and Tyler Rando were GU's two representatives on the All-WCC First Team, followed by Saturday starter Trystan Vrieling on the Second Team. Hughes was second in the voting for Pitcher of the Year, striking out a league-high 88 batters in league play and league-high 61 IP with a 2.80 ERA and 5-1 record in starts. His three WCC weekly awards are the most by a single player this season.
Doing time at both DH and catcher, Rando's 14 extra base hits in WCC play lead GU, and he batted .303 in league play while driving in 22 runs and picking up a WCC Player of the Week nod after a pair of clutch two-run homers against Santa Clara two weeks ago.
Second on the team in conference strikeouts with 61, Vrieling threw the second most innings (49 ⅓) while holding opposing batters to a .271 average, named WCC Pitcher of the Week after a dominant performance against Oklahoma State that helped secure a series sweep.
Relievers Michael Spellacy and Owen Wild joined Enzo Apodaca, McGee, Savier Pinales and Ezra Samperi on the league's Honorable Mention list to make it nine total Zags picking up All-League honors. Spellacy was the Bulldogs' top closer in the regular season, touting a 2.96 ERA and 25 K's over 24 ⅓ innings on the mound in conference play. Over the full season, he racked up 11 saves to move to No. 5 on the all-time list for single-season and career saves (14).
Wild served as a vital part of the Zags' weekend rotation in Will Kempner's absence due to injury, finishing the season with a 7-1 record and 3.43 ERA over 60 ⅓ frames of work to go with the third-most K's on the team (70).
As GU's leadoff hitter in his first season in a Zags uniform, Apodaca finished conference play with a team-high 22 RBI to go with 30 hits, one of only two players to appear in every game this season along with Coballes. Pinales batted .307 in conference play as one of seven players to start every WCC game, stealing a team-high 12 bases on 15 attempts and driving in 12 runs on 31 hits. Samperi drove in 13 runs over conference play, including three homers that are the second-most on the team against WCC opponents.
Apodaca and McGee both made the WCC's 10-player All-Freshman team in addition to their other honors.
Up Next / Follow the Game
The Zags' season continues as the No. 1 seed at the West Coast Conference Tournament in Stockton, Calif., the first year it's been held since 2019. They're set to open the tourney on Thursday at 3 p.m. against a to-be-determined opponent. Live stats and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @zagbaseball on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.
2022 Baseball All-Conference Awards
Coach of the Year: Mark Machtolf, Gonzaga
Player of the Year: Caleb Ricketts, San Diego
Pitcher of the Year: Brett Gillis, Portland
Defensive Player of the Year: Connor Coballes, Gonzaga
Freshman of the Year: Cade McGee, Gonzaga
All-Conference First Team
Diego Baqueiro, LMU
Diego Barrera, LMU
Austin Deming, BYU
Brett Gillis, Portland
Jake Holcroft, Portland
Gabriel Hughes, Gonzaga
Luke Keaschall, San Francisco
Brycen Mautz, San Diego
Chase Meidroth, San Diego
John Peck, Pepperdine
Tyler Rando, Gonzaga
Caleb Ricketts, San Diego
Kevin Sim, San Diego
All-Conference Second Team
Peter Allegro, Portland
Ian Churchill, San Diego
Nate Dahle, BYU
Dylan Dennis, LMU
Cole Kitchen, Santa Clara
Cooper McKeehan, BYU
Brandon Motheral, Pacific
Devan Ornelas, LMU
Nick Sando, Santa Clara
Chris Santiago, Saint Mary's
Jack Sterner, BYU
Trystan Vrieling, Gonzaga
Brock Watkins, BYU
Honorable Mention
Enzo Apodaca, Gonzaga
Coleman Brigman, Santa Clara
Sam Brown, Portland
Alex Burge, LMU
Mario DeMera, San Francisco
Brock Gillis, Portland
Brandon Greim, San Francisco
Owen Hackman, LMU
Skylar Hales, Santa Clara
Eamonn Lance, Santa Clara
Charles Masino, Pepperdine
Cade McGee, Gonzaga
Mitch McIntyre, BYU
Eli Morse, Portland
Cy Nielson, BYU
Ben Patacsil, Portland
Savier Pinales, Gonzaga
Ozzie Pratt, BYU
Bryce Robison, BYU
Ryan Robinson, San Diego
Ezra Samperi, Gonzaga
Ryan Sepede, BYU
Hunter Schilperoort, Pacific
Jack Snook, Saint Mary's
Michael Spellacy, Gonzaga
Trace Tammaro, Portland
Jake Tsukada, Portland
RJ Teijeiro, San Diego
Owen Wild, Gonzaga
Harris Williams III, San Francisco
All-Freshman Team
Enzo Apodaca, Gonzaga
Joey Gartrell, Portland
Ryan Kysar, San Diego
Dalton Mashore, Saint Mary's
Cade McGee, Gonzaga
Devan Ornelas, LMU
Ozzie Pratt, BYU
Collin Reuter, BYU
Cole Sheehan, Pepperdine
Adam Shew, San Francisco
