Several Cajuns Headline All-Louisiana Baseball Team

Contact: Matt Hebert

LAFAYETTE - The two teams that battled for an NCAA Regional Championship at the start of the month at Alex Box Stadium Skip Bertman Field dominated the first team and special awards of the 2013 All-Louisiana College Baseball Team as selected and announced by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, who advanced to the championship round of the Baton Rouge regional, and College World Series participant LSU, captured every one of the 14 spots on the first team, splitting the spots down the middle with seven each. LSU picked up four-of-the-five special awards given each year with the Cajuns getting the other.

The team was selected on the basis of nominations made by the sports information/media relations contacts from the four-year baseball playing schools in the state. The list of nominations, based on stats and honors accumulated through the conference tournaments, was voted on by a panel of media and sports information representatives who are LSWA members. The only restriction was that SIDs could not vote for members of their own teams, while media members could vote for anyone on the ballot.

Ragin' Cajuns earning first team All-Louisiana honors included: Austin Robichaux (pitcher), Michael Strentz (catcher), Tyler Girouard (third base), Seth Harrison (outfield), Dex Kjerstad (outfield), Caleb Adams (designated hitter) and Ryan Leonards (utility).

Kjerstad was named the Newcomer of the Year for first-year Louisiana non-freshman players. In his first year with the Cajuns, he earned both SBC First Team and All-Tournament honors, leading the Cajuns with 32 multiple-hit games. He recorded 99 hits and was in the Top 20 nationally in average (.388), runs (63) and hits. He hit .408 in Sun Belt play and was tops of state players in total bases with 155.

Sun Belt Freshman of the Year Blake Trahan was the Cajuns representative on the second team. A total of 10 schools had players on the second team or honorable mention list for the 2013 team.

LSU first baseman Mason Katz was named the Hitter of the Year, while Aaron Nola, who was undefeated in the regular season, was named Pitcher of the Year. Tiger shortstop Alex Bregman was named the Freshman of the Year.

There were three coaches in the close voting for Coach of the Year which was won by Paul Mainieri of LSU. Also receiving consideration was Louisiana's Tony Robichaux and first-year coach of LSU-Alexandria, Brent Porche.

LSWA ALL-LOUISIANA COLLEGE BASEBALL TEAM
FIRST TEAM
POS/NAME, SCHOOL/CL/HOMETOWN/NOTES
P/Chris Cotton, LSU/Sr./Shreveport, La./15 SV, 1.38 ERA, SEC Tourney MVP
P/Ryan Eades, LSU/Jr./Slidell, La./8-1, 2.69 ERA, 75K
P/Aaron Nola, LSU/So./Baton Rouge, La./10-0, 1.94 ERA, 2013 SEC POY
P/Austin Robichaux, Louisiana/So./Crowley, La./9-2, 88 K, SBC First Team
C/Michael Strentz, Louisiana/So./Lafayette, La./.311 BA, 23 2B, 7 HR,
1B/Mason Katz, LSU/Sr./Harahan, La./First Team All-SEC, .377 BA, 14 HR, 64 RBI
2B/JaCoby Jones, LSU/Jr./Richton, Miss./Second Team All-SEC, .290 BA, 29 RBI
SS/Alex Bregman, LSU/Fr./Albuquerque, N.M./SEC FOY; .378 BA, 3rd in nation hits (96)
3B/Tyler Girouard, Louisiana/So./Lafayette, La./Second Team All-SBC, .360 BA, 7 HR, 41 RBI
OF/Seth Harrison, Louisiana/So./Cypress, Texas/First Team All-SBC, .338, 9 HR, 45 RBI
OF/Dex Kjerstad, Louisiana/Jr./Amarillo, Texas/First Team All-SBC, .388, 12 HR, 44 RBI
OF/Raph Rhymes, LSU/Sr./Monroe, La./First Team All-SEC, .335 BA, 43 RBI
DH/Caleb Adams, Louisiana/So./Texarkana, Texas/Second Team All-SBC, 16 HR, 55 RBI
UTIL/Ryan Leonards, Louisiana/Jr./Crowley, La./Second Team All-SBC, .326 BA, 30 RBI

HITTER OF THE YEAR – Mason Katz, LSU
Vote totals – Katz (20), Kjerstad (7)
PITCHER OF THE YEAR – Aaron Nola, LSU
Vote totals – Nola (25), Robichaux (1), No vote (1)
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Alex Bregman, LSU
Vote totals – Bregman (22), Klotz (2), Trahan (2), Gibaut (1)
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – Dex Kjerstad, Louisiana
Vote totals – Kjerstad (22), Rizzotti (1), Gooch (1), Webster (1), Semien (1), Tromba (1)
COACH OF THE YEAR – Paul Mainieri, LSU
Vote totals – Mainieri (11), Robichaux (9), Porche (6), Byrnes (1)

SECOND TEAM
POS/NAME, SCHOOL/CL/HOMETOWN/NOTES
P/Mason Klotz, Southeastern Louisiana/Fr./Maringoin, La./3-0, 2.63 ERA, 11 SVs
P/Phil Maton, Louisiana Tech/So./Chatham, Ill./First team All-WAC, 2.70 ERA, 89K
P/Corey Thomas, LSU-Alexandria/Jr./Chalmette, La./First Team All-Conference, 10-2, 2.94 ERA
*P/Seth Webster, Louisiana College/Sr./Deville, La./ASC East POY, 10-3, 1.77 ERA, 65K
*P/David Napoli, Tulane/St./New Orleans, La./5-3, 3.00 ERA, 2nd in NCAA hits per 9 IP-5.32
C/Kyle Feazell, Louisiana College/Jr./Elmer, La./First Team All-ASC East, .301 BA, 4 HR, 25 RBI
1B/Kyle Pearson, LSU-Shreveport/Sr./Stonewall, La./First Team All-RRAC, .337, 7 HR, 55 RBI
2B/Cary Myers, Louisiana College/So./Zachary, La./Second Team All-ASC East, .374 BA, 22 RBI
SS/Blake Trahan, Louisiana/Fr./Kinder, La./SBC FOY, .319 BA, 4 HR, 38 RBI
3B/Christian Ibarra, LSU/Jr./La Piente, Calif./First Team All-SEC, .335 BA, 6 HR, 37 RBI
OF/Tyler Clarkley, Centenary/Sr./Tyler, Texas/First Team All-SCAC, .373 BA, 48 RBI
OF/Darren Farmer, Grambling/Sr./Bailey, Miss./SWAC HOY, .358 BA, 35 RBI
OF/K. J. Semien, LSU-Shreveport/Jr./Houston, Texas/First Team All-RRAC, .394 BA, 25 RBI
DH/Nick Jones, LSU-Alexandria/Sr./Slidell, La./A.I.I. POY, NAIA A-A HM, .315 BA, 8 HR, 40 RBI
UTIL/Taylor Terrasas, Louisiana Tech/Sr./Santa Fe, Texas/.292 BA, 16 2B, 24 RBI.

HONORABLE MENTION
P – Cody Glenn, LSU, So., Houston, Texas (7-2, 2.41 ERA); Ian Gibaut, Tulane, Fr., Houston, Texas (2.66 ERA, 12 SVs).
C – Reed Lavallee, LSU-Shreveport, So., North Delta, British Columbia (.326, Second Team All-RRAC).
3B -- Craig Littman, Centenary, Sr., Lechee, Ariz. (.367 BA, 35 RBI, SCAC Co-POY).
DH – Cole Bagbey, Louisiana College, Sr., Monroe, La. (.348 BA, 27 RBI, 25 SB).
*Tied for position

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Several Cajuns Headline All-Louisiana Baseball Team

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