2012 All-PSAC Baseball Teams (pdf)
Lock Haven, Pa. – West Chester’s Joe Wendle has been named the PSAC East Player of the Year while Mercyhurst’s Shane Latshaw has been tabbed the PSAC West Player of the Year as that duo from the two PSAC division winners highlights the 2012 All-PSAC baseball teams. Joe Gunkel of the Golden Rams has been named the PSAC East Pitcher of the Year while the Lakers’ Ben Rawding is the PSAC West Pitcher of the Year.
East Stroudsburg’s Robert Patete is the PSAC East Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Warrior since 2005 to pick up that award, while Mercyhurst’s Ryan Siegel is the PSAC West Freshman of the Year, becoming the third Laker in the school’s four years in the PSAC to win that honor. First year West Chester head coach Jad Prachniak is the PSAC East Coach of the Year after guiding the Golden Rams to a divisional title just one year after missing the PSAC Tournament entirely. Gannon skipper Nate Cocolin is the PSAC West Coach of the Year after directing the Golden Knights to their first appearance in the PSAC Tournament.
In the East, West Chester led the way with four first team selections while Bloomsburg led the way with six overall selections. In addition to the Player of the Year in Wendle (2B) and the Pitcher of the Year in Gunkel, the Golden Rams were represented by outfielder Jack Province and DH Jordan Wlodarczyk on the first team. Starting pitcher Dave Stieg was also on the second team for West Chester, which had five overall selections. Bloomsburg placed seniors Vince Smarrelli (OF) and Vinny Voorhees (RP) on the first team while Tim Ravel (SS), Jarrod Kramer (3B), Keith Meyer (DH) and Brian Morris (SP) were on the second team.
PSAC Tournament qualifiers Kutztown and Shippensburg each tied with West Chester for the second-most overall selections in the East with five apiece. Kutztown third baseman Shayne Houck, who broke the PSAC career record for home runs last weekend, makes his third straight appearance on the first team. The East Player of the Year the last two seasons, he has 44 career home runs entering the postseason and also now holds the PSAC record for career runs scored. Houck and Wendle are the only players on the East first team for the third time in their careers. Shippensburg junior Cody Kulp (OF) is on the second team for the third time in his career. Overall, only four of the 14 members of the first team have a previous all-conference honor on their resumes while eight members of the second team are first-time honorees.
PSAC West champion Mercyhurst led the way in the West both overall and on the first team as the Lakers had eight overall all-conference selections, including six first team choices. Latshaw, the Player of the Year and Siegel, the Freshman of the Year, took up two-thirds of the outfield spots on the first team while third baseman Ethan Santora is the lone four-time All-PSAC honoree on either team as he is on the first team for the third time in his career. Rawding, the Pitcher of the Year, makes his first appearance on the first time after two years on the second team. Kolin McMillen (2B) and Dan Altavilla (RP) are the other first team honorees from the Lakers while Colin Loughner (DH) and Eric Aschley (SP) are the Lakers on the second team.
Second place Gannon as well as IUP were next with five all-conference selections apiece. Gannon place one – junior DH Mike Tomko – on the first team and four first-time honorees on the second team while IUP had three first teamers and two on the second team.
Wendle, the East Player of the Year, denied Houck’s attempt at being named the Player of the Year for the third straight year with an outstanding all-around season for the East champion Golden Rams. Already a two-time first team selection, Wendle enters the postseason second in the league in hitting at .403. He also leads the league in triples (7), home runs (12), and total bases (118), and is second in RBI (47). He leads the league in slugging percentage at .831 and is second in on-base percentage at .491 for a conference-leading OPS of 1.357.
Latshaw, the West Player of the Year, leads the PSAC in hits (67), is tied with Wendle for the lead in total bases (118), and is third in runs (50), second in home runs (11) and fifth in RBI (44). His offensive exploits helped guide the Lakers to their second straight PSAC West championship and their third in their four seasons in the PSAC. He is the first Mercyhurst player to be named the West Player of the Year.
Gunkel is the first Golden Ram to be honored as the East Pitcher of the Year since Jason Bowman in 2008. His exploits on the mound were also big reason for the Golden Rams returning to the postseason this year as he enters the PSAC Tournament with a 7-0 record and a 2.60 ERA, both of which rank fourth in the PSAC. He has done most of his best work in PSAC East games as he has a 6-0 mark with a 2.20 ERA against the PSAC East. Overall, he has allowed just 47 hits, 15 earned runs and 10 walks while striking out 29 in 52 innings.
Rawding, who was named the PSAC West Freshman of the Year in 2010, becomes the second Laker to garner the Pitcher of the Year honor in Mercyhurst’s four years in the PSAC, following former teammate Nate Gillung in 2009. He has compiled a league-leading 8-0 record with a 2.79 ERA in 67.2 innings for the Lakers. He leads the PSAC in strikeouts with 74 entering the postseason and is also among the league leaders in opposing batting average at .230.
Patete, the East Freshman of the Year, is the first Warrior since Dave Boyer in 2005 to win that award. It comes on the heels of him finishing 10th in the PSAC in batting average at .365 as he is one of just two freshman – with the West Freshman of the Year being the other – to finish in the top 10 in the league in batting. Patete also had 12 doubles, two home runs and 33 RBI to go along with a .496 slugging percentage and a .409 on-base percentage.
Siegel, the West Freshman of the Year, enters the PSAC Tournament hitting .389 to rank third in the league and first on his team. He has scored 45 runs and also had 14 doubles, three home runs, 33 RBI and an OPS of .999. He becomes the third Lakers freshman in Mercyhurst’s four years in the PSAC to win the West Freshman of the Year award, joining Rawding (2010) and Santora (2009).
Prachniak, the first-year skipper of West Chester, becomes the first coach to be honored as the East Coach of the Year in his first season since Millersville’s Jon Shehan in 2008. He has guided the Golden Rams to a remarkable improvement this season as the Rams enter the PSAC Tournament with a 34-9 overall record after finishing PSAC East play with a 16-8 mark, which marks a six-game improvement from last season with the Rams finished 10-14 and tied for last place in the division. The Rams also went just 22-21 overall last season, meaning they have posted exactly a 12-game improvement at this point in the season.
Cocolin becomes the first Gannon coach or player to earn a postseason award from the PSAC in this, the Golden Knights’ fourth season as a PSAC member. He has led Gannon to a 25-21 overall record entering the postseason and a 14-10 mark in the PSAC West, which is the first time the Knights have finished divisional play with a record above .500. Gannon’s overall record also marks its first winning record as PSAC members and the Golden Knights’ second place finish is also their best ever as their previous best was fifth place in each of the last two years.