WATCH | CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
SAN BRUNO, Calif. – BYU captured the 2019 regular season West Coast Conference Championship for the program’s first outright title, claimed two of the five major individual awards and placed four on the 2019 All-WCC first and second teams as announced by the league office. The Cougars (36-15, 19-8 WCC) won the third WCC title in program history – all coming since 2016.
BYU won two major individual honors, led by WCC Player of the Year
Brock Hale (Sr., OF) while
Mike Littlewood was selected by his peers as WCC Coach of the Year for the first time. LMU earned two major awards: WCC Pitcher of the Year
Codie Paiva (Sr., RHP) and WCC Defensive Player of the Year
Nick Sogard (Jr., IF).
Tyler Thornton (RHP) of Saint Mary’s collected WCC Freshman of the Year accolades. All five individual awards – along with the All-West Coast Conference First, Second and Freshman Teams – were voted on solely by the league’s 10 head coaches.
Hale is the first BYU student-athlete to capture WCC Player of the Year honors. Hale batted .346 during league play with eight doubles, seven home runs and 28 RBI. The senior ranked fifth in hits (37), second in runs (27), third in RBI and sixth in home runs among conference leaders. A two-time All-WCC First Team pick, Hale started every game as a senior and shared the team lead in overall batting average (.340) and added 14 doubles, triple and 11 home runs in his final season in Provo.
Paiva is the sixth Lion to collect WCC Pitcher of the Year honors and the first since All-American Cory Abbott accomplished the feat in 2017. Paiva was the ace of a Lion staff that posted the best team ERA during conference play at 3.19, while posting a sparkling pitching line: 5-3, 1.40 ERA, 64.1 IP, 53 Ks and 12 walks. Paiva allowed just 10 earned runs in nine starts and opposing batters hit .218 against with just 11 extra-base hits. The Pearl City, Hawaii native led the league in ERA, innings and was fourth in strikeouts.
Thornton enjoyed a strong freshman campaign for Saint Mary’s and earned two WCC Pitcher of the Week honors – all coming during conference action. During league play, Thornton went 5-2 with a 2.93 ERA, struck out 50 and walked 16 in 46.0 innings. Opposing batters hit just .184 with just seven extra-base hits. Thornton is the fifth Gael to earn WCC Freshman of the Year honors and the first since teammate Kevin Milam accomplished the feat in 2017.
Sogard enjoyed a strong season at shortstop for LMU and scooped up WCC Defensive Player of the Year honors. The junior committed just one error en route to a sparkling .990 fielding percentage and helped turn 12 double plays. In addition to his stellar defensive work, Sogard batted .321 with five doubles and seven RBI in his third season with the Lions. Sogard is the fourth LMU student-athlete to earn top defensive accolades and the first since Cooper Uhl accomplished the feat last season.
Littlewood earned his first WCC Coach of the Year honor after guiding BYU to its first outright regular season WCC title and first overall outright regular season championship since 1989. Under his tutelage, the Cougars achieved a top-25 national ranking and led the WCC in team batting average (.285) and third in team ERA (3.77) during league contests. The Cougars posted a sparkling 17-4 home slate at Miller Park.
This year’s All-WCC First Team features just two repeat honorees as Hale and Saint Mary’s junior lefthander
Ken Waldichuk earned a spot for the second time. Gonzaga sophomore infielder
Ernie Yake makes his second straight second team appearance, while Sogard was a second team selection last season before earning a first team bid as a junior. All told 10 upperclassmen claimed a spot on the first team to go along with two sophomores and a freshman.
First pitch of the 2019 WCC Baseball Championship is on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. PDT, when top-seed BYU faces No. 4 LMU. That game will be followed by No. 2 Gonzaga vs. No. 3 Saint Mary’s at approximately 7:00 p.m. PDT. All games of the championship will be broadcast live on TheW.tv.
2019 West Coast Conference Player of the Year
Brock Hale, BYU
2019 West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year
Codie Paiva, LMU
2019 West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year
Tyler Thornton, Saint Mary’s
2019 West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year
Nick Sogard, LMU
2019 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year
Mike Littlewood, BYU
2019 All-WCC Baseball First Team
| Name |
Yr. |
Pos. |
School |
| Jon Allen |
Sr. |
OF |
San Francisco |
| Chris Clements |
Sr. |
RHP |
Portland |
| Jackson Cluff |
So. |
IF |
BYU |
| James Free |
Jr. |
C |
Pacific |
| Brock Hale |
Sr. |
OF |
BYU |
| Alek Jacob |
So. |
RHP |
Gonzaga |
| Troy Johnston |
Jr. |
OF |
Gonzaga |
| Codie Paiva |
Sr. |
RHP |
LMU |
| Ripken Reyes |
Gr. |
IF |
San Diego |
| Nick Sogard |
Jr. |
IF |
LMU |
| Tyler Thornton |
Fr. |
RHP |
Saint Mary’s |
| Joe Vranesh |
Jr. |
OF |
Saint Mary’s |
| Ken Waldichuk |
Jr. |
LHP |
Saint Mary’s |
2019 All-WCC Baseball Second Team
| Name |
Yr. |
Pos. |
School |
| Rob Emery |
Jr. |
C |
San Francisco |
| Trevin Esquerra |
Jr. |
IF |
LMU |
| Nick Frasso |
So. |
RHP |
LMU |
| Jeff Houghtby |
Sr. |
IF |
San Diego |
| Carlos Lomelli |
So. |
RHP |
Saint Mary’s |
| Easton Lucas |
Jr. |
LHP |
Pepperdine |
| Mitch McIntyre |
So. |
OF/LHP |
BYU |
| Nick Nyquist |
Sr. |
IF |
Gonzaga |
| Ryan Shreve |
Jr. |
RHP |
Pacific |
| Chad Stevens |
So. |
IF |
Portland |
| Tyler Villaroman |
Jr. |
OF |
San Francisco |
| Easton Walker |
So. |
RHP |
BYU |
| Ernie Yake |
So. |
IF |
Gonzaga |
2019 WCC Baseball Honorable Mention
Joe Caparis, Pepperdine; Adam Kerner, San Diego; Brett Harris, Gonzaga; Noah Hill, BYU; Brian Hsu, BYU; Mac Lardner, Gonzaga; Eric Lex, Santa Clara; Shane McGuire, San Diego; Chris McReady, San Diego; Kevin Milam, Saint Mary’s; Guthrie Morrison, Gonzaga; Chris Murphy, San Diego; Ryan Novis, Saint Mary’s; Scott Parker, San Francisco; Alex Pham, San Francisco; Kevin Sandri, Pacific; Brandon Shearer, LMU; Bryce Willits, Saint Mary’s; Jack Winkler, San Francisco; Wyatt Young, Pepperdine
2019 All-WCC Baseball Freshman Team
| Name |
Pos. |
School |
| James Arakawa |
OF/IF |
Pacific |
| Tommy Delgado |
OF |
LMU |
| Cody Jefferis |
IF |
San Diego |
| Trevor Kniskern |
RHP |
Pepperdine |
| Reid McLaughlin |
RHP |
BYU |
| Tracye Tammaro |
IF |
Portland |
| Tyler Thornton |
RHP |
Saint Mary’s |
| Mason Wells |
LHP |
Gonzaga |
| Bryce Willits |
IF |
Saint Mary’s |
| Wyatt Young |
IF |
Pepperdine |