SAN MATEO, Calif. – A week after capturing the 2022 WCC regular season title, No. 10 Gonzaga claimed three of the five major individual awards and placed three on the 2022 All-WCC first and second teams as announced by the league office on Tuesday. The Bulldogs (34-15, 20-7 WCC) won their sixth WCC regular season title in program history and fourth since 2016. They enter this weekend's WCC Baseball Tournament as the No. 1 seed.
Gonzaga won three major individual honors, led by WCC Freshman of the Year Cade McGee (Fr. RHP), Defensive Player of the Year Connor Coballes (Jr., IF) and Mark Machtolf was selected by his peers as WCC Coach of the Year for the fifth time. San Diego’s Caleb Ricketts (Jr., C) collected WCC Player of the Year honors, while Portland starting pitcher junior Brett Gillis was tabbed the WCC Pitcher of the Year.
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.
Ricketts is the 12th San Diego student-athlete to capture WCC Player of the Year honors, the sixth since 2013 and the second in a row (Thomas Luevano in 2021). Ricketts ranks second in batting average (.357), tied for first in home runs (11) and sixth in RBI (41) among WCC leaders. A semifinalist for the 2022 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award, Ricketts also leads the Conference with 71 hits.
Gillis leads the WCC and ranks sixth in the nation in ERA (1.65). He also leads the Conference in wins (9). He was tabbed a semifinalist for the College Baseball Foundation 2022 Pitcher of the Year Award. Boasting a 9-1 record in 13 starts on the year, Gillis won WCC Pitcher of the Week honors twice this season. He is also third in the WCC and 12th in the nation in strikeouts, being one of only 28 players nationally to have eclipsed 100 strikeouts on the year at 111.
In his first year at Gonzaga, McGee is boasting a .296 batting average with a .486 slugging percentage, both of which rank third on his team. His seven home runs lead all Zags, as well. He has appeared in 48 of 49 games with 42 starts. He notched two multi-hit games in the final series of the regular season at San Diego. He has also garnered three-hit performances on three different occasions during his rookie campaign.
Coballes is the third Gonzaga student-athlete to earn top defensive accolades and the second in as many years as Brett Harris earned the honor in 2021 and Joey Harris accomplished the feat in 2015. The junior committed only two errors, posting a .978 fielding percentage and helped turn eight double plays to go along with 62 assists and 27 putouts. In addition to his stellar defensive work, Coballes batted .248 with 17 runs scored, 10 RBI and two stolen bases.
Machtolf earned his fifth WCC Coach of the Year honor after guiding Gonzaga to the sixth WCC regular season title in program history and fifth since 2013. Under his tutelage, the Zags are ranked in the Top 15 in numerous national polls, included coming in at No. 10 in the Baseball America rankings. The Bulldogs boast four wins against ranked opponents all in the top 10, highlighted by a three-game sweep at then-No. 6 Oklahoma State and a win over then-No. 2 Oregon State.
Seven teams placed at least one student-athlete on the 13-member All-WCC first team, headlined by four picks from San Diego. BYU garnered five student-athletes named to the first and second All-WCC teams combined with one on the first team and four on the second team.
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