Baseball All-Conference Awards Unveiled

5/11/2023 12:00:00 AM

Julian Sanders of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges and Gerald Terry of the University of La Verne fronted the 2023 Baseball All-Conference teams as Athlete and Pitcher of the Year.

Sanders led the conference in batting average (.417), slugging percentage (.757), doubles (12), runs (27), RBI (34) and tied for first with seven home runs. He has been a driving force in leading CMS to its first-ever SCIAC Tournament as the #2 seed, having finished just two games back of champion University of La Verne. He strung together a 14-game conference hitting streak before the final game of the season, with 16 multi-hit games and six with three or more RBI.

Terry racked up a conference-leading 63 strikeouts in 55 innings with a 0.76 WHIP and 2.13 ERA, accumulating five wins for the SCIAC regular season champion Leopards. He posted quality starts in seven of eight SCIAC contests. He struck out six or more batters in five starts, including a single-game high of 19, while surrendering one or no walks in six starts.

Whittier College's Lew Rice earned Newcomer of the Year recognition after a debut sophomore year in which he ranked third in the SCIAC in slugging percentage (.670, tied-third in home runs (six) and tied-fifth in stolen bases (eight). He recorded nine multi-hit games and four with three or more RBI.

Cameron Slessor of La Verne was named the Character Award winner. A versatile team leader willing to do what the squad needs, he made starts at centerfield, left field and third base. He is respectful and well-respected by his teammates and coaches. Slessor hit .297 this season with nine doubles, 19 runs and 17 RBI.

Coaching Staff of the Year recognition went to Scott Winterburn and the La Verne dugout after the Leopards laid sole claim to the regular season title, winning the finale series of the season to clinch the #1 seed in the SCIAC Tournament. The Leopards allowed the fewest runs in conference play at 4.2 per game while scoring 7.6 at the plate.

Chapman University and La Verne led all teams with three First Team and five total honorees. California Lutheran University and CMS ranked second with four apiece - two on each team - while Whittier and University of Redlands each had two named to the First Team. La Verne's Gerald Terry and Chapman's Cole Minato were the only two repeat First Team selections, though former Newcomer of the Year Dane Goodman (Whittier) made the cut back in 2019. AJ Anzai (Chapman), Will Dembski (Caltech) and Tyler Shaw (CMS) made the jump up from Second Team in 2022. Pomona-Pitzer's JC Ng and earned his second All-SCIAC honor after making the First Team in 2022 while the Chapman duo of Wyatt Thompson and Brad Shimabuku were also previous selections to the First Team last year and All-SCIAC team in 2021, respectively. Cal Lutheran's Brendan Durfee and CMS' Jarrett Korson made their second consecutive Second Team.


Athlete of the Year	Pitcher of the Year	Newcomer of the Year	Character Award	Coaching Staff of the Year
Julian Sanders CMS	Gerald Terry La Verne	Lew Rice Whittier	Cameron Slessor La Verne	Scott Winterburn La Verne

First Team All-SCIAC
Name	Institution	Year	Position	Hometown
Julian Sanders	CMS	Jr.	1B	Mercer Island, Wash.
Gerald Terry	La Verne	Gr.	SP	La Verne, Calif.
Nathan Perry	La Verne	Fy.	C	Irvine, Calif.
AJ Anzai	Chapman	Jr.	1B	Trabuco Canyon, Calif.
Max Clark	Redlands	Sr.	3B	Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Zach Lafata	Cal Lutheran	Sr.	2B	Mililani, Hawai'i
Tyler Shaw	CMS	Jr.	SS	Pacifica, Calif.
Will Dembski	Caltech	Sr.	CF	Pella, Iowa
Dane Goodman	Whittier	Sr.	CF	Ross, Calif.
Lew Rice	Whittier	So.	LF	Walkerton, Va.
Max Banks	Chapman	So.	SP	San Francisco, Calif.
Tyler Reiter	Redlands	Sr.	SP	San Diego, Calif.
Clay Rickerman	Cal Lutheran	Sr.	RP	Granada Hills, Calif.
Benny Vogel	La Verne	So.	RP	Villa Park, Calif.
Cole Minato	Chapman	Sr.	3B	Huntington Beach, Calif.

Second Team All-SCIAC
Name	Institution	Year	Position	Hometown
Teige Barrett	Whittier	Jr.	1B/DH	San Diego, Calif.
Brendan Durfee	Cal Lutheran	Jr.	C	Monrovia, Calif.
Ethan Galindo	La Verne	So.	SP	Baldwin Park, Calif.
Noah Garcia	La Verne	So.	1B	Danville, Calif.
Jarrett Korson	CMS	Sr.	SP	Murrieta, Calif.
JC Ng	Pomona-Pitzer	So.	CF	Foster City, Calif.
Eric Prough	Pomona-Pitzer	Jr.	RP	Walnut Creek, Calif.
Paul Roche	CMS	Sr.	RF	Lake Forest, Calif.
Brad Shimabuku	Chapman	Sr.	LF	Belmont, Calif.
Ari Solomon	Occidental	Sr.	1B	Pleasanton, Calif.
Wyatt Thompson	Chapman	Sr.	SP	Oakland, Calif.
Luke Wechsler	Cal Lutheran	So.	SP	Santa Barbara, Calif.
Eamon Woods	Pomona-Pitzer	So.	SP	Nashville, Tenn.

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