BATON ROUGE — LSU catcher Brad Cresse, Tiger second baseman Mike Fontenot, McNeese State outfielder Chris Williamson and Louisiana Lafayette Coach Tony Robichaux headline the All-Louisiana College Baseball team announced late Friday by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
The team was chosen based on nominations submitted by the sports information directors of the baseball schools and then voted on by a panel of SIDs and media throughout the state. All stats and voting was based on regular season totals through the conclusion of the regular season and conference tournaments and does not include any results or stats from the NCAA Regionals, Super Regionals or College World Series.
Cresse was one-vote shy of being the unanimous pick for Louisiana Player of the Year after a stellar senior season. The finalist for the Dick Howser Award and the Johnny Bench National Catcher of the Year Award led the SEC with 25 homers and ranked second in the conference in RBI (91) and total bases (188).
Cresse, the first-team catcher, tied the LSU single-game record with five hits vs. Tulane on March 1 and the first-team All-SEC selection earned national player of the week honors in late March after hitting .727 (8-for-11) in four games with one double, three homers and eight RBI. He ended the regular season with a .777 slugging percentage and a .990 fielding percentage.
Fontenot, from Slidell, was the unanimous choice as Louisiana Freshman of the Year adding to his SEC Freshman of the Year title. Fontenot, also chosen as the first-team second baseman, hit .341 with 15 home runs and 55 RBI.
The freshman had two games against Alabama and Southeastern Louisiana with two homers each and had a 12-game hitting streak during the season.
The Newcomer of the Year, Williamson of McNeese State, earned his first-team outfield slot after posting a .394 batting average with 13 homers and 69 RBI. He also was named the Southland Conference Hitter and Newcomer of the Year.
Williamson led the SLC in batting average, RBI and home runs and had 25 multi-hit games and hit a gaudy .404 average in conference games with 31 runs batted in.
The choice of the media for Coach of the Year, would take his Louisiana-Lafayette team to the College World Series after the voting deadline, winning a regional in Lafayette, upsetting the national No. 1 seed South Carolina in the Columbia, S.C., Super Regional and taking his team to a tie for third in the College World Series.
Robichaux, posted a 42-17 record entering the NCAA Tournament, and had his team ranked as high as fourth in the country during the season. This is the second consecutive year for Robichaux to earn the Louisiana Coach of the Year honor and the third time overall he has claimed the honor.
Joining Cresse, Fontenot and Williamson on the first team are four junior pitchers: Brian Tallet of LSU, Scott Dohmann and Justin Gabriel of Louisiana-Lafayette, and Kenny Holubec of Louisiana Monroe. Also on the infield are LSU first baseman Brad Hawpe, Louisiana Lafayette shortstop Rick Haydell and Tulane third baseman Jake Gautreau from Tulane. The outfield is completed by Cedrick Harris of LSU and John Ballon of New Orleans. The first-team designated hitter is Steve Shirley of Tulane and the utility player is Ryan Gill of Louisiana Lafayette.
Tallet, who was scheduled to pitch the College World Series championship game Saturday against Stanford, posted a 3.37 ERA to got with a 12-3 record and 113 strikeouts. Tallet had a win and a save in the SEC Tournament and tied the LSU record for single-season shutouts with three.
The two Louisiana-Lafayette pitchers had strong seasons with Dohmann posting a 10-5 mark with a 3.17 ERA in earning Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year. Gabriel was 9-2 with a 2.54 ERA in earning first-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors.
Holubec helped his team to the NCAA Regional round with an 11-2 record and a 3.19 ERA. The first-team All-SLC selection led the league in strikeouts with 154.
At first base, Hawpe hit .357 with 7 HR and 65 RBI and entered the NCAA Tournament with an SEC single-season record for doubles (32), four shy of the NCAA mark which he would tie in the CWS. Shortstop Haydel was a steady defensive player for the Cajuns, hitting. 281 with 32 RBI, earning first-team Sun Belt honors. He hit .337 in league play. Rounding out the infield was third baseman Gautreau of Tulane, the Conference USA Player of the Year after hitting .397 with 66 RBI and 15 home runs. The sophomore has yet to miss an inning in his first two seasons at Tulane.
The outfield’s other two selections had outstanding credentials with LSU’s Harris posting a .401 average with 31 RBI, while Ballon of New Orleans earned first-team Sun Belt honors with a .344 average and 61 RBI. Shirley of Tulane was named the DH on the team after hitting .362 with 56 RBI, while Louisiana Lafayette’s Ryan Gill was the Utility player after playing at all three bases, pitcher and in the outfield.
The second team was made up of pitchers Jared Berkowitz of Tulane, Chris Howay of McNeese State, Hunter Gomez of LSU and Alex Velazquez of Nicholls State. The catcher was Danny Massiatte of Louisiana Lafayette with Nick Bouzos of Louisiana Tech at first, James Jurries of Tulane at second, Mike Ceravolo of Loyola-NO at shortstop and T. J. Soto of Louisiana Tech at third. The second team outfield is made up of Todd Self of Louisiana-Monroe, Jeremy Witten of LSU and Jordan Robison of Northwestern State. Mike Wombacher of ULM is the DH and Wally Pontiff of LSU is the utility player.
Matt Matejcek (first base) and Sammy Cooper (shortstop) of New Orleans, along with outfielders Chris Cottonham of Grambling State and Steven Feehan of Louisiana Lafayette earned honorable mention all-Louisiana honors.
All-Louisiana Collegiate Baseball Team
(All Stats are at the end of the regular season prior to any NCAA play)
First Team
P/Brian Tallet/LSU/Jr./Bethany, Okla./12-3 W-L, 3.37 ERA, 1 SV, 113 K
P/Scott Dohmann/La.-Laf/Jr./Lafayette, La./10-5 W-L, 3.17 ERA, 115 K
P/Kenny Holubec/ULM/Jr./Houma, La./11-2 W-L, 3.19 ERA, 154 K
P/Justin Gabriel/La.-Laf/Jr./Seattle, Wash./9-2 W-L, 2.54 ERA, 87 K
C/Brad Cresse/LSU/Sr./Seal Beach, Calif./.393 BA, 25 HR, 91 RBI
1B/Brad Hawpe/LSU/Jr./Fort Worth, Texas/.357 BA, 7 HR, 65 RBI
2B/Mike Fontenot/LSU/Fr./Slidell, La./.341 BA, 15 HR, 55 RBI
SS/Rick Haydell/La.-Laf/Jr./Gonzales, La./.281 BA, 6 HR, 32 RBI
3B/Jake Gautreau/Tulane/So./McAllen, Texas/.397 BA, 15 HR, 66 RB
I OF/Cedrick Harris/LSU/Jr./Ashdown, Ark./.401 BA, 2 HR, 31 RBI
OF/Chris Williamson/McNeese State/Jr./Houston, Texas/.394 BA, 13 HR, 69 RBI
OF/John Ballon/New Orleans/Sr./Saratoga, Calif./.344 BA, 13 HR, 61 RBI
DH/Steve Shirley/Tulane/Jr./Tampa, Fla./.362 BA, 9 HR, 56 RBI
UTIL/Ryan Gill/La.-Laf/Sr./Baton Rouge, La./.353 BA, 4 HR, 35 RBI
Player of the Year — Brad Cresse, LSU
Freshman of the Year — Mike Fontenot, LSU
Newcomer of the Year — Chris Williamson, McNeese State
Coach of the Year — Tony Robichaux, Louisiana-Lafayette
SECOND TEAM
P/Jared Berkowitz/Tulane/Sr./Scottsdale, Ariz./12-3 W-L, 3.53 ERA, 95 K
P/Chris Howay/McNeese St./Jr./New Westminister, BC/11-2 W-L, 3.45 ERA
P/Hunter Gomez/LSU/Sr./Ponchatoula, La./9-1 W-L, 3.86 ERA, 104 K
P/Alex Velazquez/Nicholls St./Jr./Miami, Fla./14 Saves, 2.31 ERA, 45 K
C/Danny Massiatte/La.-Laf/Sr./Houston, Texas/.290 BA, 13 HR, 36 RBI
1B/Nick Bouzos/La. Tech/Jr./Pueblo, Colo./.328 BA, 10 HR, 32 RBI
2B/James Jurries/Tulane/So./Lake Jackson, Texas/.346 BA, 11 HR, 45 RBI
SS/Mike Ceravolo/Loyola-NO/Sr./Kenner, La./.398 BA, 7 HR, 48 RBI
3B/T. J. Soto/La. Tech/Sr./Ruston, La./.341 BA, 21 HR, 59 RBI
OF/Todd Self/ULM/Sr./Stonewall, La./.341 BA, 6 HR, 49 RBI
OF/Jeremy Witten/LSU/Sr./Louisville, Ky./.344 BA, 5 HR, 50 RBI
OF/Jordan Robison/Northwestern St./Jr./Iona, Idaho/.342 BA, 8 HR, 45 RBI
DH/Mike Wombacher/ULM/Sr./Clarksdale, Ariz./.350 BA, 5 HR, 35 RBI
UTIL/Wally Pontiff/LSU/Fr./Metairie, La./.344 BA, 5 HR, 35 RBI
HONORABLE MENTION
1B — Matt Matejcek, New Orleans (Sr., .338 BA); SS — Sammy Cooper, New Orleans (Sr., .312 BA); OF — Chris Cottonham, Grambling State (Sr., .424 BA); Steven Feehan, Louisiana Lafayette (.273 BA).