BATON ROUGE — Tulane third baseman Jake Gautreau, all-purpose player Michael Aubrey and head coach Rick Jones along with LSU’s Bryan Moore head the 2001 All-Louisiana College Baseball Team as announced by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
Gautreau was named the 2001 Player of the Year, while Aubrey captured Freshman of the Year honors with Jones of the Wave the Coach of the Year. Moore earned Newcomer of the Year honors for first-year non-freshman players in Louisiana.
Nominations for the team were made by the Sports Information Directors at baseball schools in the state and then the nominations were voted on by a media panel representing all parts of the state. All statistics and voting were based on information provided following the conclusion of the conference tournaments prior to the NCAA playoffs.
Gautreau, the first team choice at third base, helped lead the Wave to the College World Series, hitting .359 in 60 games with 76 runs scored with 90 hits, including 20 home runs and 84 RBI. The preseason All-American choice was the Conference USA Player of the Year as he battered opposition for a .681 slugging percentage.
Aubrey was chosen the Freshman of the Year and after much debate by the voters, was finally put at the first team designated hitter spot on the team. It was hard to decide after going 2-0 with a 5.47 ERA on the mound, while hitting .353 as an everyday player for the Wave. The C-USA Freshman of the Year had 13 home runs and 61 RBI.
Moore of LSU won the balloting for the Newcomer of the Year as the leading hitter for the Tigers entering NCAA tournament play. He twice tied the school record for hits in a game with five on March 3 against Arizona State and April 22 versus Vanderbilt. He hit .374 for the season with 6 homers and 44 RBI.
Jones easily earned Coach of the Year honors in this College World Series season by leading the team to its best regular season finish of 45-9 and 21-6 in Conference USA. The Wave won its third regular season C-USA title and finished the regular season ranked fifth in the country.
Tulane was 12-0 against instate opponents entering NCAA play and would finish with the most wins in school history.
Joining Gautreau and Aubrey on the first team were pitchers Lane Mestepey of LSU, Torik Harrison of Southern, Aaron Dobbins of Louisiana-Monroe and O. J. King of Northwestern State. Catching the first team is Tim Meadows of Louisiana Tech with Kevin Mitchell of McNeese State handling the chores at first base. Along with Gautreau, the rest of the infield finds Michael Woods of Southern at second base and Andy Cannizaro at shortstop from Tulane. The outfield is made up of Todd Linden of LSU, Rickie Weeks of Southern and Jordan Robinson of Northwestern State. Ran Prince of McNeese State is the choice at utility.
Mestepey was the only player chosen first team on every ballot as the LSU lefty freshman finished with a 10-3 regular season record and a 3.30 ERA with 69 strikeouts. He is the first freshman to win 10 games in a season since Brett Laxton in 1993.
Harrison was voted the SWAC’s Pitcher of the Year and the Houston, Texas project went 8-0 for the Southern Jaguars with a 3.31 ERA and 57 strikeouts. Dobbins led ULM with an 8-2 record and a 3.43 ERA with 77 strikeouts. Finally, King earned Southland Newcomer of the Year while rolling up 8 wins in 10 decisions with a 4.03 ERA and 62 K
Meadows time at catcher earned him the honors for the Tech player, hitting .303 with 15 homers and 60 RBI, while McNeese State’s Mitchell led the SLC in homers with 19, hitting .415 with 64 RBI, including a school record tying 8 RBI in one game.
In earning starting honors at second base, Woods of Southern hit .453 in earning Southwestern Athletic Conference Hitter and Player of the Year honors as well as SWAC Tourney MVP. Woods had 54 RBI and 14 home runs. Cannizaro of Tulane was a first team All C-USA selection after hitting .371 with 95 hits, 60 RBI and 45 stolen bases entering NCAA play.
The outfield was led by LSU’s Linden, a mid-year transfer who was LSU’s leader in home runs (18) and RBI (68). He hit .315 for the year. Robison of Northwestern State was the runnerup for SLC player of the year hitting .376 with 13 round trippers and 56 RBI in making All-Louisiana a second straight year. Weeks of Southern, was the SWAC Freshman of the Year, hitting .422 with 70 runs batted in. Utility player Prince fit the description perfectly, playing catcher, left field, right field, designated hitter and third base. The sophomore hit .312 with eight homers and 34 RBI.
The second team was made up of: pitchers: Anthony Carona, Tulane; Matt Foster, Tulane; Carl Makowsky, Northwestern State; and, Barth Melius of Tulane. The catcher is B. J. Grenada of Centenary with James Jurries of Tulane at first, Mike Fontenot of LSU at second, Ryan Theriot at shortstop and Willie Core of Louisiana-Monroe at third. The second-team outfield is Jake Adams of Louisiana Tech, Matt Groff of Tulane and Jon Kaplan of Tulane. Brad Hansen of Northwestern State is the designated hitter.
Named as honorable mention were: first base – Bryan Moore, LSU; outfield – Craig Roberson, Louisiana College.
ALL-LOUISIANA COLLEGE BASEBALL TEAM
AS SELECTED BY THE LOUISIANA SPORTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION
FIRST TEAM
Pos./Name/Team/Class/Hometown//W-L/ERA/K’s
P/Lane Mestepey/LSU/Fr/Zachary, La.//10-3/3.30/69
P/Torik Harrison/ Southern/Sr/Houston, Tex.//8-0/3.31/57
P/O. J. King/Northwestern State/Jr./Tahlequa, Okla.//8-2/4.03/62
P/Aaron Dobbins/La.-Monroe/Arlington, Texas//8-2/3.43/77
//Avg./HR/RBI
C/Tim Meadows/La. Tech/Jr./Brenham, Texas//.303/15/60
1B/Kevin Mitchell/McNeese St./Sr./Corpus Christi, Texas//.415/19/64
2B/Michael Woods/Southern/Jr./Baton Rouge, La.//.453/14/54
SS/Andy Cannizaro/Tulane/Sr./Mandeville, La.//.371/ 2/60
3B/Jake Gautreau/Tulane/Jr./McAllen, Texas//.359/20/84
OF/Todd Linden/LSU/Jr./Bremerton, Wash.//.315/18/68
OF/Jordan Robison/Northwestern St./Sr./Iona, Idaho//.376/13/56
OF/Rickie Weeks/Southern/Fr./Altamont Springs, Fla.//.422/14/70
DH/Michael Aubrey/Tulane/Fr./Shreveport, La.//.353/13/61
Util/Ran Prince/McNeese St./So./Sulphur, La.//.312/8/34
PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Jake Gautreau, Tulane (Votes: Gautreau 13, Woods 5, Core 3, Mestepey 1)
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Michael Aubrey, Tulane (Votes: Aubrey 15, Mestepey 6, Weeks 1)
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – Bryan Moore, LSU (Votes: Moore 12, King 7, Blalock 1, Miller 1, Kranjanic 1)
COACH OF THE YEAR – Rick Jones, Tulane (Votes: Jones 19, Cador 2, Bertman 1).
SECOND TEAM
Pos./Name/Team/Class/Hometown//W-L/ERA/K’s
P/Anthony Carona/Tulane/Jr/Ventura, Calif.//4-2/4.58/36
P/Matt Foster/Tulane/So/Sarasota, Fla.//9-4/3.54/73
P/Carl Makowsky/Northwestern St./Jr./Conroe, Texas//5-0/3.35/78
P/Barth Melius/Tulane/Sr./Metairie, La.//10-2/6.02/66
//Avg./HR/RBI
C/B. J. Grenada/Centenary/Jr/Winfield, BC, Canada//.374/9/58
1B/James Jurries/Tulane/Jr./Lake Jackson, Texas//.347/9/46
2B/Mike Fontenot/LSU/So./Slidell, La.//.352/12/44
SS/Ryan Theriot/LSU/Jr/Baton Rouge, La.//.360/1/43
3B/Willie Core/La. Monroe/Sr./Folsom, La.//.408/12/56
OF/Jake Adams/La. Tech/Sr./Pensacola, Fla.//.297/19/61
OF/Matt Groff/Tulane/Sr./Fort Myers, Fla.//.383/5/50
OF/Jon Kaplan/Tulane/So./Chesterfield, Mo.//.355/4/42
DH/Brad Hanson/Northwestern St./Jr./Houston, Texas//.381/0/52
Honorable Mention
1B: Bryan Moore, LSU; Outfield – Craig Roberson, Louisiana College.