NEW ORLEANS — First-year LSU head coach Smoke Laval and Southern’s Roger Cador tied as the Louisiana Sportswriters’ Association 2002 Baseball Coach of the Year, while Tigers’ pitcher Jake Tompkins was named Newcomer of the Year, and UNO designated hitter Chris Adams and LSU second baseman J.C. Holt shared the Freshman of the Year Award.
Southern University’s Rickie Weeks, a first team All-America second baseman who hit .500 on the season to lead the Jaguars into the NCAA Regional, was named the LSWA Player of the Year. Weeks topped the 15-man All-Louisiana Collegiate Baseball Team first team.
Laval led LSU into the NCAA Super Regional while Cador’s 2002 team led the nation in scoring and batting average while making the Jaguars’ fifth trip to the NCAA Regional. Tompkins, a right-handed pitcher from Auburn, Calif., was the Tigers’ top reliever after moving over from the starting rotation. Holt hit over .340 while starting at second base as a freshman, and Adams led UNO in hitting with a .359 average and scored 29 runs while picking up 52 hits.
Tulane and LSU placed four players each on the All-Louisiana first team and Northwestern State had three first-team representatives. Southern, UL-Lafayette, McNeese State and Monroe had one first team player each as the voting included a tie for first team catcher between Northwestern State’s Anatole Vincent and McNeese State’s Ran Prince. Outfielder Brad Hanson and pitcher O.J. King completed Northwestern State’s first team choices. The Green Wave contingent consisted of first baseman James Jurries, pitcher Nick Bourgeois, outfielder Jon Kaplan and utility player Michael Aubrey. LSU placed ace pitcher Lane Mestepey, third baseman Wally Pontiff, shortstop Aaron Hill and outfielder Sean Barker on the top unit. Second baseman Weeks, designated hitter Jason Lind of UL-Monroe and pitcher Justin Gabriel of UL-Lafayette rounded out the first team.
Players from nine different Louisiana universities made up the second team. LSU placed pitchers Bo Pettit and Tompkins and second baseman Holt on the second team, while NCAA Regional team UL-Lafayette had pitcher Andy Gros and utility man Corey Coles and Southern was represented by third baseman Antoin Gray and outfielder Fred Lewis. UNO designated hitter Chris Adams, first baseman Alberto Campbell of Grambling State and Nicholls State shortstop Chuck Hickman were their teams’ lone selections to the All-Louisiana squads. In addition to Southern’s Lewis, the second team outfield included Jerad Doty of UL-Monroe and Tulane’s Aaron Feldman. Northwestern State pitcher Casey Johnson completed the All-Louisiana second team.
A complete listing of the All-Louisiana Collegiate Baseball Team is included below.
Player of the Year — Rickie Weeks, 2B, Southern
Freshman of the Year (tie) — Chris Adams, DH, New Orleans and J.C. Holt, 2B, LSU
Newcomer of the Year — Jake Tompkins, RHP, LSU
Coach of the Year (tie) — Roger Cador, Southern and Smoke Laval, LSU
First Team
Pitchers — Nick Bourgeois, Tulane; Justin Gabriel, UL-Lafayette; O.J. King, Northwestern State; Lane Mestepey, LSU
Catcher (tie) — Ran Prince, McNeese State; Anatole Vincent, Northwestern St.
First Base James Jurries, Tulane
Second Base Rickie Weeks, Southern
Shortstop Aaron Hill, LSU
Third Base Wally Pontiff, LSU
Outfield Sean Barker, LSU, Brad Hanson, Northwestern St. Jon Kaplan, Tulane
Designated Hitter Jason Lind, UL-Monroe
Utility Player Michael Aubrey, Tulane
Second Team
Pitchers — Andy Gros, UL-Lafayette; Casey Johnson, Northwestern St.; Bo Pettit, LSU; Jake Tompkins, LSU
First Base — Alberto Campbell, Grambling St.
Second Base — J.C. Holt, LSU
Shortstop — Chuck Hickman, Nicholls State
Third Base — Antoin Gray, Southern
Outfield — Jerad Doty, UL-Monroe; Aaron Feldman, Tulane; Fred Lewis, Southern
Designated Hitter — Chris Adams, New Orleans
Utility Player — Corey Coles, UL-Lafayette