<
>

All-WCL Teams and Awards Announced

West Coast League president Dennis Koho released the 2015 all-West Coast League teams this morning, as well as announcing the league’s 2015 awards.

The East Division-champion Kelowna Falcons captured all or a share of all the individual awards as Falcons’ shortstop Hunter Villanueva of Fresno Pacific earned MVP honors, Kelowna right-hander Brady Miller of Western Oregon was named WCL Pitcher of the Year, Falcon skipper Billy Clontz was the league’s pick for Coach of the Year and long-time Kelowna GM Mark Nonis shared Executive of the Year recognition with first-year Bend Elks general manager Casey Powell.

The Klamath Falls Gems were the recipients of the Jim Dietz team Sportmanship Award.

Villanueva led the WCL in batting with a .378 average and tied for the league lead in on base percentage with his Falcons’ teammate Justin Flores, as both posted impressive OBPs of .488. A redshirt sophomore-to-be from Bakersfield, California, Hunter hit .298 with 30 RBIs as a frosh in the spring of 2014. This summer, Villanueva led Kelowna to a record 34 wins while torching WCL pitching; banging out 12 doubles, mashing 7 home runs, scoring 37 runs and collecting 33 RBIs.

WCL Pitcher of the Year Brady Miller went 6-0 with a 2.18 ERA over 7 starts this summer. This past spring as a frosh at Western Oregon, the Gilbert, Arizona native made 18 appearances, struck out 41 over 36.2 innings pitched and went 2-1 while posting a 1.72 ERA.

Second-year Falcons’ skipper Billy Clontz earned Coach of the Year honors as the Ohlone College assistant coach led Kelowna to the West Coast League Championship Series and their first division title. Clontz, who played his college baseball at Mt. Hood CC and Western Oregon, has a long history in the WCL as the Corvallis native played three seasons with the Corvallis Knights (2006, 2008-2009), coached three seasons with the Knights (2010-2011, 2013) and coached a summer with the Klamath Falls Gems (2012) before taking the helm in Kelowna in 2014.

Co-Executive of the Year selections Mark Nonis of Kelowna and Casey Powell of Bend also have long histories in the West Coast League. Nonis has been with Kelowna since the Falcons were established in 2000 and Mark pitched for Kelowna during his college playing days in the late 90s. Powell transitioned from coaching to the front office in 2015 and led the Elks to their first division title, first league championship and the league’s top record in his rookie GM season. Casey has both managed and coached in the WCL for the Bend Elks.

The WCL champion Bend Elks are most represented on the all-WCL teams, featuring four first-team selections.

First-Team All-WCL

C – Gunner Pollman (Sacramento State), Klamath Falls Gems
1B – Billy King (Oregon State), Bend Elks
2B – West Tunnell (Baylor), Bend Elks
3B – Tyler Davis (Northwest Nazerene), Bend Elks
SS – Hunter Villanueva (Fresno Pacific), Kelowna Falcons
OF – Keston Hiura (UC Irvine), Wenatchee AppleSox
OF – Justin Flores (Cal State Monterey), Kelowna Falcons
OF – Dan Mayer (University of the Pacific), Medford Rogues
UTL – Nick Madrigal (frosh-to-be at Oregon State), Corvallis Knights
SP – Patrick McGuff (Morehead State), Bend Elks
SP – Brady Miller (Western Oregon), Kelowna Falcons
SP – Andrew Kemmerer (Central Arkansas), Bellingham Bells
SP – Adam Cline (Columbia), Kitsap BlueJackets
SP – John Oltman (Creighton), Kitsap BlueJackets
RP – Lars Rider (Central Washington), Cowlitz Black Bears
RP – Wyatt Mills (Gonzaga), Yakima Valley Pippins

Second-Team All-WCL

C – Bronson Larsen (BYU), Bellingham Bells
1B – Mitchell Holland (UC Irvine), Wenatchee AppleSox
2B – Griffin Andreuchuk (Seattle), Victoria HarbourCats
3B – Mitch Skaggs (College of Idaho), Yakima Valley Pippins
SS – Cadyn Grenier (frosh-to-be at Oregon State), Bend Elks
OF – Christian Cavaness (Lidenwood), Bend Elks
OF – A.J. Alcantara (UC Irvine), Victoria HarbourCats
OF – Kevin Collard (San Diego), Victoria HarbourCats
UTL – Cooper Hummell (Portland), Bend Elks
SP – Hunter Wells (Gonzaga), Wenatchee AppleSox
SP – Chris Castellanos (Stanford), Cowlitz Black Bears
SP – Jans Jensen (Lewis-Clark State), Yakima Valley Pippins
SP – Dominic Topoozian (Fresno State), Victoria HarbourCats
SP – Joe Balfour (Mt. Hood CC), Cowlitz Black Bears
RP – Harrison McGhee (Concordia), Corvallis Knights
RP – Jayse Bannister (Holy Names), Kelowna Falcons

Honorable Mention All-WCL

Bellingham: Dustin Breshears (Gonzaga), Justin Calomeni (Cal Poly), Patick McGrath (Washington State), Walker Olis (Pacific), Andrew Reichenbach (George Fox), Aaron Stroosma (Liberty), Brian Way (Edmonds CC). Bend: Daniel Bies (Gonzaga), Sam Boone (Washington State), Nate Hunter (Mt. Hood CC), Aaron Leasher (Morehead State), Jordan Wilcox (Portland), Louis Wolf (Mt. Hood CC). Corvallis: Emilio Alcantar (Linn-Benton CC), Chris Clements (UC Santa Barbara), Dakody Clemmer (Central Arizona College), Michael Farris (UC Riverside), Slater Lee (Cal Poly), Ryan Matranga (San Francisco), Cory Nelson (PLU). Cowlitz: Lorin Archibald (Lower Columbia College). Kelowna: Michael Koval (Cal Poly Pomona), Lane Lacrone (Treasure Valley CC), Joel Lamont (Okanagan College), Grant Meylan (Santa Clara), Brandon Oliver (Western Oregon). Kitsap: Brett Bautista (San Jose State), Holden Capps (Redlands CC), Nate Simmons (St. Mary’s). Medford: Nathan Etheridge (Western Oregon), Billy Frederick (UC Santa Barbara), Kohl Hostert (Oregon), T.K. McWhertor (Cuesta College), Justin Mulvaney (Northern Colorado), DJ Wilson (Lane CC). Victoria: Austin Dondanville (Cal Poly), Austin Guibor (Fresno State), Ben Polshuk (Cal Poly). Walla Walla: Parker Coss (UC Irvine), Joe DeMers (frosh-to-be at Washington), Nick Halamandaris (Cal), Easton Lucas (frosh-to-be at Pepperdine), Kyle Nixon (San Francisco). Wenatchee: Evan Douglas (Spokane Falls CC), Zach Haggett (Spokane Falls CC), Dustin Hamilton (Central Washington), Sean Sparling (UC Irvine). Yakima Valley: Micah Gorman (VMI), Darrion Simons (Yakima Valley CC), Mitch Yada (Central Washington).

WCL MVPs
2015 – Hunter Villanueva (Fresno Pacific) of Kelowna
2014 – Vince Fernandez (UC Riverside) of Yakima Valley
2013 – Alex Calbick (Maine) of Bellingham
2012 – Mitchell Gunsolus (Gonzaga) of Wenatchee
2011 – Alex Stanford (Gonzaga) of Walla Walla
2010 – Tommy Richards (Washington State) of Bend
2009 – Richie Jimenez (Riverside CC) of Corvallis
2008 – Drew Heid (Gonzaga) of Bend
2007 – Zach Kim (San Francisco) of Moses Lake; Brandon Kuykendall (Benedictine College) of Kitsap
2006 – Darin Holcomb (Gonzaga) of Spokane
2005 – Steve Marquardt (Columbia Basin College) of Wenatchee

WCL Pitchers of the Year
2015 – Brady Miller (Western Oregon) of Kelowna
2014 – Seth Martinez (Arizona State) of Bellingham
2013 – Nick Sabo (Long Beach State) of Klamath Falls
2012 – Cord Cockrell (Louisiana-Lafayette) of Kelowna
2011 – Owen Jones (Portland) of Wenatchee
2010 – Dayne Quist (UC Davis) of Kelowna
2009 – Matt Andriese (UC Riverside) of Corvallis
2008 – Jared Eskew (Cal Poly) of Corvallis
2007 – Paul Applebee (UC Riverside) of Bellingham
2006 – Ross Humes (Washington State) of Kitsap
2005 – Tommy Hanson (Riverside CC) of Aloha

WCL Coaches of the Year
2015 – Billy Clontz, Kelowna
2014 – Jeff James, Bellingham
2013 – Brooke Knight, Corvallis
2012 – Ed Knaggs, Wenatchee
2011 – Brooke Knight, Corvallis
2010 – Ed Knaggs, Wenatchee
2009 – Brooke Knight, Corvallis; Ed Knaggs, Wenatchee
2008 – Brooke Knight, Corvallis
2007 – Gabe Boruff, Moses Lake
2006 – Steve Hertz, Spokane
2005 – Ed Knaggs, Wenatchee

WCL Executives of the Year
2015- Mark Nonis, Kelowna; Casey Powell, Bend
2014 – Nick Caples, Bellingham
2013 – Holly Jones, Victoria
2012 – Nick Caples, Bellingham
2011 – Eddie Poplawski, Bellingham
2010 – Zachary Fraser, Walla Walla
2009 – Dan Segel, Corvallis
2008 – Dan Segel, Corvallis
2007 – Dan Segel, Corvallis
2006 – Brent & Amy Kirwan, Moses Lake
2005 – Rick Smith & partners, Kitsap

Jim Dietz Sportsmanship Award*
2015 – Klamath Falls Gems
2014 – Bellingham Bells
2013 – Bellingham Bells
2012 – Cowlitz Black Bears
2011 – Cowlitz Black Bears
2010 – Moses Lake Pirates
2009 – Moses Lake Pirates
2008 – Corvallis Knights

*established in 2008, and named after the league’s inaugural commissioner Jim Dietz.