Seven West Coast League alums were named to Baseball America’s All-America teams released yesterday including first-team All-Americans Big West Defensive Player of the Year David Banuelos of Long Beach State, who played for the Bellingham Bells in 2016, and Pac-12 Player of the Year Nick Madrigal of Oregon State, who set the WCL single-season mark for steals with 40 for the Corvallis Knights in 2015.

Also named to the first team was outfielder Keston Hiura of UC Irvine – the 2017 Big West Player of the Year – who tore apart WCL pitching for the Wenatchee AppleSox over the summer of 2015 hitting .356 with 21 doubles, 6 triples, 6 homers and 42 RBIs to earn first-team all-WCL honors.

In total, four WCL alums were first-team picks with former Bend Elks hurler Jake Thompson of Oregon State being selected as well. Thompson pitched for the Elks in 2014.

Washington catcher Joey Morgan (Medford Rogues) was selected to Baseball America’s second team, while UCLA pitcher Griffin Channing of Wenatchee and Oregon ace David Peterson (Medford Rogues) were third-team selections.

Madrigal and Thompson are competing in the Corvallis Super Regional this weekend for the #1-ranked Beavers while Banuelos is participating in the Long Beach Super Regional for the Dirtbags. OSU is hosting Vanderbilt while LBSU is hosting conference rival Cal State Fullerton.

ABOUT THE WEST COAST LEAGUE

The West Coast League is the premier summer collegiate baseball league west of the Mississippi. The 13-year-old, 11-team, professionally operated wood-bat league located in the beautiful Pacific Northwest features pro prospects from major conferences across the nation and an unparalleled history out west of great fan and player experiences in addition to the best summer weather in North America. In 2016, 88 players with WCL experience were selected in the MLB June draft, and more than 230 WCL alums appeared in affiliated professional baseball including 28 in the major leagues, such as 2015 home-run leader Chris Davis (Baltimore), 2015 NL Rookie of the Year runner-up Matt Duffy (Tampa Bay) and rising star pitchers Matt Andriese (Tampa Bay), Matt Boyd (Detroit) and James Paxton (Seattle). Overall member attendance was 379,611 this past season.