Longoria Named Pre-Season All-American Dirtbags Leadoff Season January 26, Open Season February 3
December 28, 2005 LONG BEACH, CA-- Long Beach State infielder Evan Longoria (Downey), the Dirtbags returning hitter for the 2006 season, was named a third team All-American by Collegiate Baseball. Longoria, the MVP of this summer's Cape Cod League, and a member of Baseball America's Summer All-America team, batted .330 last year with a team-best 30 RBIs, and added to his resume by leading the Cape in homers and RBIs. He is rated as the 10th-best prospect for the 2006 draft. Longoria is not the only member of the Dirtbag family on pre-season All-America teams, as Jared Hughes (Laguna Beach) was named a third team All-American by the NCBWA earlier this month. Both are on the initial watch list for the Wallace National Player of the Year. The Dirtbags open up the pre-season with their leadoff weekend, of dinner (Thursday), golf (Friday) and alumni games (Saturday) beginning on January 26. They open the regular season against USC on February 3. Season tickets are on sale now, starting at $110, by calling (562) 985-4949. The Walter Pyramid will be host to the fourth annual Southern California Baseball Media on January 18, featuring 13 Division-I coaches and broadcast live on CSTV, as surfing neighbors RHP Ian Kennedy (USC-1st), catcher Chad Tracy (Pepperdine-1st), RHP Blair Erickson (UC Irvine-2nd), RHP Vinnie Pestano (CS Fullerton-3rd) and Paul Koss (USC-3rd) were also named All-Americans. COLLEGIATE BASEBALL PRE-SEASON ALL-AMERICANS First Team Pre-Season All-Americans RHP Dallas Buck, Oregon St. (12-1, 2.09 ERA, 118 K, 51 BB) LHP Andrew Miller, North Carolina (8-4, 2.98 ERA, 104 K, 52 BB) RHP Max Scherzer, Missouri (9-4, 1.86 ERA, 131 K, 41 BB) RHP Joba Chamberlain, Nebraska (10-2, 2.81 ERA, 130 K, 33 BB) RHP Kyle McCulloch, Texas (12-4, 2.92 ERA, 99 K, 45 BB) RHP Ian Kennedy, Southern California (12-3, 2.54 ERA, 158 K, 38 BB) Relief Brett Jensen, Nebraska (16 SV, 1.96 ERA, 46 K, 9 BB) C Chad Tracy, Pepperdine (.367, 22 2B, 12 HR, 61 RBI) 1B Matt LaPorta, Florida (.328, 26 HR, 16 2B, 79 RBI) 2B Taylor Harbin, Clemson (.343, 28 2B, 10 HR, 63 RBI) 3B Wes Hodges, Georgia Tech. (.397, 18 2B, 9 HR, 51 RBI) SS Jay Heafner, Davidson (.448, 18 2B, 11 HR, 58 RBI, 13 SB) OF Shane Robinson, Florida St. (.427, 25 2B, 49 SB, 40-game hitting streak) OF Drew Stubbs, Texas (.311, 20 2B, 11 HR, 46 RBI, 32 SB) OF Nathan Southard, Tulane (.341, 24 2B, 12 HR, 53 RBI, 16 SB) DH Chris Carlson, New Mexico (.395, 24 2B, 15 HR, 79 RBI) UT Joe Savery, Rice (.382, 17 2B, 8-5 pitching record, 2.43 ERA, 129 K, 37 BB) Second Team Pre-Season All-Americans RHP Mickey Storey, Florida Atlantic LHP Nick Hill, Army LHP Scott Reese, Creighton RHP Luke Trubee, Dayton RHP Johnny Dorn, Nebraska RHP Jonah Nickerson, Oregon St. RHP Adrian Alaniz, Texas Relief Blair Erickson, U.C. Irvine Relief Kevin Gunderson, Oregon St. C Jeff Kunkel, Michigan C J.P. Arencibia, Tennessee 1B Matt Rizzotti, Manhattan 1B Luke Hopkins, New Mexico St. 2B Jordan Pacheco, New Mexico 3B Chris Coghlan, Mississippi SS Josh Rodriguez, Rice OF Mark Wright, Mississippi OF Jon Jay, Miami (Fla.) OF John Raynor, N.C. Wilmington UT Heath Rollins, Winthrop Third Team Pre-Season All-Americans RHP Kenn Kasparek, Texas RHP Eddie Degerman, Rice RHP Blake Wood, Georgia Tech. LHP Clay Dirks, Louisiana St. RHP Tim Lincecum, Washington RHP Tim Bascom, Central Florida LHP Keith Weiser, Miami (Ohio) LHP James Adkins, Tennessee RHP Daniel Bard, North Carolina Relief Daniel Best, Southern Mississippi Relief Tyler Chambliss, Florida St. Relief Vinnie Pestano, Cal. St. Fullerton Relief Darren O'Day, Florida Relief Paul Koss, Southern California C Jordan Newton, Western Kentucky C Michael Ambort, Lamar 1B Justin Baum, Pacific 1B Aaron Bates, North Carolina St. 1B Mike Priest, Campbell 1B Aaron Grijalva, Liberty 1B Chris Johnson, Stetson 2B Jim Negrych, Pittsburgh 2B Chris Campbell, Charleston 2B Scott Sizemore, Va. Commonwealth 3B Evan Longoria, Long Beach St. 3B Brad Emaus, Tulane 3B Derek Schermerhorn, Wichita St. 3B Beau Mills, Fresno St. 3B Matt Poulk, N.C. Wilmington SS Mitch Hilligoss, Purdue SS Chuck Hargis, East Tennessee St. OF Brennan Boesch, California OF Mike McBryde, Florida Atlantic OF Shane Byrne, East Tennessee St. OF Jeremy Jones, North Carolina A&T UT Matt Wieters, Georgia Tech. |