Long Beach State University Athletics
Hampson, McCaughan Earn ABCA All-Region Honors
6/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Long Beach, Calif. - The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) released its 2016 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. I All-Region teams Wednesday, and Long Beach State had two players recognized on the elite list of talent in the West Region. Junior shortstop Garrett Hampson and sophomore starting pitcher Darren McCaughan were both First Team selections on the West All-Region team, as voted by the region's head coaches.
The West Region is comprised of 39 member schools on the West Coast, including schools in the Big West, Mountain West, Pac-12, WAC and West Coast Conference. The ABCA All-America Team started in 1949, and there has been a recent inclusion of nine All-Region teams to recognize top talent in each part of the country.
Hampson and McCaughan become the first Dirtbags ever to receive ABCA All-Region recognition, and the first Long Beach State players honored by the ABCA since Evan Longoria was a third-team ABCA All-American in 2006.
Both players received Big West Conference honors this season, with Hampson the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year and McCaughan the 2016 Pitcher of the Year. Last weekend, Hampson was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the third round of the MLB Draft, going with the 81st overall pick.
Hampson is a three-time All-Big West performer and was a 2016 Preseason All-American according to Perfect Game and Louisville Slugger. The Reno, Nev. native batted .302 in his junior season with a team-best 55 runs scored and 23 stolen bases. He was the only Dirtbags player to start all 60 games, playing every inning at shortstop for the third consecutive season at Long Beach State.
McCaughan had a breakout year in 2016, transitioning from reliever to key weekend starter. The sophomore righthander from Downey, Calif. was 10-1 with a 2.03 ERA this year, becoming LBSU's first 10-game winner in over a decade. He was a two-time Big West Pitcher of the Week on his way to the POY honor, and was also a second-team Louisville Slugger All-American.
The Dirtbags duo makes up half of the four Big West representatives on the first team, joining Cal State Fullerton OF Dalton Blaser and UC Santa Barbara SP Shane Bieber. UC Riverside OF Vince Fernandez was the lone Big West representative on the second team.
A complete list of the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region teams can be found on the ABCA website.
