Bears Place Six on Coaches' All-Big 12 Teams
5/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 31, 2004
WACO, Texas - Baylor left fielder Reid Brees, who turned in the league's highest batting average in Big 12 Conference play at .404, was one of six Bears named to the coaches' all-Big 12 teams, the league office announced Monday. Brees earned second-team honors, while Josh Ford, Michael Griffin, Trey Taylor, Paul Witt and Abe Woody earned honorable mention.
Brees hit .355 with three home runs and 28 RBI as a junior, his first season as an everyday starter in the Baylor lineup. The Austin, Texas, native tied for the team lead with 17 doubles; he also had 33 runs, three triples, a .544 slugging percentage and a .405 on base percentage.
Brees collected two-thirds of his 60 hits and 14 of his doubles in Big 12 play, in which he posted a .646 slugging percentage and a .455 on base percentage. He became just the third Bear in the eight-year history of the Big 12 to hit .400 in league play, joining David Murphy (.411, 2003) and Eric Nelson (.405, 1999).
Ford, who started all but three games at designated hitter for the Bears, blossomed in the season's final month and finished with a .310 average and team highs of 14 home runs, 43 RBI, 125 total bases and a .579 slugging percentage. The Baytown, Texas, native hit .354 with nine home runs, 22 RBI, a .719 slugging percentage and a .434 on base percentage in Big 12 games. Ford hit .444 with six home runs, four doubles and 14 RBI in the final 10 games of the season.
Like Ford, Griffin did most of his damage against Big 12 pitching. A .291 hitter on the season, Griffin hit .307 with nine of his 10 home runs and 25 of his 40 RBI in conference action. The Dallas, Texas, native hit safely in 23 of 25 conference games, and he also posted Baylor's longest hitting streak of the season at 16 games. Griffin also was a threat on the base paths with 17 stolen bases in 22 ventures.
Southpaw Trey Taylor proved to be Baylor's most consistent starting pitcher, especially in the second half of the season. Baylor won nine of his 15 starts, including seven of the last eight. Taylor finished 6-3 on the season with a 3.16 ERA. He tallied 62 strikeouts in 91.0 innings and held opponents to a .254 average. In Big 12 play, Taylor was 3-0 with a 3.13 ERA, 34 strikeouts in 46.0 innings and a .235 opponents' average.
Taylor's three losses this season came against Long Beach State (4-3), UC Irvine (5-4) and Vanderbilt (1-0), all NCAA Regional participants. The Mansfield, Texas, native allowed three or fewer earned runs in 11 of 15 starts, including each of his final seven starts.
Witt established himself as one of the nation's top defensive middle infielders and ended the season with a streak of 131 consecutive chances at second base without an error spanning 27 games. On the season, he made just four errors in 199 chances at second base for a .980 fielding percentage. Meanwhile, Witt had his best offensive season as a Bear, hitting .327 with one home run, 11 doubles, 28 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 19 tries.
A Pine Bluff, Ark., native, Witt enjoyed a career-long 13-game hitting streak and ended the season having reached safely in 14 straight and 23 of the final 24 games. In Big 12 play, he hit .318 with 14 RBI and reached safely in 23 of 25 games.
After moving into the closer's role in mid-season, Woody anchored the back end of Baylor's bullpen. He finished the season at 5-1 with five saves in seven opportunities with a staff-best 2.78 ERA. The Austin, Texas, native notched 38 strikeouts against only 14 walks in 45.1 innings and held opponents to a .227 average. Woody was 4-1 with three saves in league play.
Baylor (29-31, 13-12) ended the 2004 season with the highest all-time winning percentage in Big 12 Conference history (137-83, .623). However, the Bears failed to earn an NCAA Regional bid this season for the first time since 1997, ending the longest active postseason streak in the Big 12 Conference.
2004 ALL-BIG 12 CONFERENCEFIRST TEAM1B-Josh Brady, Texas Tech2B-Russell Raley, OklahomaSS-Cameron Blair, Texas Tech3B-Alex Gordon, NebraskaC-Jason Jaramillo, Oklahoma StateOF-Cory Patton, Texas A&M; Michael Mask, Texas Tech; Matt Baty, Kansas; Carson Kainer, TexasDH-Lee Laskowski, MissouriUT-Curtis Thigpen, TexasStarting Pitchers-J.P. Howell, Texas; Jason Meyer, Texas A&M; Garrett Broshuis, Missouri; Zach Jackson, Texas A&MRelief Pitchers-Huston Street, Texas; Jarod McAuliff, Oklahoma; J. Brent Cox, TexasHONORABLE MENTION
Player of the Year: 3B Alex Gordon, NebraskaPitcher of the Year: J.P. Howell, TexasCoach of the Year: Augie Garrido, TexasNewcomer of the Year: 1B Ole Sheldon, OklahomaFreshman of the Year: OF Drew Stubbs, TexasFreshman Pitcher of the Year: Jason Meyer, Texas A&M
SECOND TEAM1B-Ole Sheldon, Oklahoma2B-Jake Mullinax, NebraskaSS-Ritchie Price, Kansas; Chris Gutierrez, Oklahoma State; Robby Hudson, Texas3B-Josh Haney, Texas TechC-Sean Richardson, Kansas; Craig Stinson, A&MOF-Reid Brees, Baylor; Steve Murphy, Kansas State; Ryan Rallo, Missouri; Scott Kirby, Oklahoma State; Drew Stubbs, TexasDH-Eric Thornton, OklahomaUT-Cliff Pennington, Texas A&MStarting Pitchers-Spencer Grogan, Oklahoma State; Mark Roberts, Oklahoma; Zach Kroenke, Nebraska; David Purcey, OklahomaRelief Pitchers-Justin Pekarek, Nebraska, Corey Gerstner, Texas Tech
1B Ryan Baty, Kansas; 1B Cody Ehlers, Missouri; 1B Curtis Ledbetter, Nebraska; 1B Coby Mavroulis, Texas A&M; 2B Erik Schindewolf, A&M; 3B Travis Metcalf, Kansas; 3B Josh Fields, Oklahoma State; DH Josh Ford, Baylor; SP Trey Taylor, Baylor; SP Danny Hill, Missouri; SP Dallas Braden, Texas Tech; RP Abe Woody, Baylor; Mark Alexander, Missouri; OF Ty Wright, Oklahoma State; 2B Paul Witt, Baylor; 2B Seth Johnston, Texas; 3B Michael Griffin, Baylor; 3B Austin Boggs, Texas A&M; SS Joe Simokaitis, Nebraska; SS Ryan Rohlinger, Oklahoma; C Taylor Teagarden, Texas; OF Matt Tribble, Kansas; OF James Boone, Missouri; OF Hunter Harris, Texas; DH Ryan Russ, Texas; SP Ryan Knippschild, Kansas; SP Mike Zagurski, Kansas; SP Sam LeCure, Texas; SP Justin Simmons, Texas; RP Mark Alexander, Missouri; RP Daniel McCutchen, Oklahoma; RP Scott Richmond, Oklahoma State; RP Buck Cody, Texas; SP Kyle McCulloch, Texas; SP Nathan Culp, Missouri
