Josh Ford Named ABCA All-Region
6/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 21, 2004
WACO, Texas - Baylor junior designated hitter Josh Ford earned second-team All-Midwest Region honors, the American Baseball Coaches Association announced Monday. This marks the ninth consecutive season in which at least one Baylor player has earned all-region honors.
Ford, a product of Lee High School in Baytown, Texas, hit .310 on the season with team highs of 14 home runs, 43 RBI, 125 total bases and a .579 slugging percentage. He also tallied 40 runs, 10 doubles, three triples and 67 hits.
Twice named Big 12 Conference Player of the Week this season, Ford earned National Player of the Week honors in mid-May after hitting five home runs in a six-game stretch. That week included hitting for the cycle in the Sunday game at Texas Tech, the first time the feat had been accomplished by a Bear in a Big 12 contest.
Ford's numbers were even more impressive against Big 12 pitching. In 25 games, he hit .354 (34-for-90) with nine home runs, 22 RBI, 20 runs, four doubles, two triples and a .719 slugging percentage. His OPS (on base percentage plus slugging percentage) jumped from .960 in all games to 1.153 in league games.
After off-season shoulder surgery, Ford started 57 of Baylor's 60 games at designated hitter and appeared in two other games as a pinch hitter. He had a pair of two-home-run games in 2004, the third and fourth such games of his career. Baylor was 10-2 this season in games in which Ford homered.
On his career, Ford is tied with teammate Michael Griffin for ninth on Baylor's all-time home runs chart with 28. His 2004 home run total of 14 ranks tied for 10th in school history.
Ford will be one of eight returning position starters and 22 returning lettermen for Baylor in 2005.
