Thibault Named WCC Player Of The Year
5/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 27, 2004
SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Gonzaga University sophomore catcher Kiel Thibault was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year on Thursday as the conference released its 2004 All-Conference team. In addition to Thibault earned Player of the Year honors, four other Bulldogs earned All-WCC recognition with two members on the first team and two members on the second team. Thibault becomes the second Gonzaga player to win the Player of the Year honor joining Nate Gold who won the award in 2002 after leading the nation with 33 home runs.
Thibault finished the season with a .424 batting average to win the West Coast Conference batting title while hitting .432 in league play. Gonzaga finished the regular-season with a 24-27 record including a 16-11 mark in WCC action. The .424 average was the second highest in school history and the fifth best mark in WCC history as the sophomore from Jerome, Ida., led the conference with 87 hits. In addition to be named the WCC Player of the Year, Thibault was also named the first team catcher.
Joining Thibault on the WCC first team were sophomore Bobby Carlson and senior Marshall Bratton. Carlson, a native of Woodinville, Wash., was named the first-team third baseman after hitting .362 with a conference-high 15 doubles. He led the team with eight home runs and drove in 44 while playing in only 36 games this season. During WCC action Carlson hit .394 with 13 doubles and 33 RBI. He was named the WCC Player of the Month in April. Bratton was named the first-team designated hitter after the Wenatchee, Wash., native hit .349 during league play. Bratton drove in 27 runs in the season with 6 doubles and 3 home runs. He finished the season hitting .302 overall.
Eric Dworkis and David Johnson were named to the All-WCC second team giving each player their second consecutive league honor. Dworkis was named to the second-team for the second consecutive year as the junior from Bellevue, Wash., finished the season 8-4 with a 4.86 ERA and 72 strike outs. In WCC play Dworkis was 6-2 on the mound with a 4.83 ERA and five complete games. In 72.2 innings of WCC action he struck out 45 batters with only 6 walks allowed. Johnson was named a second-team All-WCC outfielder after the senior from Agoura Hills, Calif., was an honorable mention selection last season. Johnson led the team with 53 RBI hitting .320 for the season. In WCC action Johnson hit .356 with 23 RBI and 5 doubles.
In addition to Thibault winning player of the year, other WCC awards went to Stephen Kahn of Loyola Marymount for Pitcher of the Year, Jordan Abruzzo of San Diego for Freshman of the Year and Frank Cruz of Loyola Marymount for Coach of the Year.
2004 All-West Coast Conference Baseball Team
Download Free Acrobat Reader
