J.T. Wise (Oklahoma) and A.J. Morris (Kansas State) highlight the 2009 Phillips 66 All-Big 12 Baseball Awards as Big 12 Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, it was announced on Tuesday. Kansas’ David Narodowski has been named the top newcomer, while Garrett Buechele (Oklahoma) is the Freshman of the Year. Brad Hill of Kansas State has earned Coach of the Year accolades.
The official All-Big 12 awards are selected by the league’s head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own players.
Wise becomes the first Sooner to receive Player of the Year honors in Big 12 history. The Apopka, Fla. senior catcher finished the regular season as the league’s leader in batting average with a .375 clip. He ranks second in slugging percentage (.707) and home runs (17) while ranking fifth and sixth, respectively, in total bases (130) and RBI (56). Wise hit well over .300 in Big 12 play (.363) with 10 home runs and 32 RBI. He is also a finalist for the Johnny Bench Award, given to the nation’s top catcher, and has thrown out a Big-12 best 28 potential base stealers this year (54 percent) while committing just two errors, good for a .995 fielding percentage.
Morris paces the conference in earned run average (1.61), wins (12) and innings pitched (100.2) while ranking second in games started (14) and complete contests (4). Nationally, Morris is second in wins and third in ERA in NCAA rankings released last week. His 12 victories are the 10th best single-season total in Big 12 history. Morris broke KSU’s single-season wins record (10) at Texas on April 24. The right-hander, who allowed just one earned run when he recorded the victory had a career-high 141-pitch outing. The Humble, Texas junior ranks second all-time in Wildcat annals with 20 wins.
Narodowski, a junior transfer from Vernon (Texas) College, hit .357 in his first year in the Big 12 Conference, the highest average by a newcomer this season. He also tallied 56 runs and a .431 on base percentage as the Jayhawks’ leadoff hitter. In conference action, the Vancouver, British Columbia shortstop compiled a .353 batting average. Narodowski ranks amongst league leaders in doubles (19, third) hits (76, fifth) and runs scored (56, sixth).
Buechele is the first Freshman of the Year honoree for OU. After redshirting his first season in Norman in 2008, Buechele has emerged as one of the top third basemen in the Big 12 this season. He has started all 56 games at the position for OU while holding the league’s eighth-best batting average at .356. The Arlington, Texas native has homered four times and driven in 37 runs with 14 doubles. Buechele has just six errors in the field. He leads all hitters in conference games in batting average (.396), hits (40) and on-base percentage (.479). Buechele has hit safely in all but 13 games this season, inlcuding the Big 12’s fourth-longest hitting streak of 15 games.
Hill has led Kansas State to its most successful season to date with a school-record 39 overall victories and the most conference wins ever (14). The Wildcats also posted their highest league finish in 2009 in fourth place. Prior to this season, K-State had finished no higher than sixth in the final conference race, including a seventh-place showing a year ago. In his sixth season at the helm of the Wildcat program, Hill guided his squad to the institution’s highest national ranking of No. 10 during the week of May 4. Hill becomes the first KSU coach to be honored in Big 12 history.
The All-Big 12 First, Second and Honorable Mention teams were also announced.
2009 ALL-BIG 12 BASEBALL AWARDS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
J.T. Wise, Oklahoma, C, Sr.
PITCHER OF THE YEAR:
A.J. Morris Kansas State, RHP, Jr.
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
Garrett Buechele, Oklahoma, 3B
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR:
David Narodowski, Kansas, SS, Jr.
COACH OF THE YEAR:
Brad Hill, Kansas State
ALL-BIG 12 FIRST TEAM
Name, School
Pos.
Cl.
Hometown/Previous School
Shaver Hansen, Baylor
INF
Jr.
Grand Junction, Colo./Fruita Monument
Tony Thompson, Kansas
INF
So.
Reno, Nev./Galena
Bryant Hernandez, Oklahoma
INF
Jr.
Oxnard, Calif./St. Bonaventure
Brodie Greene, Texas A&M
INF
Jr.
Bullard, Texas/Bullard
Chris Richburg, Texas Tech
INF
Sr.
Lubbock, Texas/Frenship
J.T. Wise, Oklahoma
C
Sr.
Apopka, Fla./LSU
Greg Folgia, Missouri
OF
Jr.
North Wales, Pa./Christopher Dock
Jamie Johnson, Oklahoma
OF
Jr.
Calhoun, La./Texarkana College
Micheal Dabbs, Oklahoma State
OF
Sr.
Chandler, Okla./Cowley County CC
Dustin Dickerson, Baylor
DH
Jr.
McGregor, Texas/Midway
Brooks Raley, Texas A&M
UTL
SO.
Uvalde, Texas/Uvalde
A.J. Morris Kansas State
SP
Jr.
Humble, Texas/Humble
Kyle Gibson, Missouri
SP
Jr.
Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central
Chance Ruffin, Texas
SP
So.
Austin, Texas/Lake Travis
Austin Wood, Texas
RP
Sr.
Kingwood, Texas/Kingwood
ALL-BIG 12 SECOND TEAM
Name, School
Pos.
Cl.
Hometown/Previous School
Carter Jurica, Kansas State
INF
So.
Katy, Texas/Katy
Aaron Baker, Oklahoma
INF
Jr.
Denton, Texas/Denton
Garrett Buechele, Oklahoma
INF
Fr.
Arlington, Texas/Lamar
Willie Rueda, Texas Tech
INF
Sr.
El Paso, Texas/Bel Air
Buck Afenir, Kansas
C
Sr.
Escondido, Calif./Escondido
Brian Heere, Kansas
OF
So.
Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence
Neil Medchill, Oklahoma State
OF
Jr.
Oxford, Mich./Chandler-Gilbert CC
Connor Rowe, Texas
OF
So.
Georgetown, Texas/Georgetown
Joe Patterson, Texas A&M
DH
JR.
Tulsa, Okla./Seminole College
Aaron Miller, Baylor
UTL
Jr.
Channelview, Texas/Channelview
T.J. Walz, Kansas
SP
So.
Omaha, Neb./Skutt
Andrew Doyle, Oklahoma
SP
Jr.
Rock Island, Ill./Alleman
Tyler Blandford, Oklahoma State
SP
Jr.
Owensboro, Ky./Daviess County
Ryan Duke, Oklahoma
RP
So.
Corpus Christi, Texas/Calallen
HONORABLE MENTION Baylor: Kendal Volz -SP Kansas: Shaeffer Hall-SP, Robby Price-INF, Paul Smyth- RP Kansas State: Drew Biery-INF, Justin Bloxom-INF, Jordan Cruz-OF, Jason King-INF, Nick Martini-OF Missouri: Trevor Coleman-C, Kyle Mach-INF, Aaron Senne-OF Nebraska: Tyler Farst-INF Oklahoma State: Kevin David-C, Tyrone Hambly-INF, Tyler Lyons-SP Texas: Brandon Belt-INF, Kevin Keyes-OF, Brandon Loy-INF, Cameron Rupp-C, Michael Torres-INF Texas A&M: Luke Anders-INF, Kyle Colligan-OF, Kevin Gonzalez-C, Ross Hales-SP, Alex Wilson-RP Texas Tech: Taylor Ashby-OF, Chad Bettis-RP; Joey Kentworthy-INF, Scott LeJeune-DH.
