Boll Weevils earn All-GAC honors
RUSSELLVILLE — Ahead of their Great American Conference tournament opener, seven University of Arkansas at Monticello baseball players earned all-conference recognition, league officials announced Thursday.
Junior pitcher River Hunt, junior third baseman Jordan Johnson and senior shortstop Dylan Borman were each selected AllGAC First Team. Senior catcher Andrew Piraino and sophomore pitcher Mason Philley landed on the All-GAC Second Team. Senior first baseman Aaron Gaela earned GAC All-Defensive Team honors, and junior outfielder Grant Shepherd was named honorable mention.
Hunt, of Sherwood, put together an unblemished junior campaign. He led UAM on the bump going 8-0 in 11 starts. His eight victories also tied for the most in the GAC while he also posted the second-lowest opposing batting average (.215) and the third-best ERA (3.76). Hunt also finished the regular season in the top 10 for strikeouts in the GAC with 58 in a teamhigh 55 innings pitched.
Johnson led the Weevils in batting average (.374), hits (52) and RBI (42). The 6-foot, 5-inch third baseman finished the regular season in the top 10 of the GAC in slugging percentage (.741), RBI and home runs (12). A stellar junior season vaulted Johnson to the top of UAM program history in career home runs (40), RBI (156) and doubles (44). Johnson also earned GAC Co-Player of the Week following a 10-for-12 weekend with four home runs and 11 RBI including three home runs and eight RBI in Game 1 of the series against Southern Nazarene.
Borman showed off his power at the plate during a strong senior campaign. The 6-foot-5 shortstop led UAM in home runs (15) and slugging percentage (.781) during the regular season. In those power categories, he landed second in the league in home runs and third in slugging percentage. Borman hit .344 in the regular season for the Weevils while putting together 14 multihit games including two multihome run performances.
Piraino guided the UAM pitching staff to 369 strikeouts and pushed the Weevils’ offense to a team batting average of .306. The senior catcher finished the regular season hitting .336 with eight doubles, three home runs and 34 RBI. Defensively, Piraino boasted a .986 fielding percentage while catching six runners stealing.
Philley, of Monticello, led UAM pitchers in strikeouts with 84. He was second in the conference in strikeouts while holding opponents to a .269 batting average. Philley earned two wins while pitching 54 innings in 11 appearances during the regular season. The lefty also earned GAC Pitcher of the Week following a 15-strikeout performance in 6 innings to beat East Central.
Gaela, of Dublin, Calif., posted a .992 fielding percentage against two errors in 239 chances this season. Gaela hit .326 with eight doubles, three home runs and 27 RBI.
Shepherd a junior outfielder, finished the regular season second on the team in hits (46) and batting average (.354) while adding four home runs. Shepherd has recorded 14 multihit games and eight multiRBI performances this season.
UAM will visit Northwestern Oklahoma State for the first-round of the single-elimination GAC tournament at 6 tonight.