Several Pepperdine Baseball Players Receive Preseason Accolades
1/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Jan. 20, 2006
Malibu, Calif. - With team success comes individual recognition and heading into the 2006 season several Pepperdine baseball players have garnered preseason accolades and honors in the most recent issue of Baseball America.
Left-hander Paul Coleman was named the 11th-best pro prospect among college seniors, while center fielder Adrian Ortiz was tabbed the 18th best sophomore prospect, catcher Chad Tracy was ranked 25th-among juniors and rookie Chase d'Arnaud was selected the 36th-best prospect among freshmen.
Coleman is coming off an outstanding junior campaign in which he went 9-3 with a 3.35 ERA and was named the West Coast Conference's (WCC) "Pitcher of the Year."
Ortiz, who was a fifth round draft pick by the Chicago Cubs in 2004, enjoyed a solid freshman campaign in 2005 as he batted .281 with 19 RBI, 41 runs scored, had eight stolen bases and played an outstanding center field.
Tracy enters 2006 as a first team All-American, a candidate for the Johnny Bench Award as the nation's most outstanding catcher and is on the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List as the nation's top player after an outstanding sophomore campaign in which he batted a conference-best .367, with 12 home runs and 61 RBI en route to being voted the WCC's "Player of the Year."
D'Arnaud begins his freshman campaign with impressive credentials after being a 44th-round selection by the Los Angeles Dodgers in last June's Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft.
As a senior at Los Alamitos High, d'Arnaud was named All-Orange County and All-Sunset League after leading the league with a .512 average, hitting five home runs and totaling 29 RBI.
Tracy and Coleman were also named to the WCC's preseason all-conference team along with sophomore shortstop Danny Worth (.306-1-34) and junior first baseman/catcher Justin Tellam (.302-16-43) in a poll of league coaches conducted by Baseball America. Tellam begins his first year at Pepperdine after transferring from UNLV.
The battery of Tracy and Coleman were also picked to repeat as WCC "Player of the Year" and "Pitcher of the Year", respectively.
Tracy was named the WCC's second-best pro prospect while Ortiz was picked fourth, sophomore right hander Adam Olbrychowski eighth and Coleman 10th. The list includes players who are eligible for the 2006 and 2007 drafts.
Pepperdine, which enters the season ranked No. 11 nationally by Baseball America, is tabbed to win its third straight and conference-record 17th WCC title in 2006.
The Waves make their season debut on Saturday, January 28 when they host the annual alumni game at Eddy D. Field Stadium beginning at noon. Pepperdine begins its 56-game schedule on Friday, February 3 when it hosts UNLV in the opener of a three-game series at Eddy D. Field Stadium beginning at 2 p.m.
