Oregon Baseball: Four Ducks Make Pac 12 All Conference Team
GoDucks.com
Oregon’s stellar regular season and Oregon State’s late season victories kept the Ducks out of the Postseason Awards categories, but several Ducks made the Pac 12 All Conference Team including Shortstop J.J. Altobelli, First Baseman Ryon Healy, along with pitchers Tommy Thorpe and Closer Jimmie Sherfy.
Healy could have been named Pac 12 Player of the Year, but Oregon State’s late season victories closed the door for Healy. The honor went to Michael Conforto from Oregon State who hit .322 on the season and drove in 42 runs and scored 42 runs. The grand slam vs Oregon last weekend probably helped seal the deal for the Sophomore.
On the pitching side, Jimmie Sherfy, who has 20 saves so far on the season and Tommy Thorpe both made the Pac 12 All Conference team, a solid honor for both.
Pac 12 Pitcher of the Year honors went to David Berg of UCLA, not Mark Appel from Stanford. Berg went 6-0 in 41 appearances with 18 saves and a 0.70 ERA.
Press Release from the U of O:
EUGENE, Ore. – Four Oregon players were named to the Pac-12 All-Conference Team in a vote of the league’s coaches. Shortstop J.J. Altobelli, first baseman Ryon Healy, closer Jimmie Sherfy and starting pitcher Tommy Thorpe are all members of the 2013 all-league team.
Altobelli, a senior from Newport Beach, Calif., earned a spot on the team after finishing the regular season with a .290 batting average with 24 RBI and eight stolen bases. He was spectacular on defense, committing just five errors and finishing with the top fielding percentage (.982) among the conference’s shortstops. Altobelli, who has started 58 of Oregon’s 59 games, is one of 14 players on the Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year watch list.
Healy, a junior from West Hills, Calif., finished the regular season among the Pac-12 leaders in six separate categories. He led the league in home runs (10) while ranking third in both RBI (50) and slugging percentage (.548). Healy also ranked fourth in doubles (17), fifth in total bases (115) and ninth in runs scored (41). The Ducks first baseman set Oregon single-season records in doubles, RBI, and multiple-RBI games during the season while also ranking second in hits (79), fifth in runs and multi-hit games, sixth in home runs and ninth in at bats. Healy was on the midseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award.
Sherfy, a junior from Camarillo, Calif., is a two-time first-team honoree, also earning Pac-12 All-Conference accolades last season. The Ducks right-hander enters postseason play second in the country in saves with 20 after leading the Pac-12 during the regular season. He posted a 2-0 record with a 1.67 ERA during the regular season and is the active career leader in strikeouts. He also ranks second among active players in career saves with 39. Sherfy broke his own single-season record for saves at Oregon and ranks second in the Pac-12 in games finished and third in both appearances and games in relief. He is a semifinalist for both the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy honoring the top player in college baseball. Sherfy is also on the Stopper of the Year midseason watch list and the Pitcher of the Year watch list.
Thorpe, a sophomore from Vancouver, Wash., led the Ducks’ starters with a 2.22 ERA while finishing the regular season with a 7-4 record with a team-high 83 strikeouts in 97.1 innings pitched. He was among the Pac-12 leaders in six separate categories finishing fourth in batters struck out and batters struck out looking (25), while ranking sixth in opposing batting average (.221) and seventh in ERA. Thorpe heads into the NCAA Tournament with 11 quality starts including seven in a row. He has held opponents scoreless over the last 15 innings heading into the Eugene Regional. Thorpe served as the team’s Friday starter the last seven weeks of the season finishing the stretch with a 1.10 ERA.
Oregon junior outfielder Brett Thomas and freshman pitcher Cole Irvin both earned honorable mention honors.
Oregon takes on South Dakota State in the First Round of the College World Series Friday night at 6pm at PK Park. Jake Reed has been announced as the starting pitcher for the Ducks.
Oregon Ducks This Week:
Pac 12 Announces Early Network TV Schedule, Ducks Play Two On Pac 12 NetworkLinkedUp: Pac 12 Passers, Top 2014 Recruits And A Vote For SherfyOregon Baseball: Ducks Jimmie Sherfy Named Finalist For Golden Spikes Award