VanBenschoten, Bullington Highlight All-MAC Baseball Teams
May 16, 2001
All-MAC Release In .PDF
CLEVELAND -- Kent State University first baseman/pitcher John VanBenschoten, the 2001 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, highlights the 30-player all-conference squad that was announced by the today by the league office. In addition, Ball State's Bryan Bullington was tabbed as the conference's Pitcher of the Year, Toledo catcher Mitch Maier was named the MAC's Freshman of the Year, while Ball State skipper Rich Maloney was chosen as Coach of the Year. Voting for the 15-member first and 15-member second all-MAC teams was conducted by the league's 13 head coaches.
Ball State, the MAC overall regular season and West Division champion with a 21-5 record and an overall mark of 33-21, had a league-high four players represented on the first-team. East Division champ Bowling Green (36-16,18-9) led the league with six total players being named to the team, five of which captured second-team honors. Ohio and Miami were the only other schools to garner more than one first-team honoree with three and two recipients, respectively. Eleven of the MAC's 13 schools had at least one player named to either the first- or second-team, with eight receiving multiple mentions.
KSU's VanBenschoten becomes only the third Golden Flash player to be named the league's MVP -- and the first since Mike Gulan won the award in 1992 -- after finishing the regular season leading the league in hitting with a .449 average while slamming a school- and MAC-record 26 home runs. A unanimous choice as the MAC's player of the year, the junior also drove in 69 runs and with stealing 21 bases joins former BSU standout Thomas Howard as the only other player in MAC history to be a "20-20" man (Howard hit 25 home runs and stole 23 bases in 1986). The Milford, Ohio, native, who also sported a 2-1 record with five saves and a 3.18 ERA on the mound, was one of six first-team players to be a unanimous selection and ranks in the top-10 in the MAC in 11 offensive categories. In addition to pacing the conference in batting and home runs, VanBenschoten also leads the league in slugging percentage (.989), on-base percentage (.569), total bases (185), and is second in RBIs, triples (5) and walks (48). A semifinalist for the Dick Hoswer and Rotary Smith Awards, he also had the league's longest hitting streak of the season at 22 games and presently leads the nation in home runs.
A year after being selected as the conference's Freshman of the Year, Bullington is the first Cardinal honored as the Pitcher of the Year after registering a 9-3 record in the regular season with a league-low 3.01 ERA. The sophomore right-handed hurler also fanned a school-record 110 batters in 101.2 innings while giving up only 15 walks and tossing six complete games. Six of his nine victories came in league action and he displayed incredible control, striking out 61 hitters and surrendering only three free passes. A native of Madison, Ind., Bullington is only the second hurler to win the award as a sophomore -- and the first after capturing the freshman award the year prior -- joining Kent State's Mike Nartker, who won the award in 1993. Bullington is one of two players this year to be named first-team all-MAC in back-to-back seasons.
The first Toledo player to be selected the MAC's Freshman of the Year, and only the third MAC specialty award in the school's baseball history, Maier hit a school-best .444 with three home runs and 43 RBIs and also earned first-team all-league honors behind the plate. The catcher from Novi, Mich., also registered a school-record 71 hits and ended his first season on a 17-game hitting streak, which is presently the longest active streak in the MAC. While his .444 average was second in the league following the conclusion of the regular season, his .448 average in league action tied for the top spot.
For the second time in his career, Maloney was tabbed as the league's Coach of the Year. Maloney, who was also named in 1998, guided BSU to a part of its fourth consecutive West Division crown (tied with Central Michigan in 2000) and also the school's third overall MAC regular season title. Picked to win their division, Maloney and the Cardinals won 20 or more league contests for the fourth time in the skipper's six-year tenure in Muncie.
Joining VanBenschoten, Bullington and Maier on the first team were Ohio's Ryan Kyes (Sr., 2B), Andrew See (Sr., OF) and Denny McGee (Sr., P), Ball State's Paul Henry (Sr., SS), Matt Wood (Sr., 3B) and Jason Paul (Jr., P), Bowling Green's Lee Morrison (Sr., OF), Miami's Jason Knoedler (Jr., OF) and Chris Leonard (So., P), Marshall's Jason Brooks (Sr., UT), Western Michigan's Greg Graham (Jr., DH) and Central Michigan's Gavin Gillette (Jr., RP). Along with VanBenschoten and Bullington as unanimous choices at their respective positions were Kyes, Knoedler, McGee and Gillette, while Leonard was the other player to repeat as a first-team selection.
Bowling Green made up one-third of the all-MAC second team with five picks, while Kent State and Western Michigan each had two selections. Second-team all-MAC members included the Falcons' Corey Loomis (So., 2B), Scott Dukate (Sr., 3B), Tim Newell (Jr., C), Len Elias (Jr., OF) and Craig Menke (Sr., P), Kent State's Eric O'Brien (So., OF) and Phil LoCascio (Jr., UT), Western Michigan's Pat Misch (So., P) and Tyler Grinnell (Sr., RP), Toledo's Phil Pilewski (So., 1B), Central Michigan's Jason Helps (Sr., SS), Northern Illinois' Noel Danielson (Jr., OF), Ohio's Chuck Lombardy (Sr., DH), Ball State's Justin Wechsler (Jr., P) and Eastern Michigan's Joe Linde (Jr., RP).
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