May 25, 2006
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Baylor baseball placed four players on the 2006 All-Big 12 Conference teams, the league office announced Thursday. Catcher Zach Dillon was named first team, shortstop Beamer Weems was named second team, and outfielder Seth Fortenberry and pitcher Ryan LaMotta earned honorable mention.
Oklahoma State's Tyler Mach and Texas' Drew Stubbs were named Co-Player of the Year, while Mach also was named Newcomer of the Year. Texas right-hander Kyle McCulloch was named Pitcher of the Year. Texas Tech claimed both freshman of year awards with outfielder Roger Kieschnick earning player honors and Miles Morgan earning pitcher honors. Texas' Augie Garrido was named Coach of the Year for the third time.
Dillon earns first-team All-Big 12 honors for the second consecutive season, joining Jason Jennings (1997, 1998, 1999), Jon Topolski (1998, 1999) and Chris Durbin (2001, 2003) as the only Bears to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors twice.
LaMotta earns all-conference honors for the third time. He joins Jennings and Abe Woody (2003, 2004, 2005) as the only Baylor pitchers to be named All-Big 12 three times. LaMotta was a first-team selection last season and earned honorable mention as a freshman in 2003.
In the 10-year history, Baylor has produced 25 first-team All-Big 12 selection, third in the conference, and 44 first- and second-team honorees, tied for second in the conference.
Dillon, a senior from Urbandale, Iowa, finished the regular season as the Big 12 leader in batting average at .396. He also led the league with a .421 average in Big 12 games, the highest Big 12 average in Baylor history. A semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award as the nation's top catcher, Dillon leads the Big 12 in walks (50), free passes (56), times reached base safely (128) and on base percentage (.518).
Weems, a true freshman from Virginia Beach, Va., is hitting .290 on the season with four home runs, 13 doubles, five triples and 37 RBI. He hit .323 in Big 12 play with two home runs, eight doubles, two triples and 18 RBI. Most impressive about Weems, though, was his defense. Weems committed only one error in 26 conference games, playing an errorless shortstop for the conference season's final 18 games. He has committed only eight errors on the season and has not committed a fielding error since the season's second game.
Fortenberry, a senior from Waco, Texas, leads the Big 12 and is tied for second nationally with nine triples. He leads Baylor with 45 runs, eight home runs, 116 total bases, a .571 slugging percentage and 19 stolen bases. Fortenberry, a career .201 hitter entering the 2006 season, is hitting .320 this spring. He entered the season with 42 career hits and has amassed 65 hits this season, including 11 bunt singles.
LaMotta, a senior from Sugar Land, Texas, is tied for the team lead with six wins. He has posted a 3.49 ERA over a staff-high 87.2 innings. LaMotta, who appeared in 95 career games with only three starts prior to this season, has started each of Baylor's series openers with two complete games, including one shutout. He ranks sixth in career innings and sixth in career strikeouts all-time at Baylor. He also is one of 18 pitchers in school history to amass 20 career wins.
Baylor faces top-seeded and sixth-ranked Texas at 5 p.m. CDT Thursday in second-day action of the 10th Annual Big 12 Tournament at Bricktown Ballpark.
