Complete WCC Release with Complete All-Conference Teams (pdf)
SAN BRUNO, Calif. --- Senior Cort Carpenter, sophomores Riley Henricks and Zach Varce and freshman Kris Kauppila each earned All-West Coast Conference Honorable Mention, while Kauppila and freshman hurler Kyle Kraus landed on the league’s all-freshman team. It’s easily the most Pilots to earn all-conference recognition since UP joined the WCC for baseball in 1996.
Three UP players landed on the All-WCC Teams in 2002. The Pilots went 25-26 (7-14 WCC) this season just missing their first winning season since 1992.
Four different WCC programs shared in the All-Conference individual honors, with San Diego’s James Meador and Gonzaga’s Matt Fields highlighting this year’s honorees. Meador and Fields were near unanimous selections as WCC Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, while Saint Mary’s Troy Channing was a unanimous selection for Freshman of the Year honors. Pepperdine’s Denny Duron took home the second-ever WCC Defensive Player of the Year award and Gonzaga Head Coach Mark Machtolf was named WCC Coach of the Year after leading the Zags to the program’s first ever regular season crown.
Carpenter, a first baseman, finished his two-year UP career strong, batting .327 during his senior campaign. He was also second on the team with eight home runs and 37 RBI’s.
Henricks, a second baseman, earned all-conference first team honors last season, while also landing on the all-freshman team. This season, Henricks batted a team-high .344, while finishing with four home runs, 11 doubles and 31 RBI’s. He was also brilliant in the field, committing just five errors in 242 chances.
Varce was masterful on the hill, capping his sophomore campaign with a complete-game shutout of the San Francisco Dons on Sunday, May 15. During UP’s season-ending 1-0 win against the Dons, Varce scattered seven hits and struck out a career-high eight batters. He finished the season with a league-best 2.69 ERA, while matching a league high with nine saves. He also went 3-5, made 23 appearances and four starts and held opposing hitters to a .249 batting average, which ranked seventh in the WCC. Varce struck out 62 in 60.1 innings of work.
Kauppila, who started every game at shortstop, had a stellar first season on The Bluff. He batted .336 and led the team with 72 hits, 46 runs, 20 doubles and 22 multi-hit games. He hit a home run in the first at-bat of his collegiate career and finished with four long flies on the season, while knocking in 21 RBI’s. Kauppila also stole eight bases.
Kraus, a right-hander, took over Portland’s top spot in the rotation midway through the season and never looked back. He finished with a 4-6 record and a 4.00 ERA. He walked just 14 during a team-high 83.1 innings for an average of 1.5 walks per nine innings. That mark is the second lowest walks per game average for a single season in UP program history. On March 12, Kraus picked up his first career complete-game win as the Pilots won 4-2 at No. 24 and reigning national champion Fresno State.
The All-WCC teams and individual conference honors are voted on by the league’s coaches.
