Big West honors 5 baseball players from UH

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CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM

UH baseball seniors, from top left, Matt LoCoco, Jacob Sheldon-Collins, Alex Sawelson, Kyle Von Ruden, Alex Hatch and from bottom left, Lawrence Chew, Cody Culp, Matt Valencia, Alan Baldwin, and Josh Pigg are seen on May 25.

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Five Hawaii baseball players received honorable mention recognition Wednesday in the Big West.

Seniors Jacob Sheldon-Collins, Kyle Von Ruden, Cody Culp and Matt Valencia along with freshman Kekai Rios were honored by the conference.

This is the second time in four years no Hawaii player made either the first or second teams.

Matt Cooper was a second-team pitcher in 2014 and Tyler Brashears (first team) and Quintin Torres-Costa (second team) made it last year.

Hawaii didn’t have an honorable mention selection in 2013.

Sheldon-Collins led the team in hitting with a .349 batting average. Rios hit .331 with eight doubles, a homer and 23 runs.

Von Ruden led the team in wins finishing 7-3 with a 3.44 ERA in 1071⁄3 innings.

Matt Valencia managed the best single-season ERA with at least 20 innings pitched in school history, going 3-2 with a 1.03 ERA and four saves. He struck out 29 in 261⁄3 innings and allowed an earned run in only two of his 21 appearances.

Culp’s 31 appearances are tied for the third-most by a UH player in a single season. He finished 3-1 with a 2.16 ERA in 50 innings pitched. Hawaii tied for fourth place at 12-12 in conference play.

Long Beach State’s Darren McCaughan was named the pitcher of the year and Cal State Fullerton’s Dalton Blaser was honored as the field player of the year.

LBSU’s Garrett Hampson won defensive player of the year honors while Cal Poly’s Nick Meyer and Cal State Fullerton’s Colton Eastman were named the top freshman field player and pitcher, respectively.

Titans skipper Rick Vanderhook won coach of the year honors.

Rios headed to Cape Cod league

Kekai Rios was selected to play for the Brewster Whitecaps in the prestigious Cape Cod League this summer.

Rios started 48 of 53 games for Hawaii this season and finished second on the team in hitting. He also threw out 19 basestealers.

Rios is the fourth UH player since 2010 to spend an entire summer in the Cape Cod League, which is the top summer collegiate league in the country.

Left-hander Jarrett Arakawa was one of 10 starting pitchers to earn all-league honors in 2012 as a member of the Orleans Firebirds and was teammates with infielder Pi’ikea Kitamura.

“Playing in the Cape is one of the best experiences of my baseball career,” Kitamura said. “The league itself has so much history and prestige. You get to be around and compete against the top talent every day and to be a part of that means a lot.”

Trevor Podratz played for the Wareham Gatemen in 2013.

Current UH second baseman Josh Rojas was invited to play for the Cotuit Kettleers late last summer after earning all-star honors in the California Collegiate League.

Rios is the only one to play in the summer after his freshman season.