Alabama's Wade LeBlanc Named Top Freshman

June 24

DURHAM, N.C.—Baseball America has named an Alabama player Freshman of the Year for the first time. Lefthander Wade LeBlanc has been tabbed for the honor after setting Crimson Tide freshman records for strikeouts (98), complete games (eight) and innings (112 2/3), and tying the school’s freshman mark with eight wins. LeBlanc also posted a 2.08 ERA and three shutouts.

LeBlanc is the first pitcher to earn BA's top freshman honor since Stanford's Kyle Peterson in 1995. He's also the first Southeastern Conference player to earn the honor since Tennessee's R.A. Dickey in 1994, and the first lefthanded pitcher (who is not also a hitter) to win it since Texas' Greg Swindell in 1984.

Two programs, Miami and Texas Christian, placed two players on the first team. Third baseman Shelby Ford posted impressive power numbers while TCU teammate Chad Huffman hit .383. Meanwhile, outfielder Jon Jay and closer Danny Gil both played key roles in the Hurricanes’ run to the College World Series. Texas A&M had a player on the first team (lefthander Jason Meyer) and the second team (third baseman Austin Boggs), and North Carolina placed a pair of pitchers on the second team (righthander Daniel Bard and lefthander Andrew Miller).

The only All-Freshman team members still playing in Omaha as of Thursday, June 24, are outfielders Drew Stubbs of Texas and Clark Hardman of Cal State Fullerton.

FIRST TEAM

Pos.	Player, School	AVG	HR	RBI	SB
C	Jordan Abruzzo, San Diego	.375	9	49	3
1B	Josh Morris, Georgia	.319	16	71	5
2B	Jim Negrych, Pittsburgh	.378	7	45	12
3B	Shelby Ford, Texas Christian	.301	16	56	6
SS	Chris Valaika, UC Santa Barbara	.347	7	38	7
OF	Chad Huffman, Texas Christian	.383	9	44	3
OF	Jon Jay, Miami	.368	6	56	19
OF	Drew Stubbs, Texas	.310	8	47	27
DH	Matt LaPorta, Florida	.285	14	37	1
UT	Anthony Smith, George Washington	.369	15	69	6
		W-L	ERA	IP	SO
SP	Ian Kennedy, Southern California (1 SV)	7-2	2.91	93	120
SP	Wade LeBlanc, Alabama	8-4	2.08	113	98
SP	Tim Lincecum, Washington	10-3	3.53	112	161
SP	Jason Meyer, Texas A&M (3 SV)	8-2	2.89	106	111
RP	Danny Gil, Miami (5 SV)	8-0	3.03	39	49
UT	Anthony Smith, George Washington	6-3	5.29	82	67

SECOND TEAM

C--Nick Salotti, UC Riverside (.346-10-51). 1B--Ryne Malone, Florida State (.330-12-54). 2B--Chris Campbell, Charleston (.332-5-63). 3B--Austin Boggs, Texas A&M (.331-5-52). SS--Jason Donald, Arizona (.322-9-45). OF--Jake Dugger, Arkansas (.293-8-44, 12 SB); Clark Hardman, Cal State Fullerton (.351-0-31); Alex Presley, Mississippi (.311-6-32). DH--Brock Ungricht, San Diego State (.373-3-48).

SPs--Daniel Bard, North Carolina (8-4, 3.88); Clay Dirks, Louisiana State (8-2, 3.43, 1 SV); Andrew Miller, North Carolina (6-3, 2.93); Ryan Zink, Illinois-Chicago (9-3, 2.07, 3 SV). RP--Blair Erickson, UC Irvine (1-3, 4.10, 17 SV). UT--Zech Zinicola, Arizona State (.280-3-26; 4-2, 3.36, 8 SV).

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD: PREVIOUS WINNERS

1982--Cory Snyder, 3b, Brigham Young
1983--Rafael Palmeiro, of, Mississippi State
1984--Greg Swindell, lhp, Texas
1985--Jack McDowell, rhp, Stanford; Ron Wenrich, of, Georgia
1986--Robin Ventura, 3b, Oklahoma State
1987--Paul Carey, of, Stanford
1988--Kirk Dressendorfer, rhp, Texas
1989--Alex Fernandez, rhp, Miami
1990--Jeffrey Hammonds, of, Stanford
1991--Brooks Kieschnick, rhp/dh, Texas
1992--Todd Walker, 2b, Louisiana State
1993--Brett Laxton, rhp, Louisiana State
1994--R.A. Dickey, rhp, Tennessee
1995--Kyle Peterson, rhp, Stanford
1996--Pat Burrell, 3b, Miami
1997--Brian Roberts, ss, North Carolina
1998--Xavier Nady, 2b, California
1999--James Jurries, 2b, Tulane
2000--Kevin Howard, 3b-ss, Miami
2001--Michael Aubrey, lhp-1b, Tulane
2002--Stephen Drew, ss, Florida State
2003--Ryan Braun, ss, Miami