N.C. State's Rodon Named Freshman Of The Year

By Aaron Fitt
July 4, 2012



DURHAM, N.C.—Freshman of the Year Carlos Rodon, a lefthander for North Carolina State, leads the 2012 Baseball America Freshman All-America team.

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR 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 2004—Wade LeBlanc, lhp, Alabama 2005—Joe Savery, lhp/1b, Rice 2006—Pedro Alvarez, 3b, Vanderbilt 2007—Dustin Ackley, 1b, North Carolina 2008—Chris Hernandez, lhp, Miami 2009—Anthony Rendon, 3b, Rice 2010—Matt Purke, lhp, Texas Christian 2011—Colin Moran, 3b, North Carolina

Rodon already won Atlantic Coast Conference pitcher of the year honors and was named a Baseball America first-team All-American. A local product from Holly Springs, N.C., Rodon dominated the ACC with a fastball that reaches the mid-90s and a wipeout power slider. He led the conference in ERA (1.57), opponents' batting average (.176) and innings (115), while ranking second in strikeouts (135) and wins (nine). Rodon is the first Wolfpack player to win BA's Freshman of the Year award, and he is the fourth ACC player to win it in the last six years.

N.C. State leads all teams with three players on BA's two freshman All-America teams, including two members of the first team. Speed merchant Trea Turner joins Rodon on the first team, while center fielder Jake Fincher earns a spot on the second team. Kentucky also places two players on the first team: center fielder Austin Cousino and two-way talent A.J. Reed.

Oregon State, Florida State, Texas Christian and Stony Brook also produced two freshman All-Americans apiece, though none placed more than one player on the first team. Oregon State outfielder Michael Conforto is the only player other than Rodon to appear on BA's All-America team as well as the All-Freshman team. Conforto was a second-team All-American, but a first-team All-Freshman selection.

The Atlantic Coast conference leads all leagues with seven freshman All-Americans. The Pacific-12 Conference is next with six, followed by the Southeastern Conference with five.

The teams were selected by the staff of Baseball America.

Pos.	FIRST TEAM		AVG	OBP	SLG	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB
C	Riley Moore, Arizona		.301	.385	.379	219	40	66	1	38	2
1B	Sam Travis, Indiana		.319	.397	.509	232	41	74	9	50	4
2B	Pat Kelly, Nebraska		.313	.345	.521	163	27	51	8	37	5
3B	Trea Turner, North Carolina State		.336	.432	.459	259	72	87	5	43	57
SS	Andrew Daniel, San Diego		.339	.394	.487	230	37	78	4	45	3
OF	Michael Conforto, Oregon State		.349	.438	.601	218	45	76	13	76	1
OF	Austin Cousino, Kentucky		.319	.408	.515	260	61	83	9	41	15
OF	Rhys Hoskins, Sacramento State		.353	.411	.567	215	44	76	10	53	1
DH	Derek Fisher, Virginia		.288	.375	.507	219	44	63	7	50	4
UT	A.J. Reed, Kentucky		.300	.378	.405	200	29	60	4	43	0
		W	L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	BB	SO	BAA
SP	Brandon Leibrandt, Florida State	8	3	2.82	19	0	99	89	29	83	.243
SP	Preston Morrison, Texas Christian	9	2	2.08	22	1	113	88	12	72	.216
SP	Benton Moss, North Carolina	7	2	1.94	17	0	79	65	23	83	.218
SP	Carlos Rodon, North Carolina State	9	0	1.57	17	0	115	71	41	135	.176
RP	David Berg, UCLA	5	3	1.46	50	1	74	42	17	63	.165
UT	A.J. Reed, Kentucky	5	3	2.52	16	0	54	54	9	51	.267
Pos.	SECOND TEAM		AVG	OBP	SLG	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB
C	Chase Griffin, Georgia Southern		.320	.404	.533	197	35	63	10	42	2
1B	Kevin Cron, Texas Christian		.338	.383	.503	151	20	51	6	34	0
2B	Casey Turgeon, Florida		.281	.368	.407	231	35	65	4	30	10
3B	Jose Trevino, Oral Roberts		.317	.358	.573	246	44	78	13	57	3
SS	Cole Peragine, Stony Brook		.304	.386	.411	214	42	65	0	39	8
OF	Jake Fincher, North Carolina State		.300	.353	.405	210	35	63	1	23	16
OF	Steven Goldstein, Stony Brook		.337	.415	.494	166	36	56	4	34	14
OF	Ryan Padilla, New Mexico		.353	.430	.525	221	49	78	5	49	4
DH	Alex Blandino, Stanford		.294	.371	.523	153	26	45	8	40	4
UT	Mason Robbins, Southern Mississippi		.330	.356	.470	215	36	71	3	38	7
		W	L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	BB	SO	BAA
SP	Mike Compton, Florida State	12	2	2.87	18	0	91	89	28	64	.260
SP	Jace Fry, Oregon State	5	3	2.45	13	0	88	68	35	53	.215
SP	Aaron Nola, Louisiana State	7	4	3.61	19	0	90	88	7	89	.251
SP	Jake Reed, Oregon	8	4	2.92	17	0	114	91	42	67	.230
RP	Jonathan Holder, Mississippi State	2	1	0.32	24	9	28	17	5	30	.173
UT	Mason Robbins, Southern Mississippi	1	0	4.01	10	0	34	37	12	17	.285