Villegas Named to All-Big West First Team; Four Others Honored
6/1/2023 12:03:00 PM | Baseball
ALL-BIG WEST TEAMS
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly utility player Collin Villegas landed on the 2023 All-Big West first team and heads a group of five Mustang baseball players honored by the conference Thursday.
Catcher Ryan Stafford and shortstop Aaron Casillas achieved spots on the second team while third baseman Ryan Fenn and center fielder Jake Steels earned honorable mention praise.
Villegas (5-10, 190, Senior, Tustin, Calif.) led Cal Poly with 13 home runs this season, tied for No. 10 on the all-time Cal Poly list for a single season, to go along with 17 doubles and 41 RBIs. Villegas hit .268 and tied another school record for walks in a single game with five in the season opener against Missouri State.
Villegas, an All-Big West second-team selection a year ago, started all 56 games this season -- 42 in left field and 14 behind the plate. He produced 12 multiple-hit games and eight multiple-RBI contests.
Stafford (5-10, 180, sophomore, Folsom, Calif.), a first-team All-Big West choice in 2022, hit .313 with a team-leading 20 doubles to go with seven home runs and 44 RBIs. Stafford also threw out 11 would-be base stealers for the second straight year and picked off three other runners. He was 22-for-50 (.440) with 10 multiple-hit games in a 12-game stretch from April 4-23, lifting his average 48 points to .342.
Casillas (5-8, 175, Junior, Mission Viejo, Calif.) was a .329 hitter with a team-leading 76 hits, including 15 doubles. The transfer from CSU Bakersfield knocked in 40 runs and started every game at shortstop. Owning the team's longest hitting streak of the year at 18 games, Casillas closed the year with 60 hits in 172 at-bats (.349) to lift his average 71 points and led the Big West with 157 assists.
Stafford and Casillas shared the team lead in multiple-hit games with 25 as well as in multiple-RBI contests with 12.
Both Mustang honorable mentions are transfers from area community colleges.
Fenn (5-10, 170, sophomore, El Cajon, Calif.), from Cuesta College, was Cal Poly's leading hitter with a .344 average, producing 56 hits in 49 games including eight doubles and a triple. He knocked in 16 runs and had a 15-game hitting streak during a stretch of 33 games in which he went 51-for-129 (.395) to bump his average up 169 points to .361.
Steels (6-0, 185, junior, Santa Maria, Calif.), from Allan Hancock College, compiled a .318 average with 27 RBIs in 49 games, primarily as Cal Poly's leadoff hitter. His 13 steals (in 20 attempts) are the most at Cal Poly since Alex McKenna also stole 13 bases in 2017 and Steels was 14-for-27 (.519) in a late-season seven-game stretch with five RBIs and 12 runs scored, his average rising from .297 to .331.
Both Steels and Stafford hit grand slams in the UC Irvine series -- Stafford's blast snapping a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning.
UC Irvine outfielder Caden Kendle and CSUN outfielder Jakob Simons shared Big West Field Player of the Year honors while right-hander Nico Zeglin of Long Beach State was named Pitcher of the Year. Kendle is the only repeat All-Big West First Team choice.
Catcher Connor Burns of Long Beach State captured Defensive Player of the Year honors while UC San Diego head coach Eric Newman earned the Coach of the Year award after guiding the Tritons to the outright Big West title in the program's third year as a member of the conference.
Named Freshman Field Player of the Year was UC Irvine first baseman Anthony Martinez while southpaw Hudson Barrett of UC Santa Barbara was honored as Freshman Pitcher of the Year.
UC Santa Barbara had the most first-teamers with four, and UC San Diego put the most student-athletes on the first and second teams combined, with three on both for six total.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly utility player Collin Villegas landed on the 2023 All-Big West first team and heads a group of five Mustang baseball players honored by the conference Thursday.
Catcher Ryan Stafford and shortstop Aaron Casillas achieved spots on the second team while third baseman Ryan Fenn and center fielder Jake Steels earned honorable mention praise.
Villegas (5-10, 190, Senior, Tustin, Calif.) led Cal Poly with 13 home runs this season, tied for No. 10 on the all-time Cal Poly list for a single season, to go along with 17 doubles and 41 RBIs. Villegas hit .268 and tied another school record for walks in a single game with five in the season opener against Missouri State.
Villegas, an All-Big West second-team selection a year ago, started all 56 games this season -- 42 in left field and 14 behind the plate. He produced 12 multiple-hit games and eight multiple-RBI contests.
Stafford (5-10, 180, sophomore, Folsom, Calif.), a first-team All-Big West choice in 2022, hit .313 with a team-leading 20 doubles to go with seven home runs and 44 RBIs. Stafford also threw out 11 would-be base stealers for the second straight year and picked off three other runners. He was 22-for-50 (.440) with 10 multiple-hit games in a 12-game stretch from April 4-23, lifting his average 48 points to .342.
Casillas (5-8, 175, Junior, Mission Viejo, Calif.) was a .329 hitter with a team-leading 76 hits, including 15 doubles. The transfer from CSU Bakersfield knocked in 40 runs and started every game at shortstop. Owning the team's longest hitting streak of the year at 18 games, Casillas closed the year with 60 hits in 172 at-bats (.349) to lift his average 71 points and led the Big West with 157 assists.
Stafford and Casillas shared the team lead in multiple-hit games with 25 as well as in multiple-RBI contests with 12.
Both Mustang honorable mentions are transfers from area community colleges.
Fenn (5-10, 170, sophomore, El Cajon, Calif.), from Cuesta College, was Cal Poly's leading hitter with a .344 average, producing 56 hits in 49 games including eight doubles and a triple. He knocked in 16 runs and had a 15-game hitting streak during a stretch of 33 games in which he went 51-for-129 (.395) to bump his average up 169 points to .361.
Steels (6-0, 185, junior, Santa Maria, Calif.), from Allan Hancock College, compiled a .318 average with 27 RBIs in 49 games, primarily as Cal Poly's leadoff hitter. His 13 steals (in 20 attempts) are the most at Cal Poly since Alex McKenna also stole 13 bases in 2017 and Steels was 14-for-27 (.519) in a late-season seven-game stretch with five RBIs and 12 runs scored, his average rising from .297 to .331.
Both Steels and Stafford hit grand slams in the UC Irvine series -- Stafford's blast snapping a 3-3 tie in the eighth inning.
UC Irvine outfielder Caden Kendle and CSUN outfielder Jakob Simons shared Big West Field Player of the Year honors while right-hander Nico Zeglin of Long Beach State was named Pitcher of the Year. Kendle is the only repeat All-Big West First Team choice.
Catcher Connor Burns of Long Beach State captured Defensive Player of the Year honors while UC San Diego head coach Eric Newman earned the Coach of the Year award after guiding the Tritons to the outright Big West title in the program's third year as a member of the conference.
Named Freshman Field Player of the Year was UC Irvine first baseman Anthony Martinez while southpaw Hudson Barrett of UC Santa Barbara was honored as Freshman Pitcher of the Year.
UC Santa Barbara had the most first-teamers with four, and UC San Diego put the most student-athletes on the first and second teams combined, with three on both for six total.
Players Mentioned
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