Phillips, Tereschuk earn top honors on All-Independent team
ORANGE, Calif. - Chapman University third baseman Tristan Phillips and eight of his teammates have been named to the Association of Division III Independents All-Independent baseball team for 2009. The senior was honored as Independent Player of the Year and Panthers' head coach Tom Tereschuk was named Coach of the Year for the fifth consecutive season.
Phillips earned the award after leading Chapman with a .436 batting average and 60 RBI in 40 regular season games. He also had eight home runs and 14 doubles and compiled a .952 fielding percentage at third base. The senior's production numbers have been some of the best in school history. His batting average currently ranks second all-time in school history and only two players have had more RBI in a single season. It's Phillips' second All-Independent selection in his career.
Also named to the All-Independent first team were Chapman pitchers Jordan Sigman and Wayde Kitchens. Sigman, a sophomore, posted a 9-3 record to lead the Panthers in victories with a 4.14 ERA and 54 strikeouts. Meanwhile, the senior Kitchens was named to the first team for the third consecutive year after an injury-shortened 6-1 mark, 2.19 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 61.2 innings. He is among the NCAA Division III leaders in ERA and strikeouts per nine innings.
Senior 1B Patrick Ohail (.350, 15 2Bs, 45 RBI, .994 fielding pct.) was named to the All-Independent team for the fourth time in his career. Another infielder, junior SS Halston Barcelo (.370, 7 2Bs, 20 runs) and sophomore OF John Semel (.435, 10 HR, 44 RBI, 19 SBs) were among the six Panthers selected to the first team.
The Panthers' leadoff man junior OF Ryan Prechtl (.313, 48 runs, 10 SBs, 9 OF assists) and freshman DH Ben Owens (.419, 3 HRs, 17 RBI) earned second team honors and sophomore 2B Tyler Hadzinsky (.340, 21 extra-base hits) was named to the All-Independent third team. It was a first time selection for all three players, although Hadzinsky earned All-Independent honors in soccer last fall and was named Independent Goalkeeper of the Year.
Tereschuk guided the Panthers to their seventh consecutive NCAA postseason with a record of 26-14 overall to earn Coach of the Year. He has also been Division III West Region Coach of the Year four straight years.
Chapman's nine selections were the most in the Association and the school's highest number since 2005 when the Panthers had 10 players named to the All-Independent team.
The Association of Division III Independents consists of 17 Division III independent institutions that have joined together to recognize student-athletes at independent institutions, and to provide exempted postseason championship competition in nine sports in 2008-09. The Association recognizes outstanding athletic achievements of its student-athletes on a weekly, monthly and annual basis. For more information about the Association of Division III Independents is available at http://www.d3independents.org.