Kitchens becomes Chapman's first three-time All-American

ORANGE, Calif. - Chapman University RHP Wayde Kitchens and two of his teammates have been named to the D3Baseball.com All-America team for the 2009 season. The senior becomes the first baseball player in school history to earn All-America honors in three different seasons.

Kitchens was named to the second team while senior IF Tristan Phillips and sophomore OF/P John Semel each earned honorable mention. For Phillips and Semel, it's their first career All-America selection. Chapman last placed three players on the D3Baseball.com All-America team in 2007.

The award for Kitchens comes at the end of an injury-shortened season in which he missed the final six weeks of the regular season. He was, however, on his way to another outstanding season before he got hurt: 6-1, 2.19 ERA, 71 K in 61.2 innings. The right-hander made a brief appearance at last weekend's West Region championships long enough to tie the Chapman all-time record with 294 career strikeouts. He also holds career records in complete games and shutouts.

Phillips and Semel make up one of the more impressive offensive tandems in Chapman history. Phillips is batting .433 heading into this weekend's championships and if he stays around that number it would be the second-highest mark in Panthers' history. Phillips also leads the team in doubles (17) and RBI (63), and is second in home runs with eight.

Meanwhile, Semel is running a close second on the team in batting with a .415 mark. The sophomore leads Chapman in 10 offensive categories, including home runs (11), slugging (.702) and stolen bases (21). Semel is also the Panthers' closer with a 2-2 record, 2.82 ERA and eight saves.

The Panthers have never had two players bat over .400 in the same season, but Semel and Phillips could accomplish the feat this season.

Chapman is 30-15 heading into the NCAA Division III championships this weekend. The Panthers won their fifth consecutive West Region title in 2009.

D3Baseball.com All-America teams: http://www.d3baseball.com/all-american/d3baseball-allamericans-2009.pdf