By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University baseball players Connor Bailey (Sr., CF, San Diego, CA/Scripps Ranch HS) and Justin Scanlon (Jr., 2B, San Jose, CA/Leigh HS/West Valley College) have been named to the 2019 All-West Region Baseball Team as selected by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). Bailey and Scanlon both were selected for the Second Team.
A total of 42 student-athletes were chosen to the ABCA All-West Region Team. Fourteen players were named to the First Team, another 14 student-athletes received Second Team honors, and 14 players were recognized on the Third Team.
Catcher Casey Combs, a senior from East Texas Baptist University, was selected as the West Region Position Player of the Year. Tyler Peck. a senior from Chapman University (Calif.), was named West Region Pitcher of the Year.
"Both Connor and Justin had fantastic seasons, and to be recognized by the West Region coaches is a high compliment," Willamette Head Coach Aaron Swick said.
Willamette ended the season with a 19-16 overall record, including 14-10 in the Northwest Conference. It was the Bearcats' sixth consecutive winning season. The Bearcats have been .500 or better in 10 of the last 12 years. This season, Willamette's pitching staff finished the year with a 4.31 team earned run average and 223 strikeouts in 307 innings pitched. On defense, the Bearcats tied a school record with a .968 team fielding percentage. On offense, WU pounded out 64 doubles, five triples and 28 home runs, while scoring 223 runs with 202 RBIs.
Second Team All-West Region
Connor Bailey (Sr., CF) has been named to the ABCA All-West Region Team twice, with this year's Second Team honor following First Team recognition in 2018. This year's list of honors also includes First Team All-West Region from D3baseball.com after receiving Third Team All-West Region honors from D3baseball.com in 2018.
Earlier this spring, Bailey was chosen Northwest Conference Baseball Player of the Year and was named First Team All-NWC for the second consecutive season. He was chosen Honorable Mention All-NWC in 2017.
Bailey led Willamette this year with a .386 batting average and a .661 slugging percentage, and was second with a .470 on-base percentage. He was 49 of 127 at the plate and ranked first for the Bearcats with 38 runs scored. He also topped the Bearcats with seven home runs, and tied for first with 13 doubles and two triples. He walked a team-leading 24 times, and was 9 for 12 on stolen base attempts. He ranked second on the team with 33 RBIs. As an outfielder, he provided the team with 80 putouts and two assists for a 1.000 fielding percentage.
In 2018, Bailey ranked second in NCAA Division III in 2018 with 15 homers and was eighth with 129 total bases. He was 13th in homers per game (0.30 avg.), 25th with six sacrifice flies, and 26th with 55 RBIs. His .684 slugging percentage ranked 45th. He hit .339 at the plate and tied a school record with 64 hits, while setting another school record with 189 at bats.
Bailey holds Willamette career records with 213 hits and 615 at bats. He tied another school record with nine career triples. Bailey's career batting average of .346 ranks sixth all-time for the Bearcats. He is second all-time with 143 runs scored and is third with 29 home runs, 43 doubles and 101 walks. He contributed 321 putouts in the outfield. He played in 162 games -- all starts -- out of a possible 167 contests. He recorded five hits in a single game at Pacific University on April 2, 2016. He scored five runs and drove in five runs in a game at University of Puget Sound on Feb. 23, 2019.
Justin Scanlon (Jr., 2B) received Second Team All-West Region honors this season from both the ABCA and D3baseball.com. His efforts with the Bearcats this spring also led to Scanlon being named First Team All-NWC this year, after playing two seasons at West Valley College in California.
On this year's offensive stats for Willamette, Scanlon ranked second with a .357 batting average. He also was second with 46 hits and 30 runs scored, while leading the Bearcats with 35 RBIs. He tied Bailey for the team lead with 13 doubles and two triples, and was third with five home runs.
Scanlon's offensive success also included a .605 slugging percentage and a .436 on-base percentage.His strong efforts on defense led to 48 putouts and 61 assists with just one error for a .991 fielding percentage. He was involved in turning 16 of 27 double plays on defense. He competed in 32 games and made 31 starts.
In his last 25 games played, Scanlon hit .417 with 28 runs and 27 RBIs. He was named NWC Baseball Position Player Student-Athlete of the Week and was chosen for the D3baseball.com Team of the Week after batting .563 (9 for 16) in Willamette's three-game sweep of George Fox University on April 13-14. Scanlon blasted a home run in all three games and ended the weekend with five runs, 10 RBIs, a double and a triple. He registered a 1.313 slugging percentage during the week.