ABCA Names Three C-USA Players First Team All-Americans

Ryan Wagner

The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) has released its annual All-American teams and Conference USA is represented by three players on the first team. Houston reliever Ryan Wagner is joined by Tulane first baseman Michael Aubrey and Southern Miss outfielder Clint King on the first team squad. Southern Miss outfielder Jeff Cook was named as a third team All-American.

Wagner set a school record with 15 saves this season and his 148 strikeouts (in just 79 1/3 innings pitched) rank third on the school’s single-season list. With an average of 16.8 strikeouts per nine innings, he broke the 39-year old NCAA record in that category.

Aubrey, the Conference USA Player of the Year, is a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, Dick Howser Trophy and the Smith Award, all representing the best player in collegiate baseball. He led Conference USA with a .420 batting average and a .505 on-base percentage, while also topping the circuit in hits (102) and RBI (79), while smacking 18 home runs and 20 doubles.

King a first team selection, joined Cook, a third team choice, to form USM’s version of the “Bash Brothers.” King and Cook were the top two home run producers in Conference USA, with both players matching the school record with 23 homers this season. King closed out his 203 campaign ranked in the school’s single-season Top 10 in batting average (6th at .394), slugging percentage (3rd at .772), doubles (tied for 5th at 23) and RBI (4th with 77). Cook batted .374 for the season with 76 RBI and a .728 slugging percentage (both fifth on USM’s single-season charts).

These four players were among 10 Conference USA standouts that were named to ABCA All-Region teams. Aubrey, Cook and King were named as first team All-South Region selections and were joined by four members of the All-South second team: Tulane OF Jonny Kaplan, South Florida C Devin Ivany, South Florida P David Austen and Louisville reliever Carlos Fernandez. Wagner was a first team all-South Central Region choice, as was his teammate Bard Sullivan. UH third baseman Hyung Cho was named to that region’s second team.

The ABCA All-America teams are collegiate baseball’s oldest selections, dating to 1949. All Division I coaches have the opportunity to nominate and vote on these selections which are initially compiled into eight All-Region teams. These teams are then finalized into the first, second and third All-America teams by the ABCA’s NCAA Division I All-America Committee. This year, the committee selected 59 players as 2003 ABCA All-Americans.