LeBlanc, Salem, Valverde Named to NCBWA All-America Team
6/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
DALLAS, Texas - University of Alabama juniors Wade LeBlanc and Emeel Salem and senior Kody Valverde were named to the 2006 Pro Line Cap/National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association All-America team, in an announcement made by NCBWA Executive Director Bo Carter on Tuesday.
LeBlanc and Salem were named Second-Team All-American by the NCBWA, while Valverde was a Third-Team All-American selection.
LeBlanc (Lake Charles, La.) finished the season with an 11-1 record and 2.92 ERA in 18 starts this season for the Crimson Tide. He worked 129 1/3 innings and allowed 110 hits, 47 runs and 42 earned runs, with 43 walks and 128 strikeouts.
He set UA single-season records for innings pitched (129 1/3) and strikeouts (129) this season. He broke Lance Cormier's record of 129 innings pitched previously set in 2002. LeBlanc also broke the single-season strikeout record (118) previously held by Bobby Sprowl in 1977. He is also Bama's all-time strikeout leader with 334 career strikeouts.
Salem (Mountain Brook) had a banner year for the Crimson Tide. He led UA with a .356 (101-for-284) average, with two home runs and 32 RBI from the leadoff spot in the order. Salem also led UA with 67 runs scored and 36 stolen bases this season.
A First-Team All-SEC selection, Salem was also named to the College Baseball Foundation All-America team and was Second-Team All-American by Louisville Slugger and Collegiate Baseball. Salem was also a First-Team ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America selection and was named to the SEC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. He was also named to the 2006 SEC Good Works team for his community service.
Valverde (Baton Rouge) had his best season in 2006, as he hit .347 (76-for-219) with 12 home runs and 59 RBI. He led the Crimson Tide in home runs and was second in hitting and RBI. He was a Second-Team All-SEC selection by the league's head coaches.
The senior was named the Most Valuable Player at the 2006 NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional as he led the Crimson Tide to its sixth NCAA Regional championship with wins over Jacksonville State and Troy. He batted .714 (10-for-14) in the three games, with one double, one home run and eight RBI. Valverde hit a grand slam, the first of his career, in Bama's 13-1 win over Jax State in the opening round. His two-out, ninth inning single gave the Tide a 4-3 win in game two. He tied an Alabama single-game record with five hits in the 14-5 win over Troy in the championship game.
Valverde was a 10th round draft pickoff the San Diego Padres last week and has signed to play with the Padres. He has been assigned to the Eugene (Oregon) Emeralds of the short-season Northwest League and will begin his pro career on Tuesday, June 20.
2006 NCBWA ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS
FIRST TEAM
Pos. Name, School Class BA AB R H HR RBI
1B Andy D'Alessio, Clemson Jr. .313 240 54 75 22 80
2B Jim Negrych, Pittsburgh Jr. .396 182 41 72 11 60
3B Ronnie Bourquin, Ohio State Jr. .416 219 54 91 8 66
SS Tom King, Troy Jr. .411 285 75 117 8 73
C Michael McKenry, Middle Tenn. Jr. .390 210 42 82 13 68
OF Tyler Colvin, Clemson Jr. .362 268 62 97 13 69
OF Jacob Dempsey, Winthrop Jr. .403 248 71 100 17 78
OF Kellen Kulbacki, James Madison So. .464 194 68 90 24 75
DH/ATH Brad Lincoln, Houston Jr. .295 224 35 66 14 53
Pitching: 12-2, 1.69 ERA, 17 G, 127.2 IP, 91 H, 32 BB, 152 SO, 0 SV
Pitchers
Pos. Name School Cl. W-L ERA G IP H BB SO SV
SP Eddie Degerman, Rice Sr. 13-1 1.31 18 119.2 74 47 158 0
SP Tim Lincecum, Washington Jr. 12-4 1.94 22 125.1 75 63 199 3
SP Andrew Miller, North Carolina Jr. 13-2 2.11 16 110.2 87 36 119 0
SP Wes Roemer, Cal State Fullerton So. 13-1 1.97 18 141.2 107 6 134 0
RP Don Czyz, Kansas Sr. 6-0 1.56 37 63.1 49 15 60 19
RP Cole St.Clair, Rice Sr. 6-2 1.82 35 69.1 34 24 94 11
SECOND TEAM
Pos. Name, School Class BA AB R H HR RBI
1B Ryan Strieby, Kentucky Jr. .343 233 60 80 20 77
2B Eric Sogard, Arizona State Jr. .353 184 47 65 9 50
3B Zach Daeges, Creighton Sr. .350 180 59 63 13 49
SS Ryan Khoury, Utah Sr. .438 224 73 98 13 56
C Jake Smith, East Carolina Sr. .344 218 41 75 13 65
OF Luke Gorsett, Nebraska Jr. .348 207 44 72 15 48
OF Shane Robinson, Florida St Jr. .361 269 79 97 7 38
OF Emeel Salem, Alabama Jr. .356 284 67 101-36 SB 2 32
DH/ATH Sean Doolittle, Virginia So. .324 216 49 70 4 57
Pitching: 11-2, 2.38 ERA, 18 G, 90.2 IP, 64 H, 21 BB, 108 SO, 1 SV
Pitchers
Pos. Name School Cl. W-L ERA G IP H BB SO SV
SP Dallas Buck, Oregon State Jr. 12-2 3.02 18 115.2 84 53 88 0
SP Nick Chigges, Coll. of Charleston Jr. 11-2 1.40 17 115.2 86 48 100 0
SP Lauren Gagnier, Cal State Fullerton Jr. 14-4 2.42 19 122.2 92 23 101 0
SP Wade LeBlanc, Alabama Jr. 11-1 2.92 18 129.1 100 43 128 0
SP Jake Arrieta, TCU So. 14-4 2.35 19 111.0 96 37 111 1
RP Kevin Gunderson, Oregon State Jr. 2-2 2.34 32 42.1 31 16 39 17
RP Vinnie Pestano, Cal State Fullerton Jr. 2-1 0.97 29 37.0 19 14 43 13
RP Joshua Fields, Georgia Jr. 3-2 1.74 32 46.2 32 11 52 15
THIRD TEAM (Ties in voting)
Pos. Name, School Class BA AB R H HR RBI
1B Craig Cooper, Notre Dame Sr. .425 228 79 97 9 41
1B Chad Huffman, TCU Jr. .388 209 58 81 18 71
2B Ramon Corona, N.C. State So. .353 278 71 98 6 57
3B Evan Longoria, Long Beach State Jr. .353 201 42 71 11 53
3B Marc Maddox, Southern Miss Sr. .313 246 61 77 (14 SB) 18 70
SS Zack Cozart, Ole Miss So. .337 267 57 90 10 64
SS Chris Minaker, Stanford Sr. .364 258 47 94 11 68
SS Zach Penprase, MS Valley State Jr. .362 199 44-57 SB 72 2 39
C Sean Coughlin, Kentucky Jr. .325 203 52 66 17 55
C Kody Valverde, Alabama Sr. .347 219 58 76 12 59
OF Michael Epping, New Orleans Sr. .400 205 56 82 8 58
OF Cole Gillespie, Oregon State Jr .387 204 74 79 12 53
OF Drew Holder, Dallas Baptist Sr. .364 220 73 80 20 75
OF Ben Saylor, BYU Sr. .354 237 58 84 21 66
OF Drew Stubbs, Texas Jr. .342 243 65 83 12 58
DH/ATH Joe Savery, Rice Sr. .335 242 59 81 9 63
Pitching: 5-1, 2.76 ERA, 13 G, 62 IP, 55 H, 24 BB, 62 SO, 0 SV
DH/ATH Damon Sublett, Wichita State So. .394 165 45 65 10 45
Pitching: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 14 G, 12.1 IP, 5 H, 10 B, 23 SO, 7 SV
Pitchers
Pos. Name School Cl. W-L ERA G IP H BB SO SV
SP Tyler Chambliss, Florida State Jr. 12-4 2.97 19 115 105 50 117 0
SP Josh Cribb, Clemson Sr. 9-0 3.09 16 87.1 70 26 83 0
SP David Price, Vanderbilt So. 9-5 4.16 19 110.1 92 43 155 0
SP Nick Schmidt, Arkansas So. 9-3 3.01 17 116.2 90 50 145 0
SP Tony Watson, Nebraska So. 10-2 2.78 17 100.1 88 24 69 0
SP Alex Wilson, Winthrop Jr. 13-3 3.78 20 138 127 50 143 0
RP Daniel Best, Southern Miss Sr. 6-2 2.22 31 52.2 49 11 50 13
RP Milan Dinga, Army Jr. 2-0 0.48 17 18.2 12 2 22 10
RP Andrew Urena, Mercer Sr. 4-2 1.30 30 48.1 36 27 59 15
