Valverde, LeBlanc Named to Baseball America All-America Team
6/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
DURHAM, North Carolina -- University of Alabama senior catcher Kody Valverde and junior pitcher Wade LeBlanc were named to the 2006 Baseball America All-America team today.
Valverde was a second-team All-America selection, while LeBlanc was named a third-team All-America by the Baseball America staff.
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.
A second-team All-SEC selection in 2006, Valverde was also named third-team All-America by the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association (NCBWA) earlier this week.
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.
A first-team All-SEC selection in 2006, LeBlanc was named the SEC Pitcher of the Year by SEBaseball.com after his junior season. He was also a second-team All-America selection by the NCBWA. LeBlanc was the 2004 National Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-America selection by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball in his rookie season.
2006 ALL-AMERICA TEAMS
Selected by Baseball America staff
FIRST TEAM
Pos. Player, Pos., School Year AVG OBP SLG AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB
C Matt Wieters, Georgia Tech So. .355 .481 .602 251 69 89 14 69 56 38 3
1B Mark Hamilton, Tulane Jr. .336 .461 .643 235 61 79 20 69 51 42 2
2B Jim Negrych, Pittsburgh Jr. .396 .515 .654 182 41 72 11 60 40 42 6
3B Pedro Alvarez, Vanderbilt Fr. .329 .456 .675 240 70 79 22 64 57 64 7
SS Brian Friday, Rice So. .365 .449 .576 255 65 93 9 56 29 46 17
OF Tyler Colvin, Clemson Jr. .362 .425 .627 268 62 97 13 69 27 40 23
OF Cole Gillespie, Oregon State Jr. .387 .508 .706 204 74 79 13 53 43 27 15
OF Kellen Kulbacki, James Madison So. .464 .568 .943 194 68 90 24 75 30 32 13
DH Ryan Strieby, Kentucky Jr. .343 .473 .704 233 60 80 20 77 46 39 2
UT Brad Lincoln, Houston Jr. .295 .368 .536 224 35 66 14 53 24 41 5
Pitcher, School Year W L ERA G CG SV IP H BB SO AVG
SP Eddie Degerman, Rice Jr. 13 1 1.81 18 0 0 120 74 47 158 .174
SP Tim Lincecum, Washington Jr. 12 4 1.94 22 3 3 125 75 63 199 .173
SP Andrew Miller, North Carolina Jr. 13 2 2.11 16 0 0 111 87 36 119 .214
SP Wes Roemer, Cal State Fullerton So. 13 1 1.97 18 3 0 142 107 6 134 .208
RP Cole St. Clair, Rice So. 6 2 1.82 35 0 11 69 34 24 94 .144
UT Brad Lincoln, Houston Jr. 12 2 1.69 17 3 0 128 91 32 152 .198
SECOND TEAM
Pos. Player, Pos., School Year AVG OBP SLG AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB
C Kody Valverde, Alabama Sr. .347 .463 .607 219 58 76 12 59 42 36 1
1B Craig Cooper, Notre Dame Jr. .425 .522 .654 228 79 97 9 41 38 14 9
2B Justin Turner, Cal State Fullerton Sr. .355 .408 .498 265 61 94 4 42 16 28 20
SS Emmanuel Burris, Kent State Jr. .360 .446 .477 239 70 86 4 28 23 22 42
3B Evan Longoria, Long Beach State Jr. .353 .468 .602 201 42 71 11 43 40 29 3
OF Jacob Dempsey, Winthrop Sr. .403 .492 .738 248 71 100 17 78 49 36 8
OF Jon Jay, Miami Jr. .369 .500 .528 214 75 79 6 42 38 27 31
OF Drew Stubbs, Texas Jr. .342 .439 .580 243 65 83 12 58 41 60 26
DH Josh Horton, North Carolina So. .404 .463 .563 245 61 99 7 55 30 24 12
UT Sean Doolittle, Virginia So. .324 .454 .458 216 49 70 4 57 54 28 2
Pitcher, School Year W L ERA G CG SV IP H BB SO AVG
SP Jake Arrieta, Texas Christian So. 14 4 2.35 19 1 1 111 96 37 111 .231
SP Jonah Nickerson, Oregon State Jr. 11 4 2.50 17 3 0 115 102 34 112 .239
SP Nick Schmidt, Arkansas So. 9 3 3.01 17 1 0 117 90 50 145 .211
SP Steven Wright, Hawaii Jr. 11 2 2.30 16 2 1 110 80 19 123 .204
RP Dan Czyz, Kansas Sr. 6 0 1.56 37 0 19 63 49 15 60 .206
UT Sean Doolittle, Virginia So. 11 2 2.38 18 0 1 91 64 21 108 .193
THIRD TEAM
Pos. Player, Pos., School Year AVG OBP SLG AB R H HR RBI BB SO SB
C Jordan Newton, Western Ky. Jr. .324 .468 .699 176 50 57 14 58 45 43 10
1B Andy D'Alessio, Clemson Jr. .313 .376 .646 240 54 75 22 80 27 58 6
2B Damon Sublett, Wichita State So. .394 .500 .642 165 45 65 10 45 31 34 12
SS Zack Cozart, Mississippi So. .338 .370 .515 272 57 92 10 64 17 28 15
3B Josh Rodriguez, Rice Jr. .346 .444 .585 246 60 85 11 64 41 40 10
OF Corey Brown, Oklahoma State So. .347 .462 .644 216 68 75 13 40 42 57 14
OF John Raynor, UNC Wilmington Jr. .370 .433 .588 262 63 97 12 69 22 41 42
OF Joey Side, Georgia Jr. .359 .409 .611 306 57 110 13 53 23 42 7
DH Chad Huffman, Texas Christian Jr. .388 .498 .742 209 58 81 18 71 38 31 6
UT Mike Felix, Troy Jr. .381 .444 .565 168 36 64 5 31 18 34 3
Pitcher, School Year W L ERA G CG SV IP H BB SO AVG
SP Lauren Gagnier, Cal State Fullerton Jr. 14 4 2.42 18 0 0 123 92 23 101 .204
SP Danny Ray Herrera, New Mexico Jr. 10 0 2.24 17 3 0 128 112 29 104 .238
SP Wade Leblanc, Alabama Jr. 11 1 2.92 18 3 0 129 100 43 128 .211
SP P.J. Walters, South Alabama Jr. 11 3 3.20 19 5 0 152 159 33 166 .267
RP Josh Fields, Georgia So. 3 2 1.88 33 0 15 48 34 11 53 .202
UT Mike Felix, Troy Jr. 9 4 3.45 28 1 4 102 85 49 134 .223
