Josh Paino Named WAC Defensive Player of the Year Among CBU Postseason Awards
5/20/2024 3:05:00 PM | Baseball
ARLINGTON, TX--- The Western Athletic Conference announced the postseason baseball awards on Monday afternoon, and California Baptist was honored well after finishing the regular season tied for second. Most notably, Josh Paino was named WAC Defensive Player of the Year while also picking up All-WAC First Team and All-Defensive First Team accolades. The Lancers rounded the award lists with eight different honors for five different players during the conference schedule.
Paino reprised his starting role at shortstop this season and missed just three games out of his 53 starts. The junior infielder was a consistent leader in the six-spot and led the Lancers to 34 total wins, paired with 18 wins in conference play. Paino accumulated 94 assists across 37 putouts against WAC opponents and made just four errors for a .970 fielding percentage. His efforts in the infield helped the Lancers lead the conference with 49 fielded double plays and contributed to 27 runners caught stealing putouts. The major award is the first of Paino's career, and his All-WAC First Team and All-Defensive First Team are also a first for the junior.
Joining Paino as All-WAC First Team honorees are Mitchel Simon and Nicholas Dumesnil. After earning the Co-Preseason Player of the Year nod, Simon enjoyed another extremely successful year on the diamond and led the Lancers with 24 home runs through regular season play, notching several all-time CBU records like most home runs in a season and a career. The third baseman leads the WAC with the most RBI at 59 and home runs at 24 while maintaining a .284 batting average with 66 hits and 16 doubles. Simon also received an All-Defensive First Team nod for the first time in his career. Dumesnil checks in with a .365 batting average and 77 hits at the end of the regular season. The sophomore outfielder leads the WAC with a .716 slugging percentage and owns 18 home runs with 16 doubles and two triples. This is the third All-WAC honor for Simon and his first First Team selection, while this is the first award of its kind for Dumesnil.
Lukas Pirko, HAVE A DAY! That's 11 Ks through five innings for the freshman starter🤯#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/rfqPcDGWi7
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 11, 2024
Lukas Pirko and Nathan Hemmerling were selected to the All-WAC Second Team for the first time in their careers. True freshman Pirko started the year strong as a starter on opening day and was steadfast the entire season. Pirko led the Lancer Starters with the lowest ERA at 3.90 and picked up a 5-3 pitching record during his debut year. The freshman also led CBU with 69 strikeouts on the season with 43 of them coming against WAC opponents. Hemmerling was a common choice as a reliever for head coach Gary Adcock through the year, and the right-handed graduate student proved to be a good one with a 2.61 ERA. Hemmerling also tallied a 5-3 pitching record paired with three saves across 51.2 innings pitched with 41 Ks.
The Lancers will head to Mesa, Arizona to continue their season at the Western Athletic Conference Tournament. While the tournament begins on Tuesday afternoon, the four-seeded CBU will start their postseason journey at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at Hohokam Stadium.
