Baseball: Petello Headlines UL’s All-Louisiana Picks

Baseball: Petello Headlines UL’s All-Louisiana Picks

Baseball: Petello Headlines UL’s All-Louisiana Picks

Senior outfielder Mike Petello was named to the 2011 All-Louisiana First Team. Joining him in earning All-Louisiana honors were junior right-handed pitcher Jordan Nicholson (second team) and senior shortstop Greg Fontenot (honorable mention).

This season’s selections increases the total number of All-Louisiana picks in head coach Tony Robichaux’s 17-year tenure to 57.

The Cajuns had a pitcher named All-Louisiana for the eighth straight season. UL received multiple selections for the second straight season and 11^th time in the Robichaux Era.

Petello is the first position player to collect first team All-Louisiana honors since former standout and current Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy did so in 2007.

Petello was Ragin’ Cajuns’ hottest hitter after April 1, hitting .366 with 49 base hits (18 extra baggers) in 134 at bats. That raised his season average to a team-leading .351.

The Scottsdale, Ariz., native led Louisiana with 21 multiple-hit games and rattled off a 14-game hitting streak April 20-May 14. The UNO transfer topped the Cajuns outfield with 134 putouts and led the squad with a .571 slugging percentage.

Petello was at his best in Sun Belt Conference action. He hit .388 in league play, which ranked third amongst all players, and registered 14 multiple-hit games.

In first season as a full-time starting pitcher, Nicholson ranked third in the Sun Belt and led UL with a 2.51 ERA in 71 2/3 innings covering 12 starts. The Ruston native surrendered fewest earned runs (20) amongst all SBC starters.

Nicholson posted a combined shutout of nationally ranked Rice and complete game win over Troy at Riddle-Pace Field. He went 2-0 and held opponents to 16 hits in 22 2/3 innings in final three regular season starts.

Fontenot broke the school record for career assists and joined Mark Lalande as one of only two players in UL history to reach 500 career assists. A starter the final three seasons of his career, the Acadiana High product finished with 538 career assists surpassing Lalande’s 506 benchmark.

In 2011, Fontenot led the entire Sun Belt Conference with 182 assists and hit above .330 the entire season which included a stretch of 26 straight games above .340. As of June 7, he ranked Top 60 nationally (No. 55) in toughest to strikeout with only 16 strikeouts in 253 plate appearances.

In his final game in a Cajuns uniform on May 28 against FIU at the Sun Belt Tournament he notched his 70^th hit of the season giving him three straight seasons of 70 hits to cap off his career.

LSU outfielder Mikie Mahtook was an overwhelming selection as the 2011 All-Louisiana Hitter of the Year while LSU-Shreveport head coach Rocke Musgraves, who led his team to the NAIA World Series, was named the state’s Coach of the Year.

Two other Tigers earned top billing as Raph Rhymes beat out Northwestern State pitcher Joe Scanio as the state’s Newcomer of the Year and second baseman JaCoby Jones was selected as the Freshman of the Year. Southeastern Louisiana’s Tyler Watkins was named Pitcher of the Year to round out the individual awards.

2011 All-Louisiana Baseball
Selected by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association

First Team
P – Tyler Watkins, Southeastern Louisiana
P – Seth Webster, Nicholls State
P – Jordan LeGros, McNeese State
P – Kurt McCune, LSU
1B – Frazier Hall, Southern
2B – Jordan Marks, Louisiana College
SS – Jace Peterson, McNeese State
3B – Mark Threlkeld, Louisiana Tech
C – Jeremy Schaffer, Tulane
OF – Mikie Mahtook, LSU
OF – Seth Granger, McNeese State
OF – Mike Petello, Louisiana
DH – Raph Rhymes, LSU
UTL – Nick Schneeberger, Tulane

Hitter of the Year: Mikie Mahtook, LSU
Pitcher of the Year: Tyler Watkins, SLU
Newcomer of the Year: Raph Rhymes, LSU
Freshman of the Year: JaCoby Jones, LSU
Coach of the Year: Rocke Musgraves, LSU-Shreveport

Second Team
P – Jordan Nicholson, Louisiana
P – Alex Facundus, Tulane
P – Nick Pepitone, Tulane
P – Joe Scanio, Northwestern State
1B – Kevin Smith, LSU-Shreveport
2B – JaCoby Jones, LSU
SS – Justin Boudreaux, SLU
3B – R.J. Talamantes, Centenary
C – Andrew Brouillette, LSU-Shreveport
OF – Lee Orr, McNeese State
OF – Colin Bear, Northwestern State
OF – Mason Katz, LSU
DH – Kyle Pearson, LSU-Shreveport
UTL – Cody Causey, LSU-Shreveport

Honorable Mention
P – Caleb Dudley, Louisiana Tech; Mike Jefferson, Louisiana Tech; Kevin Gausman, LSU; 1B – Joey Rapp, ULM; 2B – Brock Hebert, SLU; SS – Chase Jaramillo, Nicholls; Greg Fontenot, UL; Chris Wolfe, Grambling; 3B – Tyler Hanover, LSU; C – Clint Ewing, Louisiana Tech; OF – Wilmy Marerro, Southern; Pete Rajkovich, Centenary; Chase Wentz, LSU-Shreveport; Eldred Barnett, Grambling.

— Ragin’ Cajuns —