Baseball: Trosclair Named A Candidate For The Senior Class Award

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns baseball senior Stefan Trosclair was named one of 30 baseball student-athletes who excel both on and off the diamond as a candidate for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate baseball, Premier Sports Management announced on Monday.
 
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
 
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
 
"This is a great award because it doesn’t just praise the player for what he does in the athletic arena. This award epitomizes who you are and not only what kind of baseball player you are," head coach Tony Robichaux said. "Stefan works hard in everything that he does both on and off of the field. He has not only been a good player, but he is also a leader in the locker room. Most players are focused on themselves. Stefan worries about the team. That just shows what kind of leader he is."
 
The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four C’s of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2016 College World Series® in June.
 
Trosclair is the second Ragin’ Cajuns player to be named a candidate for the award joining Matt Hicks who was a finalist for the award in 2014. The following is a listing of Trosclair’s accomplishments in each area that the award focuses on:’
 
Classroom
Stefan Trosclair is a general studies major/business minor who has posted a 3.5 GPA since joining the program in Fall 2014. His workload each semester is around 15-18 hours. He is currently on track to graduate in the Fall 2016 and plans on getting his MBA and going into coaching at the collegiate level. Trosclair was named to the Sun Belt All-Academic list in 2015.
 
Character
Trosclair has been a great example of a team leader with great character. He always shows up early and stays late. He genuinely cares about every member of the team including the coaches and staff. Trosclair tore his labrum sliding head-first into a bag while playing summer ball in Alaska in 2014. He had to spend the entire fall practicing with one arm. He continued to hit and take ground balls despite the injury. He was a great example to the entire team of how to work hard no matter the circumstance.
 
What really showed his leadership was when he was finally able to play in the field the team’s record was 15-13. With him in the lineup every day, they went 27-10 and went on to win the Sun Belt Tournament Championship behind a clutch grand slam from him in the 12th inning against a very good South Alabama team. He helped his team to both an NCAA Regional and an NCAA Super Regional against LSU. Trosclair has never been a person to complain about anything, and he always takes each opportunity to make both himself and the others around him better.
 
Community
Trosclair has been very involved with the community during his time with the Ragin’ Cajuns. He has participated in the school’s Reading in Red program through which student-athletes go to local school’s to read to children. Trosclair also has supported both the Down Syndrome Association of Acadiana’s 11th Annual Buddy Walk and the Lafayette Heart Walk. Not only did he help to raise money for both, but also he walked in them as well. He also took time out of his schedule to help celebrate the birthday of a local girl who is battling cancer. He provided a special signed ball to the bat boy at his high school when he was diagnosed with cancer and supported an event to raise money for him. Trosclair also has built a close relationship with Daniel Allemond, a local triathlete who was diagnosed with Leukemia. He also is part of the Ragin’ Cajuns Catholics organization on campus and attends Bible study regularly.
 
Competition
Trosclair was named the LSWA All-Louisiana Newcomer of the Year while also receiving second team All-America honors from ABCA/Rawlings and D1Baseball in 2015. On top of that, Trosclair was tabbed a Louisville Slugger and Perfect Game third-team All-American. The senior garnered All-Sun Belt First Team recognition and was listed on the LSWA All-Louisiana First Team. One of the biggest moments of his junior campaign came when he was tabbed the Sun Belt Tournament Most Outstanding Player after his 12th-inning grand slam lifted the Cajuns to the tournament championship over South Alabama. Trosclair ended the season ranked 12th in the nation in home runs with 16. He also was 25th in total bases, 26th in slugging, 30th in HBP, 66th in runs and 77th in RBI. Trosclair led the Sun Belt Conference in slugging, runs, RBI, home runs and total bases. He also was ranked top 10 in the Sun Belt in hitting, on-base percentage, hits, doubles, sacrifice bunts, HBP and stolen bases. Trosclair started in 60 games, hitting .338 (74-for-219) with 15 doubles, one triple and 16 home runs. He also drove in 53 runs and scored 55 times while tallying a .441 on-base percentage and a .635 slugging percentage with 139 total bases. Trosclair led the team in steals, swiping 15 bases in 18 attempts.
 
Baseball 2016 Candidates
Name                            Position                           School
Patrick Andrews             Pitcher                             Clemson University
Conor Costello               Outfield/DH/Pitcher          Oklahoma State
Mike Escanilla               Second Base                   Maryland Eastern Shore
Tim Faix                        Pitcher                             Kent State University
Michael Fuhrman          Infield                              Niagara University
Kyle Funkhouser            Pitcher                             Louisville
Jason Goldstein             Catcher                            Illinois
Richard Greene             Catcher                            Samford University
Sean Gustin                  Pitcher                             College of the Holy Cross
Thomas Hackimer         Pitcher                             St. John’s
Jacob Hendren              Pitcher                             Illinois State
Taylor Jones                  Infield                              Gonzaga University
Greg Kaiser                   Shortstop                          IPFW
Jonathan King               Pitcher                             Georgia Tech
Matt Outman                 Pitcher                             Norfolk State
Matt Parrish                   First Base/Catcher            Campbell University
Paschal Petrongolo       DH/First Base                    Jacksonville State University
Joey Ravert                   Pitcher/First Base/DH       La Salle
Steven Reveles             Shortstop                          Nebraska
Joey Roach                   Catcher                            Georgia State University
Duncan Robinson          Pitcher                             Dartmouth College
Joseph Runco               Infield                              Fordham
Tyler Selesky                 Infield                              FGCU
Deion Tansel                 Shortstop                          Toledo
Ryan Tinkham               First Base                         Wichita State University
Stefan Trosclair             Infield                              Louisiana
Justin Wall                     Outfield                            Dallas Baptist University
Woody Wallace             Catcher                            University of Cincinnati
Thomas Woodrey          Pitcher                             University of Miami
RJ Ybarra                      Catcher/DH                      Arizona State University