Arizona, Arizona State players headline last All-Pac 12 baseball selections
Both the Pac-12 regular-season champion Arizona Wildcats and the Arizona State Sun Devils were well represented when all-conference honors were announced in conjunction with this week's tournament at Scottsdale Stadium.
The major conference honors were spread out with five different teams a part of them. Arizona's Chip Hale was named coach of the year for leading the Wildcats to a first-place regular season finish. That was after the team was predicted to finish ninth in the coaches' preseason poll. Hale is the first person in Pac-12 baseball history to win both coach of the year and player of the year, having brought home those honors back in 1987 when he and UCLA's Torey Lovullo split the Pac-10 South Player of the Year award.
The highlight for ASU was the selection of designated hitter Brandon Compton as Freshman of the Year. Compton, who hails from Buckeye, missed all of the 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery. This season he boasts 14 home runs and 50 RBIs while hitting .363. This is the fourth time a Sun Devil has won the award. The last was Spencer Torkelson in 2018.
As for the other top honors, junior infielder Travis Bazzana of Oregon State was tabbed Player of the Year, while senior left-hander Bryson Van Sickle of Utah has earned Pitcher of the Year accolades. Rounding out the top honors was junior shortstop Cam Clayton of Washington who was voted Defensive Player of the Year.
Arizona had six first-team selections. They included senior pitcher Clark Candiotti, a product of Chaparral High School, as well as sophomore outfielder Brandon Summerhill, senior pitcher Cam Walty, sophomore infielder Mason White, sophomore pitcher Jackson Kent and junior infielder Garen Caulfield.
Representing the Sun Devils on the first team were Compton, junior first baseman Jacob Tobias, sophomore outfielder Kien Vu, sophomore outfield Nick McLain and junior catcher Ryan Campos, who is a product of Mesa Red Mountain High School.
Honorable mention selections included Emilio Corona and Casey Hintz of Arizona and Ben Jacobs, Connor Markl and Steven Ondina of ASU.
A total of eight players were also named to the All-Defensive team. That group included sophomore outfielder Isaiah Jackson of ASU.
There was some representation of local players from other schools as sophomore outfielder Gavin Turley of Oregon State was a first-team selection. He is a product of Hamilton High School.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ASU, Arizona baseball players among those recognized by the Pac-12
