JACKSON, Tenn. - Murray State senior first baseman Wes Cunningham was named 2010 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year while Tennessee Tech senior hurler Lee Henry was tabbed OVC Pitcher of the Year at the annual OVC Awards Banquet held on the eve of the 2010 OVC Baseball Championship (which will be held at Pringles Park in Jackson). Southeast Missouri State pitcher Shae Simmons was tabbed Rookie of the Year while Tennessee Tech's Matt Bragga took home OVC Coach of the Year honors.
The awards are voted on by league head coaches and sports information directors and were awarded along with first and second-team All-OVC honors. Regular season champion Tennessee Tech and Southeast Missouri State each had three players selected to the first-team. Jacksonville State and Morehead State (two apiece) were the only other programs with multiple first-team selections. Southeast Missouri and UT Martin led the way with four second-team selections apiece while five teams (Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, Murray State, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin) each had two picks on the All-Freshman team. Southeast Missouri's eight total selections across the three teams were the most of any school.
Cunningham became the first Murray State player to be named OVC Player of the Year since Matt Culp took home the honor in 1994. Overall he is the eighth different Thoroughbred to win the honor. On the field, Cunningham is rewriting the record books as he hit .415 with 69 runs scored, 88 hits, 17 doubles, six triples, 20 home runs, 77 RBI, 177 total bases and an .835 slugging percentage in 52 regular season games. In 21 OVC contests, he hit .436 with nine home runs and 39 RBI. He has set new Murray State single-season records for hits, triples, home runs, RBIs, total bases and slugging percentage, and needs only two more runs scored to establish that record. The all-time leader in batting average, hits, triples and total bases in Thoroughbred history, Cunningham needs just one more RBI to set the career RBI record for the 'Breds. This season he is second in the OVC in multi-RBI games (19) and third in multiple-hit contests (30). During the season, he was named OVC Player of the Week three times, including in back-to-back weeks in May. Cunningham's success has not gone unnoticed around the country as he was recently named one of 25 semifinalists for the prestigious Dick Howser Trophy, honoring the top player in college baseball.
In helping Tennessee Tech to its seventh OVC regular season championship, Henry was dominant on the mound, leading the OVC in E.R.A. (2.77, 0.59 points better than second place), opponent batting average (.220) and shutouts (1), while ranking second in strikeouts per nine innings (9.61) and complete games (3). In 14 total appearances (11 starts), Henry compiled a 6-3 record and struck out 73 batters while only issuing 33 walks. His best game of the season came against Eastern Illinois, when he tossed a three-hit, seven-inning shutout. In that game he struck out nine and was named OVC Pitcher of the Week for his performance. Over his last five games of the regular season, Henry was 5-0 with a 2.47 E.R.A. with each of those games coming against OVC foes. During that stretch of 32.2 innings, he allowed nine earned runs and struck out 36 batters. Henry is the second Tech pitcher to be named OVC Pitcher of the Year since the award was first handed out in 1992 (Mark Maberry in 1997 was the other).
No rookie made a bigger impact in the OVC in 2010 than Simmons did for Southeast Missouri. In his first year in the league, Simmons took over closer duties for the only OVC squad to win 30 games during the regular season. He netted his first save on March 19 against Valparaiso and would go on to lead the team with five saves, the fourth-highest total in the league. Overall he appeared in a team-high 24 games, registering a 2.39 earned run average, a 3-2 record and 41 strikeouts in 37.2 innings of work. He held opponents to just a .153 batting average in those 24 contests. He also got two spot starts near the end of the season. In 10 appearances in conference games, Simmons was 2-2 with three saves in 17.2 innings of work. Simmons is the fourth Redhawk player to be named OVC Rookie of the Year since the award was first handed out in 2000.
Now in his seventh season at Tennessee Tech, Bragga becomes just the second Tennessee Tech skipper to be named OVC Coach of the Year. He joins legendary coach David Mays who took home the honor five times during his career, with the last honor coming in 1997 (Mays will fittingly be inducted into the OVC Hall of Fame this June). Bragga broke through with the Golden Eagles last season, taking the fifth-seeded team to an OVC Tournament championship and a berth in the NCAA Regionals (where they eliminated nationally-ranked Alabama). Picked third in this year's preseason OVC poll, Tech got off to a slow start in Conference play, losing its first five games and finding itself at the bottom of the league standings. But a come-from-behind victory in the series finale at Southeast Missouri proved to be the turning point of the season. The Golden Eagles scored eight runs in the eighth inning of that game to turn a 7-3 deficit into an eventual 12-8 victory. Following that game Tennessee Tech reeled off 11-straight OVC victories before suffering a three-run loss to UT Martin in that series finale on May 16 (in that game UTM scored three runs in the eighth inning to win the game). But with the OVC title on the line the final weekend of the season, Tech rebounded by sweeping then first-place Murray State to claim the 2010 OVC Championship and No. 1 seed for the OVC Tournament. It marked the seventh regular season title for the Golden Eagles and first since 1997 (when they were co-champions). It was the first outright, non-divisional title for the program since 1956. Overall Tennessee Tech won 14 of its final 15 OVC games during the season. With one more victory this season the program will record its third-straight 30-win season, something that has never happened in program history.
Cunningham, Henry and Simmons were three of the 13 total first-team selections. There were five repeat selections from last year and three players who moved up from the second-squad to the first-team this year. The team also included Southeast Missouri senior catcher Jim Klocke who appeared on the All-OVC first-team for the third consecutive season. Klocke, who is a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award (given to the nation's top catcher), hit .371 with 82 hits, 58 runs, 21 doubles and 13 home runs in 53 games. After missing last season due to injury, Jacksonville State senior second baseman Bert Smith returned to the field this season to earn his third first-team All-OVC pick of his standout career. Smith, who became the OVC all-time leader in career hits, at-bats and games played during the season, led Jacksonville State in batting (.362) while stealing a league-best 32 bases. Morehead State senior shortstop Drew Lee was one of the repeat first-teamers after hitting .412 with 84 hits, 60 runs scored, 19 doubles, 17 home runs and 66 RBI in 50 total games. Lee is one of 25 quarterfinalists for the Brooks Wallace Award, given to the nation's top shortstop. Eastern Kentucky junior third baseman Jayson Langfels (.373, 72 hits, 61 runs, 14 doubles, 16 home runs and 50 RBI) and Eastern Illinois junior hurler Mike Recchia (5-5, 4.02 E.R.A., 2 saves, 84 strikeouts) were also players who were repeat first-teamers from 2009. The outfield featured three of the top overall players in the league in Tennessee Tech junior Chad Oberacker, Morehead State senior J.D. Ashbrook and Jacksonville State junior Todd Cunningham. Oberacker led the OVC and ranked in the top five nationally in batting average (.455) while registering 101 hits, 28 doubles (which also ranked in the top five nationally), 65 RBI and 14 stolen bases. After winning the Cape Cod batting title last summer, Cunningham returned to Jax State to bat .353 with 76 hits, 55 runs, 16 doubles, four triples and 19 stolen bases. Ashbrook capped his career by hitting .432 with 82 hits, 69 runs (a mark that was in the top five nationally), 15 doubles, 18 home runs and 55 RBI. Tennessee Tech junior A.J. Kirby-Jones appeared on the All-OVC first-team for the first time in his career (after being an All-Freshman selection two years ago and a second-team pick last season). Kirby-Jones smashed 24 home runs during the season (which ranked in the top five nationally) while also drawing 55 walks (a mark that was second nationally). "AJKJ" hit .378 with 71 hits, 58 runs, 16 doubles and 66 RBI. The first-team was rounded out by Southeast Missouri junior utility man Casey Jones (.399, 79 hits, 40 runs, 14 doubles, 65 RBI). Jones was the top hitter on the OVC's top-hitting team. The All-OVC first-team included six seniors, six juniors and one freshman.
The second-team had five repeat selections from 2009 and two All-Freshman picks from a year ago who moved onto the second-team. The repeat selections included Eastern Kentucky senior first baseman Anthony Ottrando (.353, 67 hits, 15 doubles, 17 home runs, 67 RBI), Southeast Missouri junior outfielder Louie Haseltine (.325, 66 hits, 49 runs, 13 doubles, 17 home runs, 55 RBI), Jacksonville State senior outfielder Daniel Adamson (.335, 66 hits, 56 runs, 5 triples, 13 home runs), Morehead State utility man Michael Bottoms (.311, 41 hits, 27 RBI; 4-4 pitching record , 6.57 E.R.A., 74.0 IP) and Murray State senior pitcher Chris Craycraft (6-4, 5.25 E.R.A., 2 complete games, 85.2 IP). The team also includes UT Martin senior catcher Ty Nelson, Austin Peay sophomore second baseman Jon Clinard, Southeast Missouri sophomore shortstop Kenton Parmley, UT Martin junior third baseman Trey Karlen, Southeast Missouri junior outfielder Michael Adamson, UT Martin sophomore outfielder Jordan Owen, Eastern Illinois senior Alex Gee, UT Martin senior pitcher Coty Green, Southeast Missouri senior pitcher Kyle Gumieny and Murray State senior reliever Matt McGaha. The All-OVC second-team included nine seniors, three juniors and three sophomores.
Eight of the nine OVC baseball squads had at least one representative on the All-Freshman Team, which was awarded for the fifth time in 2010. The 13-member team was highlighted by the League's Rookie of the Year Simmons, who was the only All-Freshman selection to appear on either the All-OVC first or second-team. Joining Simmons on the team was Austin Peay first baseman John Hogan and outfielder Cody Hudson, Eastern Illinois outfielder Daniel Rowe, Eastern Kentucky pitcher Anthony Bazzani and outfielder Austin Grisham, Jacksonville State pitcher Hunter Rivers, Murray State shortstop Brandon Elliott and third baseman Colton Moore, Tennessee Tech pitcher Tristan Archer and outfielder Austin Wulf and UT Martin pitcher Dan Tobik and outfielder Brent Morris.
2010 All-Ohio Valley Conference Teams
Player of the Year: Wes Cunningham, Murray State
Pitcher of the Year: Lee Henry, Tennessee Tech
Freshman of the Year: Shae Simmons, Southeast Missouri
Coach of the Year: Matt Bragga, Tennessee Tech
All-OVC First Team
C - Jim Klocke, Southeast Missouri
1B - Wes Cunningham, Murray State
2B - Bert Smith, Jacksonville State
SS - Drew Lee, Morehead State
3B - Jayson Langfels, Eastern Kentucky
OF - Chad Oberacker, Tennessee Tech
OF - J.D. Ashbrook, Morehead State
OF - Todd Cunningham, Jacksonville State
DH - A.J. Kirby-Jones, Tennessee Tech
UT - Casey Jones, Southeast Missouri
SP - Lee Henry, Tennessee Tech
SP - Mike Recchia, Eastern Illinois
RP - Shae Simmons, Southeast Missouri
All-OVC Second Team
C - Ty Nelson, UT Martin
1B - Anthony Ottrando, Eastern Kentucky
2B - Jon Clinard, Austin Peay
SS - Kenton Parmley, Southeast Missouri
3B - Trey Karlen, UT Martin
OF - Louie Haseltine, Southeast Missouri
OF - Michael Adamson, Southeast Missouri
OF - Jordan Owen, UT Martin
OF - Daniel Adamson, Jacksonville State
DH - Alex Gee, Eastern Illinois
UT - Michael Bottoms, Morehead State
SP - Chris Craycraft, Murray State
SP - Coty Green, UT Martin
SP - Kyle Gumieny, Southeast Missouri
RP - Matt McGaha, Murray State
OVC All-Freshman Team
John Hogan (1B), Austin Peay
Cody Hudson (OF), Austin Peay
Daniel Rowe (OF), Eastern Illinois
Anthony Bazzani (RHP), Eastern Kentucky
Austin Grisham (OF), Eastern Kentucky
Hunter Rivers (RHP), Jacksonville State
Brandon Elliott (SS), Murray State
Colton Moore (3B/DH), Murray State
Shae Simmons (RHP), Southeast Missouri
Tristan Archer (RHP), Tennessee Tech
Austin Wulf (OF), Tennessee Tech
Dan Tobik (RHP), UT Martin
Brent Morris (OF), UT Martin