LAFAYETTE – Tulane All-American Kody Hoese has been named the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s Hitter of the Year.
The Green Wave star, and first-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers, led the LSWA All-Louisiana College Baseball Team which was released on Saturday night. The 28-member team, which features three University of Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, was selected by a statewide panel of college baseball sports information directors and media members.
Hoese was one of two members for the Green Wave to earn individual honors with Hudson Haskin tabbed as Freshman of the Year. Southeastern Louisiana’s Corey Gaconi was named Pitcher of the Year, UL Monroe outfielder Trent Tingelstad was voted as the LSWA Newcomer of the Year and second-year skipper Kerrick Jackson of Southern University was the overwhelming choice as the state’s Coach of the Year.
The fifth consensus All-American in Tulane baseball history and the first since Brian Bogusevic in 2005, Hoese had a triple crown season for the Green Wave, leading the team with a .391 average, 23 home runs and 61 RBI. He led the American Athletic Conference, and was ranked in the top-20 nationally, in seven offensive categories while his 23 home runs were the second-most in a single season in school history.
Gaconi, a Metairie native and Brother Martin alum, added to his list of postseason accolades after being selected as the 2019 Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year and first-team Central All-Region. The right-hander finished the year for the Lions with a 7-3 record and a 2.57 ERA, holding opponents to a .244 batting average while striking out 95 batters in 108.2 innings of work.
Tingelstad, a junior from Marysville, Wash., led ULM with a .353 batting average while adding 19 doubles, four triples, seven home runs and 46 RBI. He capped his first season with the Warhawks with a strong showing at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, which included a career-high seven RBIs in an 18-5 win over UT Arlington.
Haskin, a freshman All-America by both Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, ended the season for the Green Wave with a .372 average with 77 hits, including 19 doubles, four triples and 10 home runs.
Faced with the monumental task of replacing a legend in the dugout in Roger Cador, all Jackson did in his second year was serve as the architect of a remarkable turnaround for the Jaguars, going from nine wins in 2018 to a 32-24 record and its first SWAC Baseball championship in a decade.
The SWAC Coach of the Year guided Southern to a 17-6 record in league play, claiming the program’s first divisional title since 2012, while landing six players on the All-SWAC team and producing the league’s Player of the Year (Tyler LaPorter).
Saul Garza of LSU served as the battery mate to the first-team pitching list with Hoese highlighting a first-team infield that included Louisiana Tech’s Mason Mallard (first base), Nate Fisbeck of McNeese (second base) and LSU shortstop Josh Smith.
LSU senior outfielder and former Lafayette High star Antoine Duplantis, who broke Eddy Furniss’ school-record for hits in a career (359), was the lone repeat first-team selection and was joined in the outfield by Haskin and Southern’s Javeyan Williams. Logan Constantine of LSU Alexandria was a repeat selection as a utility player, after earning second-team honors in 2018, with UL’s Todd Lott named as the first-team designated hitter.
The second team featured the first-ever selections for both two-year programs – LSU Eunice (pitcher Dane Dixon and outfielder Tristan Welch) and Bossier Parish Community College (catcher Adrian Minjares).
The McNeese duo of Aidan Anderson and freshman Will Dion, along with LSU Alexandria’s Clayton Doyle joined Dixon on the mound with Jordan Trahan of LSU Shreveport (first base), ULM’s Chad Bell (third base) and UL’s middle infield duo of Hunter Kasuls (second base) and Hayden Cantrelle (shortstop) rounding out the infield.
Tingelstad was joined on the second team outfield by Welch and LSU’s Zach Watson – a 2018 second-team All-Louisiana pick. ULM’s Andrew Beesley was tabbed as a second-team utility player with Clayton Rasbeary of McNeese selected at designated hitter.
Honorable mention selections included the LSU tandem of Devin Fontenot (pitcher) and Cade Beloso (designated hitter), pitchers Andrew Sheridan of LSU Eunice and Braxton Smith of Louisiana Tech, Grambling catcher Drexler Macaay, outfielder Grant Mathews of Tulane, Louisiana College utility player Deauton Delgado and Loyola pitcher/outfielder Michael Toscano.
2019 ALL-LOUISIANA COLLEGE BASEBALL TEAM
HITTER OF THE YEAR – Kody Hoese, Tulane
PITCHER OF THE YEAR – Corey Gaconi, Southeastern Louisiana
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – Trent Tingelstad, ULM
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Hudson Haskin, Tulane
COACH OF THE YEAR – Kerrick Jackson, Southern
FIRST TEAM
P – Corey Gaconi, Southeastern Louisiana – Sr., 7-3, 2.57 ERA; Southland Pitcher of the Year
P – Nathan Jones, Northwestern State – Sr., 7-4, 2.78 ERA; Second-Team All-Southland Conference
P – Reeves Martin, New Orleans – Jr., 4-0, 1.03 ERA, 14 SV.; Third-Team All-America (Collegiate Baseball)
P – Matt Miller, Louisiana Tech – Sr., 6-1, 3.40 ERA; Second-Team All-Conference USA
C – Saul Garza, LSU – Soph., .309, 5 HR, 27 RBI; SEC All-Tournament Team
1B – Mason Mallard, Louisiana Tech – Sr., .374, 7 HR, 34 RBI; First Team All-Conference USA
2B – Nate Fisbeck – McNeese – Jr., .304, 12 HR, 50 RBI; Second-Team All-Southland Conference
3B – Kody Hoese, Tulane – Jr., .391, 23 HR, 61 RBI; American Athletic Conference Player of the Year
SS – Josh Smith, LSU – Jr., .346, 9 HR, 41 RBI; SEC All-Tournament Team
OF – Antoine Duplantis, LSU – Sr., .319, 11 HR, 64 RBI; Second-Team All-SEC; all-time LSU hits leader
OF – Hudson Haskin, Tulane – Fr., .372, 10 HR, 52 RBI; Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America
OF – Javeyan Williams, Southern – Sr., .404, 4 HR, 44 RBI; First-Team All-SWAC
UT – Logan Constantine, LSU Alexandria – Sr., .377, 7 HR, 43 RBI; First-Team All-RRAC
DH – Todd Lott, Louisiana – Jr., .332, 8 HR, 48 RBI; First Team All-Sun Belt Conference
SECOND TEAM
P – Aidan Anderson, McNeese – Sr., 7-6, 3.29 ERA; SLC Tournament MVP
P – Will Dion, McNeese – Fr., 5-0, 1.98 ERA, 6 SV; Second-Team NCBWA Freshman All-America
P – Dane Dixon, LSU Eunice – Soph., 13-0, 2.28 ERA; All-Region 23 First Team
P – Clayton Doyle, LSU Alexandria – Sr., 10-3, 4.67 ERA; NAIA Honorable Mention All-America
C – Adrian Minjares, Bossier Parish CC – Fr., .411, 3 HR, 24 RBI; First-Team All-Region XIV
1B – Jordan Trahan, LSU Shreveport – Sr., .361, 17 HR, 70 RBI; NAIA Honorable Mention All-America
2B – Hunter Kasuls, Louisiana – Sr., .338, 7 HR, 38 RBI
3B – Chad Bell, ULM – Sr., .333, 21 HR, 61 RBI; First Team All-Sun Belt Conference
SS – Hayden Cantrelle, Louisiana – Soph., .309, 9 HR, 31 RBI; First Team All-Sun Belt Conference
OF – Trent Tingelstad, ULM – Jr., .353, 7 HR, 46 RBI
OF – Zach Watson, LSU – Jr., .310, 7 HR, 41 RBI; 2019 All-SEC Defensive Team
OF – Tristan Welch, LSU Eunice – Soph., .380, 5 HR, 73 RBI; 2019 All-Region 23 First-Team
UT – Andrew Beesley, ULM – Jr., .329, 3 HR, 37 RBI; Second Team All-Sun Belt Conference
DH – Clayton Rasbeary, McNeese – Jr., .304, 10 HR, 49 RBI; First-team All-Southland Conference
HONORABLE MENTION
P – Devin Fontenot, LSU; Andrew Sheridan, LSU Eunice; Braxton Smith, Louisiana Tech. C – Drexler Macaay, Grambling. OF – Grant Mathews, Tulane. UT – Deauton Delgado, Louisiana College; Michael Toscano, Loyola. DH – Cade Beloso, LSU.