|
Sneddon, Vasquez, Arizmendi Earn OEC's Top Honors
SANTA ANA, CA - On Tuesday, the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) baseball coaches named Santa Ana College's Jacob Vasquez (Diamond Bar HS) the OEC Co-Player of the Year, Daniel Arizmendi (Nogales HS) the OEC Pitcher of the Year and head coach Don Sneddon the OEC Co-Coach of the Year after they lead the Dons to a share of their 17th conference title. Sneddon (802-275-3), who became just the second California Community  College baseball coach to win 800 games in a career earlier this year, was named co-Coach of the Year along with Orange Coast College's John Altobelli for the 10 th time in 24 season at Santa Ana.
Vasquez, who led the conference in 5 of the 11 offensive categories, was one of eight Santa Ana players honored on either the OEC first or second teams. The sophomore, who shared the OEC Player of the Year honors with Orange Coast's Luke Beck, lead the OEC in batting average (.465), hits (40), home runs (8), RBI (28), slugging percentage (.826) and stolen bases (9). Overall the Diamond Bar High School-product batted .413 (62-of-150) with 41 RBI and 35 runs  scored and 22 walks. Of his 62 hits, 22 went for extra bases including 10 home runs.
Arizmendi, meanwhile, captured OEC Pitcher of the Year honors after posting a perfect 7-0 record and a 2.65 ERA. The lefthander led the OEC in wins (7), was second in innings pitched (68.0), and fourth in strike outs (46) and complete games (1). Overall, Arizmendi enters the post-season with an 8-1 record and a 3.21 ERA. He struck out 69 in 89.2 innings and walked 46.
Joining Vasquez and Arizmendi on the OEC first team were relief pitcher Anthony Slama (So, RHP, Mater Dei HS), shortstop Jose Chavez (So., Anaheim HS), outfielder Matt Morris (So.,  El Modena HS) and third baseman Matt Morris (Fr., El Modena HS) and utility player Jacob Vasquez (Fr., Diamond Bar HS).
Three Dons were honored on the conference's second team in second baseman Corey Skaggs (So., Norco HS) and outfielders Jimmy Waninger (So., Fullerton HS) and CJ Rice (So., El Dorado HS).
On Monday, Sneddon and the Dons (29-9, 15-6 OEC) were seeded fifth in the California Community College Commission On Athletics Southern California Baseball Regional and will host 12th -seeded Bakersfield College (23-15,
16-8 WSC, South) in the first round of the playoffs, a best-of-three series, that begin on Saturday, May 14 at 1 p.m.
The complete 2005 all-Orange Orange Empire Conference teams can viewed on the OEC website.
|
