Maloney Named to ABCA All-Midwest Region Team
Jun 20, 2002 | Baseball
June 20, 2002
Lawrence, Kan. - Junior outfielder Pat Maloney added yet another honor to his growing list of accomplishments in 2002, as he was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Midwest Region first team on Thursday. The team, which consisted of 15 first and second team selections, is voted on by coaches of the Big 12 and Missouri Valley Conferences.
Maloney was joined on the first team by trio of stars from College World Series participant Nebraska (Jeff Leise, Jed Morris and Shane Komine) and Texas (Tim Moss and Justin Simmons) and a pair from Baylor (Mike Huggins and Ross Bennett), Evansville (Andy Rodleder and Steve Obenchain) and Wichita State (Brian Burgamy and John Tetuan). Texas Tech's Gera Alvarez and Northern Iowa's Jason Simon rounded out the first team.
Maloney becomes just the third Wildcat in school history to be honored to the all-region team and the first since Heath Schesser and Scott Poepard were named to the team in 1997. Maloney was drafted in the 47th round by the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this month.
One of the Wildcats' top offensive players in recent history, Maloney became Kansas State's first consensus first-team All-Big 12 pick in late May and the program's first repeat first team all-league selection since pitcher Matt Koeman in 1995 and 1996. The native of Overland Park, Kan., who led the Big 12 Conference in hitting for the most of the year, finished the 2002 season among the league leaders in several offensive categories, including ranking in the top 5 in hits (88), runs scored (66), total bases (143), on-base percentage (.472) and slugging percentage (.643). He paced the Wildcats in nearly every offensive category and finished among the school's top 10 in 10 single-season categories, including second in runs scored (66) and third in hits (88) and total bases (143). He reached base in 52 of the Wildcats' 55 games, including a current streak of 33 in a row dating back to a doubleheader with Oklahoma State on March 23. He was one of three Wildcats to be named to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference All-Tournament team.
Maloney is spending his summer playing in the prestigious Cape Cod League for the Brewster (Mass.) Whitecaps. He is currently hitting .333 (7-for-21) with three RBIs and two runs scored. He has spent time at both designated hitter and first base for the 2-2-1 Whitecaps. The season, which began on June 14, runs until mid-August including the playoffs.
He is joined on the Whitecaps by Big 12 counterparts Jayce Tingler and Justin James of Missouri and Mark Roberts of Oklahoma as well as Anthony Gwynn of San Diego State, T. J. Prunty of Miami (Fla.) and Grant Johnson of CWS participant Notre Dame.
