Baseball's Toby Barnett Named Newcomer-Of-The-Year
05/20/2002 | 12:00:00 | Baseball
May 20, 2002
St. Louis, Mo. - Southern Illinois University's Toby Barnett leads a group of five Salukis named to the 2002 All-Missouri Valley Conference Team announced on Monday by the MVC Office.
Barnett, a junior catcher and designated hitter, was named MVC Newcomer-of-the-Year and a member of the All-MVC First Team. He joins senior first baseman Jeff Stanek on the first team. Freshman pitcher Ryan Welch was named to the All-MVC Second Team and junior outfielder Cory Newman and senior pitcher Luke Nelson were named to the All-MVC Honorable Mention Team.
"I'm proud of our guys. I'm sure when they look back at all the hard work and they'll feel good about the award. They're all unselfish, team guys who probably would have rather won a league title or the MVC Tournament over individual awards. At the same time, it's nice to be recognized for your efforts and these guys deserve this recognition, which is great coming from the league coaches,"said Dan Callahan, Saluki head coach.
"I thought Toby was the clear-cut candidate for the Newcomer-of-the-year and he's been a great addition to our program. Ryan Welch being named second-team as a freshman is pretty impressive in a league this good."
Barnett, a native of West Kallaroo, Australia and a junior college transfer, hit .311 (4th), led SIU in RBI (45), hits (66), doubles (16), total bases (110), plate appearances and at bats (212). He tied for the lead with 18 multiple-hit games and finished second with eight home runs and a .519 slugging percentage and third with 40 runs scored. Barnett's also tied for eighth in the MVC in RBI's and ninth in doubles. He's one of three Salukis to start all 54 games and opened the season with an 11-game hitting streak.
Stanek, a four-year starter from Orland Park, Ill., hit .333 (3rd) and led SIU in on base percentage (.428), walks (34) and sacrifice flies (5). He tied for the lead with 18 multiple-hit games and finished tied for second in hits (65), runs (41), doubles (12), total bases (100) and was third in RBI (37), home runs (7) and total plate appearances (236). He's one of three Salukis to start all 54 games.
Welch, a right-hander from Brentwood, Tenn., finished with a 5-3 record, a 4.08 era (6th & 14th in the MVC), four complete games and a save. He started nine games and appeared in 12 contests for a total of 64 innings. Welch had 36 strikeouts (3rd), 23 walks and 60 hits allowed with a .250 opponents batting average (5th). In MVC play, he's 4-2 with a 4.38 era and his four wins are in the top ten in the Valley.
Newman, a two-year starter from Ottawa, Ill., is hitting .308 (5th) with a team-high ten stolen bases in 12 attempts and eight sacrifices. He's started 53 of 54 games in 2002 and 108 of the last 109 games. He's tied for second in hits (65) and triples (2). Newman scored 40 runs (T-3rd) and is second with 237 total plate appearances, four sacrifice flies and 211 at bats. He added 86 total bases (4th) and has 13 walks (5th) in addition to playing great defense in centerfield.
Nelson, a four-year starter from Oconowac, Wisc., was 6-5 with a 5.74 era and a shutout. He had a career-high 11 strikeouts against SMS and his six wins are a career-high. Nelson's tied for the team-lead with six wins and four complete games. He was second with 51 strikeouts, 78.1 innings and 12 games started. Nelson had 13 total apperances (T-3rd) and started 29 games at third base and designated hitter.
The players are nominated by their own coaches and the awards are determined by a vote of league coaches. No coach is allowed to vote for his own players. SIU's Justin Maurath was the lone 2001 Saluki honoree when he made the honorable mention team.
SIU will open the MVC Tournament on Wednesday, May 22 against Southwest Missouri State University at 11:00 a.m. at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kans. SIU lost three of four games to SMS in Springfield earlier this season. If SIU wins, they will play the Creighton/Indiana State winner on Thursday at 3 p.m. If the Salukis lose game one of the double-elimination tournament, SIU will play the winner of the Wichita State/Northern Iowa winner on Thursday at 7 p.m.