2012 NAIA Baseball All-Americans Announced

By Alan Grosbach, Manager of Communications & Sports Information

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced the 2012 Baseball All-America teams, selected by the NAIA-American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-America Selection Committee. Miguel Beltran of Oklahoma City headlines the group of 32 student-athletes named to the first and second teams. An additional 35 players received honorable mentions. Tennessee Wesleyan's Billy Berry received Coach of the Year honors.

Beltran, a native of Long Beach, Calif., was named Player of the Year after leading the Stars to their fifth-straight Avista-NAIA World Series appearance. The senior first baseman started all 60 games for Oklahoma City this season, pacing the squad and the NAIA in home runs (27), total bases (181) and slugging percentage (.826). Beltran also led the Stars with 76 RBIs, which ranked fifth nationally. His .388 batting average trailed only teammate, and fellow All-American Dane Phillips' .410. Beltran had five multi-home run games this season, the last coming on April 27 against Wayland Baptist (Texas). Defensively, he owned a .996 fielding percentage, committing only two errors in 495 chances. Beltran is the second-straight - seventh overall - Oklahoma City player to earn the honor since the award began in 1983.

Richard Bohlken, a second team selection from Lubbock Christian (Texas), is the only repeat selection. Bohlken was a first team award winner in 2011.

Berry earned Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Bulldogs to the program’s first Avists-NAIA World Series crown. Tennessee Wesleyan ended the season with a 53-12 overall record, including a 22-2 mark in Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) action. The Bulldogs earned the right to play in the World Series after claiming the AAC tournament championship and by sweeping the Kingsport Bracket (Tenn.) of the NAIA Opening Round.

Ten programs boasted multiple All-America selections, led by three honorees from Oklahoma City and Lee (Tenn.). In addition to Beltran and Phillips, the Stars landed catcher Chad Carman on the first team. Lee's representatives were second baseman Blake Barber, designated hitter Corey Davis and pitcher Kris Hall. All three were named to the first team.

There were 12 players on the first or second teams whose programs participated in the 2012 Avista-NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho this year.

2012 NAIA Baseball All-Americans

First Team
Name	Institution	Pos.	Class	Hometown
Miguel Beltran*	Oklahoma City	1B	Sr.	Long Beach, Calif.
Blake Barber	Lee (Tenn.)	2B	Sr.	Modesto, Calif.
Adam McCormick	Tabor (Kan.)	3B	Sr.	Pittsburg, Kan.
Stephen Branca	Tennessee Wesleyan	SS	Sr.	Valrico, Fla.
Daniel Baptista	Oklahoma Baptist	UT	Sr.	Fairfield, Okla.
Chad Carman	Oklahoma City	C	Sr.	Midwest City, Okla.
Kyle Pearson	LSU Shreveport (La.)	OF	Jr.	Stonewall, La.
Izaac Garsez	College of Idaho	OF	Sr.	Caldwell, Idaho
Matt Kimmel	Azusa Pacific (Calif.)	OF	So.	Redmond, Wash.
Dane Phillips	Oklahoma City	OF	Jr.	Nacogdoches, Texas
Corey Davis	Lee (Tenn.)	DH	Jr.	Douglas, Ga.
Rey Rodriguez	Robert Morris (Ill.)	P	Jr.	Valencia, Venezuela
Chris Thomas	Avila (Mo.)	P	Sr.	Liberty, Mo.
Jared Mortensen	LSU Shreveport (La.)	P	Sr.	Abbotsford, British Columbia
Kris Hall	Lee (Tenn.)	P	Jr.	Strongsville, Ohio
Dane Stone	St. Thomas (Fla.)	RP	Jr.	Miami, Fla.
Second Team
Name	Institution	Pos.	Class	Hometown
Jordan Leyland	Azusa Pacific (Calif.)	1B	Sr.	San Dimas, Calif.
Art Corona	Tabor (Kan.)	2B	Jr.	Los Angeles, Calif.
Taylor Oldham	Tennessee Wesleyan	3B	Sr.	Orlando, Fla.
Craig Massey	Faulkner (Ala.)	SS	Sr.	Bells, Tenn.
Richard Bohlken^	Lubbock Christian (Texas)	UT	Sr.	Albuquerque, N.M.
Ched Gaskin	Purdue-North Central (Ind.)	C	Jr.	Brighton, Mich.
Tanner Moore	Bellevue (Neb.)	OF	Jr.	Omaha, Neb.
Micheal Mendoza	Iowa Wesleyan	OF	Sr.	San Gabriel, Calif.
Joel Capote	St. Thomas (Fla.)	OF	Sr.	Miami, Fla.
Cory Ford	Oklahoma Wesleyan	OF	Sr.	Springdale, Ark.
Karl Seiter	Lubbock Christian (Texas)	DH	Sr.	Port Lucie, Fla.
Tyler Arthur	Georgetown (Ky.)	P	Fr.	Lexington, Ky.
Corey Black	Faulkner (Ala.)	P	Jr.	San Diego, Calif.
Michael Heesch	South Carolina Beaufort	P	Sr.	Chicago, Ill.
Cody Hall	Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.)	P	Sr.	Opp, Ala.
Chad Richie	Georgetown (Ky.)	RP	Jr.	Lexington, Ky.
Honorable Mention
Name	Institution
Roemon Fields	Bethany (Kan.)
Shane Clawson	Bryan (Tenn.)
Jarel Lewis	College of Idaho
Austin Coleman	Cal State San Marcos
Mike Mandarino	Cumberland (Tenn.)
Ian McGeorge	Embry-Riddle (Fla.)
Kevin Maloney	Embry-Riddle (Fla.)
Will Dismukes	Faulkner (Ala.)
Robert Prieto	Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)
Brady Wathen	Grand View (Iowa)
Eric Schultz	Huntington (Ind.)
Matt McHenry	Judson (Ill.)
Roberto Reyes	Lee (Tenn.)
Alfonso Casillas	Lewis-Clark (Idaho)
Leandro Perez	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)
Stephen Hobbins	LSU Shreveport (La.)
Ben Alison	MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)
Abraham Carrasco	Mount Mercy (Iowa)
Alex Heideman	Nebraska Wesleyan
Mitchell Prophet	Oklahoma Baptist
Rich Hawkins	Oklahoma City
Kyle Clifton	Park (Mo.)
Derek Peluso	Point Park (Pa.)
James Dawson	Robert Morris (Ill.)
Cory Lehman	Siena Heights (Mich.)
Jesse Gregurich	St. Francis (Ill.)
Victor Madrazo	St. Thomas (Fla.)
Daniel Cloteaux	Sterling (Kan.)
Chase Benifield	Talladega (Ala.)
Ryne Otis	Taylor (Ind.)
Rhett Goodmiller	Taylor (Ind.)
Jake Stone	Tennessee Wesleyan
Cody Dew	Union (Tenn.)
Tim Leary	Westmont (Calif.)
Gene Felise	York (Neb.)

* 2012 NAIA Baseball Player of the Year
^ 2011 All-America Selection