2011 Baseball All-Americans Announced
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced the 2011 NAIA Baseball All-Americans, as selected by the NAIA-Baseball Coaches Association (BCA) All-America Selection Committee. Seventeen players were selected to each the First and Second Teams, while 36 other players were honorable mentions.
The 2011 Rawlings-NAIA Player of the Year is Oklahoma City's Kirk Walker. In 59 games played, the senior batted .423, with 24 doubles, three triples and eight home runs. He had 72 RBIs and struck out just 21 times in 234 at bats. Defensively, the shortstop hailing from Bakersfield, Calif., owned a fielding percentage of .967, committing just nine errors in 270 chances. Walker is the sixth Oklahoma City baseball player to be bestowed with the honor. Brent Weaver earned the award in 2009.
Pitcher Aaron Wilkerson of Cumberland (Tenn.) is the only repeat selection. Wilkerson was a Second-Team selection as a junior.
Three programs, Lubbock Christian (Texas), Oklahoma Baptist and Embry-Riddle (Fla.), boast a trio of All-Americans. The Chaps landed a pair of First-Teamers in infielder Richard Bohlken and outfielder Ryan Meade. Catcher Nate Peterson made the Second Team. Outfielder Anthony Lopez garnered First-Team honors for Oklahoma Baptist, while pitcher Richie Morowski and relief pitcher Kyle Brule were named to the Second Team. All three of Embry-Riddle's honorees, third baseman Steve Sabins and pitchers Tucker Jensen and Ryan Vigue, are on the Second Team.
Madonna (Mich.) is the only other program to have two players to be named First-Team All-Americans, with second baseman Jeff Bultinck and pitcher Jeremy Gooding, earning the award.
The 2011 NAIA Coach of the Year will be announced in January 2012 at the ABCA Coaches Convention.
| First Team | ||||
| Name | School | Pos. | Class | Hometown |
| Kevin Smith | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 1B | Sr. | Tacoma, Wash. |
| Jeff Bultinck | Madonna (Mich.) | 2B | Sr. | Sterling Heights, Mich. |
| Drake Fages | Biola (Calif.) | 3B | Jr. | Temecula, Calif. |
| Kirk Walker ^ | Oklahoma City | SS | Sr. | Bakersfield, Calif. |
| Richard Bohlken | Lubbock Christian (Texas) | INF | Jr. | Albuquerque, N.M. |
| Anthony Bazant | Bellevue (Neb.) | OF | Sr. | LaVista, Neb. |
| Brady Wathen | Grand View (Iowa) | OF | Jr. | Ankeny, Iowa |
| Ryan Meade | Lubbock Christian (Texas) | OF | Sr. | Lewis Center, Ohio |
| Anthony Lopez | Oklahoma Baptist | OF | Sr. | San Diego, Calif. |
| Phillip Butler | Shawnee State (Ohio) | C | Sr. | Spring, Texas |
| Johnny Aldaz | Northwood (Texas) | C | Sr. | El Paso, Texas |
| R. L. Eisenbach | Faulkner (Ala.) | P | Sr. | Neward, Ohio |
| Aaron Wilkerson * | Cumberland (Tenn.) | P | Sr. | Waco, Texas |
| Jeremy Gooding | Madonna (Mich.) | P | So. | Livonia, Mich. |
| Shay Crawford | Lee (Tenn.) | P | Sr. | Bartlett, Tenn. |
| Alex Cann | William Woods (Mo.) | RP | Sr. | San Diego, Calif. |
| David Bergin | Tennessee Wesleyan | DH | Jr. | Tampa, Fla. |
| Second Team | ||||
| Name | School | Pos. | Class | Hometown |
| Jeff Hutton | Tabor (Kan.) | 1B | Sr. | Delta, B.C. |
| Juan Carlos Martinez | Bellevue (Neb.) | 2B | Jr. | Toa Alta, Puerto Rico |
| Steve Sabins | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) | 3B | Sr. | Austin, Texas |
| Brian Sharp | California Baptist | SS | Jr. | Temecula, Calif. |
| Miguel Pagan | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | INF | Jr. | Juncos, Puerto Rico |
| Nico Taylor | Northwood (Texas) | OF | So. | McKinney, Texas |
| Jerrod Moore | Berea (Ky.) | OF | Sr. | Boaz, Ky. |
| Johnny Smith | Tennessee Wesleyan | OF | Sr. | Niagara Falls, N.Y. |
| Andrew Archbold | Sterling (Kan.) | OF | Sr. | Westminster, Colo. |
| Nate Peterson | Lubbock Christian (Texas) | C | Sr. | Aurora, Ill. |
| Brent Walters | St. Francis (Ill.) | C | Sr. | Lisle, Ill. |
| Danny Gidora | Texas at Brownsville | P | Sr. | Harlingen, Texas |
| Tucker Jensen | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) | P | Sr. | Ormond Beach, Fla. |
| Ryan Vigue | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) | P | Sr. | Merritt Island, Fla. |
| Richie Mirowski | Oklahoma Baptist | P | Sr. | Redwood City, Calif. |
| Kyle Brule | Oklahoma Baptist | RP | Sr. | Chandler, Ariz. |
| Mike Mandarino | Cumberland (Tenn.) | DH | Jr. |
Massapequa, N.Y. |
| Honorable Mention | |
| Name | School |
| Chris Needham | Oklahoma Wesleyan |
| Chance Brull | Doane (Neb.) |
| Brandon Hedrick | Union (Ky.) |
| Marcus Limon | Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
| Wesley Tramble | Sterling (Kan.) |
| Taylor Siemens | California Baptist |
| Rich Hawkins | Oklahoma City |
| Will Locante | Cumberland (Tenn.) |
| Izaac Garsez | College of Idaho |
| Brett Velon | Robert Morris (Ill.) |
| Derek Carley | Dickinson State (N.D.) |
| John Longoria | Houston-Victoria (Texas) |
| Jose Rodriquez | Fisher (Mass.) |
| Brandt Barnes | Rogers State (Okla.) |
| Jesse Ramirez | Jamestown (N.D.) |
| Nick Nguyen | York (Neb.) |
| Billy Meacham | Morningside (Iowa) |
| Nate Davenport | Cedarville (Ohio) |
| Shelby Anderson | Lindenwood (Mo.) |
| Ryne Otis | Taylor (Ind.) |
| Michael Clayton | Faulkner (Ala.) |
| Matt Negaard | Northwestern (Iowa) |
| Omar Artsen | Missouri Baptist |
| Travis Garcia | Martin Methodist (Tenn.) |
| Trent Bridges | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
| Jason Schmidt | Mount Marty (S.D.) |
| Ben Kline | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) |
| Craig Massey | Bethel (Tenn.) |
| Andrew Brouillette | LSU Shreveport (La.) |
| Brian Loard | Biola (Calif.) |
| Chris Grayson | Lee (Tenn.) |
| Bryan Nicholson | Concordia (Calif.) |
| Keaton Stroud | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) |
| Patrick Stanley | Texas Wesleyan |
| Phillip Reamy | Embry-Riddle (Fla.) |
| Jonathan Gober | Faulkner (Ala.) |
^ Rawlings-NAIA Player of the Year: Kirk Walker, Oklahoma City
* denotes 2010 All-American
