Courtesy: San Jose State Athletics Ryan Angel (pictured) and Branden Dewing are the Spartan representatives on the preseason All-WAC team. (Photo by Ron Fried)

Denver, Colo. - San Jose State University baseball players Branden Dewing and Ryan Angel have each been selected to the 14-player preseason All-Western Athletic Conference team, while the Spartans were picked to finish fourth in the 2006 WAC race, in a vote by the league’s seven head coaches.

Dewing, a senior left-handed starting pitcher out of Modesto, Calif., and Grace M. Davis High School, is on the Brooks Wallace Award preseason “Watch List” as a candidate for national “Player of the Year” honors. He won six games with a 4.31 ERA, and was twice named WAC “Pitcher of the Week” in 2005 as the Spartans finished 28-28-1 overall and 13-17 in the conference.

Angel, a junior outfielder from Rocklin, Calif., and Rocklin High School, batted .297 with a .411 slugging percentage, 30 runs, 27 RBI, and team-high totals of 16 doubles and 16 stolen bases a season ago.

“Branden and Ryan are both deserving selections,” said Spartan head coach Sam Piraro, who is entering his 19th season at the helm. “Both players are certainly capable of having outstanding seasons for us. We are hoping that they can live up to this honor.”

San Jose State received 21 points to finish fourth behind favorite Fresno State with 36 (six first-place votes), and Hawai’i and Nevada, in a tie for second with 28. New WAC member New Mexico State (14), Louisiana Tech (11) and affiliate member Sacramento State (9) rounded out the seven-team field in order.

“I think the poll is an accurate assessment,” added Piraro. “The coaches were unified in selecting Fresno State as the preseason top team. However, polls are more appropriate for fans, boosters, etc., and getting picked No. 1 does not preclude anybody from having to play the games. The coaches in this league know what everybody has, and they respect everybody, being aware of how long the season is. That is why we play the games.”

Fresno State junior outfielder Nick Moresi, who hit .352 with 54 RBI, 11 home runs and 10 doubles a year ago, was named the preseason “Player of the Year,” while his teammate, senior Doug Fister, was picked the preseason “Pitcher of the Year” after posting a 7-6 record with a 4.28 ERA in 2005.

Alongside SJSU’s Dewing and Angel, the preseason All-WAC team included four Fresno State players, three Hawai’i players, and two each from Nevada and New Mexico State. Louisiana Tech was represented by one player.

The 44th year of WAC baseball begins Friday, January 27, when Fresno State travels to Cal Poly for a three-game series. San Jose State, which will host its annual “Alumni Game” on Saturday, January 28, at 1:00 p.m. at Blethen Field, will then open the regular season against Cal Poly at home inside Municipal Stadium, kicking off a three-game non-conference set with a 2:00 p.m. contest on Friday, February 3.

For the first time since the 1999 season, the WAC will hold a baseball tournament. The six-team tournament will be held in Fresno, Calif., May 25-28.

2006 WAC Baseball Coaches’ Poll

Rk. Team (1st-Place Votes) Points
1. Fresno State (6) 36
2. Hawai’i 28
2. Nevada (1) 28
4. San Jose State 21
5. New Mexico State 14
6. Louisiana Tech 11
7. Sacramento State 9

Preseason All-WAC Team
OF-Nick Moresi, Jr., Fresno State
OF-Shawn Scobee, Sr., Nevada
OF-Ryan Angel, Jr., San Jose State
OF-Matt Inouye, Sr., Hawai’i
1B-Luke Hopkins, So., New Mexico State
2B-Jason Long, Sr., New Mexico State
SS-Christian Vitters, Jr., Fresno State
3B-Beau Mills, So., Fresno State
C-Estaban Lopez, Sr., Hawai’i
DH-Ben Tabor, Sr., Louisiana Tech
SP-Doug Fister, Sr., Fresno State
SP-Ryan Rodriguez, Jr., Nevada
SP-Branden Dewing, Sr., San Jose State
RP-Darrell Fisherbaugh, Jr., Hawai’i

Player of the Year
Nick Moresi, Jr., OF, Fresno State

Pitcher of the Year
Doug Fister, Sr., Fresno State