J.T. Putt Named ABCA First Team All-Central Region; Jesus Arzaga Tabbed Second Team

Denver, Colo.: Junior centerfielder J.T. Putt added to his postseason collection with an American Baseball Coaches Association First Team All-Central Region selection.  Fellow junior, shortstop Jesus Arzaga was named to the second team.

Putt was also a Daktronics Second Team All-Central Region and a First Team All-RMAC selection this season after leading the Rangers with a .426 batting average. The Evergreen, Colo. native who transferred to Regis from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, paced the Rangers in slugging pct. (.756), stolen bases (17), on-base pct. (.491), and doubles (23). His 23 doubles are tied for most in one season ever by a Ranger. Putt was second on the team with 12 homeruns, 59 RBI and 84 hits and also led the team with 27 multiple-hit games. He had a 15-game hitting streak earlier in the season and has only six games this season in which he did not collect a hit.

Arzaga has made an immediate impact after transferring to Regis from Central Arizona Community College. The shortstop from Mesa, Ariz. is second on the team with a .407 average and had been particularly hot late in the season. In the final 23 games, he has raised his batting average nearly a 100 points from .308 to .407 going 52-for-102 (.510). He led the team with 85 hits and 66 runs scored while starting all 52 games at shortstop. He is third on the team with with 10 homeruns and 49 RBI. He has 26 multiple-hit games, second to Putt, which includes a five-hit performance. He finished the season riding a 14-game hit streak.  He set the Regis season record with his 173 assists, breaking the old mark of 168 set by Tim Jenkins in 1989.

Putt will move on to the national ballot which should be released in the next week or two.

Regis finished with a 23-29 record including a 14-21 RMAC record.  Regis upset nationally ranked an top seed Mesa State in the first round of the RMAC Tournament before falling two straight to Metro State and CSU-Pueblo to end the season.

ABCA/Rawling All Central Region Teams
1st Team
1B Andrew Kinney Southwest Minnesota State
2B Kevin Becker Mesa State
3B David Olsen Minnesota-Duluth
SS Matt Bodenchuk Mesa State
OF Jason Fobes CSU-Pueblo
OF Joe Wendte Wayne State
OF J.T. Putt Regis
OF Derek West Southwest Minnesota State
P Jake Schmidt Concordia-St. Paul
P Ryan Sheldon Nebraska-Kearney
P Chad Moreland Wayne State
P Logan Birr St. Cloud State
RP Nathan Kafka Minnesota State-Mankato
DH Jason Carr New Mexico Highlands
C Chris Herbert Concordia-St. Paul
INF Eric Bond Wayne State

Player of the Year Matt Bodenchuk
Pitcher of the Year Jake Schmidt

2nd Team
Crespin Perez New Mexico Highlands
Jay Bresnahan Minnesota State-Mankato
Blake Cover Nebraska-Kearney
Jesus Arzaga Regis
Christian Garcia New Mexico Highlands
Mike Provencher Mesa State
Nate Baumann Augustana
Nate Swearer Nebraska-Kearney
Pat Lenton Minnesota State-Mankato
David Deminsky St. Cloud State
Matt Mattivi CSU-Pueblo
Drew Vassil New Mexico Highlands
Aaron Guinn Mesa State
Alex Koch Wayne State
Tony Pechek CSU-Pueblo
Geno Glynn Minnesota State-Mankato