STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford, the No. 1 seed in this week's Pac-12 Baseball Tournament, won four of the five major Pac-12 yearly awards and put seven players on All-Pac-12 teams, it was announced on Tuesday following a vote by Pac-12 coaches.
Stanford's Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer won Coach of the Year after guiding Stanford to the 2022 Pac-12 regular season championship. The selection is his second at the helm on The Farm after winning the award in his inaugural season of 2018. The Coach of the Year is the 11th in program history after Mark Marquess earned nine in his tenure at Stanford. The selection is Esquer's third overall after being named Pac-10 Coach of the Year at Califorrnia in 2001.
Senior Alex Williams took home Pitcher of the Year, marking the second in as many seasons for the Cardinal after Brendan Beck won the award in 2021. Williams, the ninth Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year in program history, is 8-1 with a Pac-12-best 1.67 ERA over 14 starts this season. The Cardinal ace has logged 86 1/3 innings, striking out 80 compared to 19 walks. The native of Castro Valley, Calif. went 5-0 in Pac-12 play, sporting a 1.36 ERA over 10 starts and 66 1/3 innings. Particularly impressive over his last eight turns, the right-hander is 6-0 with a 0.45 ERA over that string.
Freshman Braden Montgomery is the fifth Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in program history, including the first since Cal Quantrill in 2014. Montgomery, a two-way player, is hitting .296 with 38 runs scored, 15 doubles, a triple, 15 homers and 45 RBIs at the plate. Stanford's starting right fielder has also managed six outfield assists and ranks third on the team in home runs. On the mound, the native of Madison, Miss. has compiled a pair of saves with 25 strikeouts over 17 innings of work. Montgomery has made 14 appearances, including three starts, pitching to a 5.29 ERA and limiting opponents to a .183 average against.
Junior Adam Crampton rounded out the yearly award winners, earning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. The second selection under Esquer after Maverick Handley earned the award in 2019, and the third Defensive Player of the Year in program history, Crampton headlines the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team at shortstop.
In addtion to the yearly award winners, seven Cardinal players earned All-Pac-12 honors, with Brett Barrera, Carter Graham, Kody Huff, Brock Jones and Williams earning a spot on the first team. Quinn Mathews and Montgomery earned honorable mention selections. The selection is the second of Jones' career, while all other players are being recognized for the first time in their careers.
Barrera hit .372 with 41 runs scored, 14 doubles, three triples, nine homers and 47 RBIs in the regular season to claim the Pac-12 batting crown. The 2022 Karbach Round Rock Classic Tournament MVP leads the team in batting average, is second in triples, is third in doubles, and has hit safely in 41 of his 49 games with an at bat this year. Barrera hit .372 with 29 runs scored, 11 doubles, a triple, five homers and 28 RBIs in Pac-12 play and owns a team-best 24 multi-hit games this season.
Graham finished the regular season as the Pac-12 leader in home runs with 19, batting .344 with 54 runs scored, 10 doubles aand 66 RBIs while slugging .665. The native of Los Angeles has hit safely in all but seven games this year, including 41 of his last 46 overall. Producing throughout the season, Graham has collected an RBI in 34 of 51 games this year and has contributed a pair of two-homer games. Stanford's starting first baseman, Graham hit .365 with 34 runs scored, seven doubles, 11 homers and 42 RBIs in Pac-12 play while compiling 21 multi-hit games and a team-best 18 multi-RBI contests overall.
Huff has batted .310 with 36 runs scored, a team-high 19 doubles, eight homers and 35 RBIs so far this season. The native of Scottsdale, Ariz. has compiled 11 multi-RBI games and finished the Pac-12 slate batting .311 with 20 runs scored, 13 doubles and five homers. He drove in 28 runs against Pac-12 foes.
Jones, a preseason All-America selection, has batted .330 with a team-high 62 runs scored, nine doubles, a team-best five triples, 16 homers and 44 RBIs. The team-leader in slugging (.675) and on-base percentage (.468), Jones has walked 47 times and swiped 14 bases in 19 attempts while ranking second in the Pac-12 in home runs. The native of Fresno, Calif. homered in five straight games and six of his last seven overall to finish the regular season, and has accumulated 19 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI contests while reaching in all but two games this year. Two of his three multi-homer games this season came in Pac-12 play, as Jones batted .350 with 42 runs scored, seven doubles, three triples, 13 homers and 30 RBIs against the Pac-12.
Led by Crampton, Stanford placed three players on the Pac-12 All-Defensive team, with Jones and Williams joining the star shortstop.
Stanford will open its run at the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament on Wednesday against Arizona State.
