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SAN FRANCISCO — USF baseball coach Nino Giarratano and his staff are pleased to announce their end-of-season award winners.
Senior outfielder Pete Lavin received the Dante Benedetti Award, which is given to the team's Most Valuable Player. Lavin led the Dons in batting average, hits, doubles, triples, stolen bases, slugging percentage and on base percentage. Lavin started every game of the season in center field and was drafted and signed by the Philadelphia Phillies last week.
After being named the West Coast Conference's Defensive Player of the Year, senior third baseman Stephen Yarrow also won the Jermaine Clark Award, which is given to the best defensive player on the team. Yarrow turned in a .983 fielding percentage after committing just three errors with 123 assists and 43 put outs.
Connor Bernatz, a four-year starter that served as a model of consistency with an extraordinary work ethic, won the Troy Nakamura Kipona Aloha Deep Love Award given to the player with the most commitment to the team and the program.
Sophomore Kyle Zimmer pitched just 5.1 innings during his freshman year, but blossomed this season to lead the program in strikeouts and tied for the most wins on staff. Zimmer was the recipient of the Jesse Foppert Award, given to the best pitcher.
After his season was cut short because of an arm injury, senior pitcher Matt Lujan continued to be a major part of the USF program with his knowledge, leadership and spirit. For his attitude and strength throughout a challenging time, Lujan was awarded the Greg Moore Inspirational Award.
He began the season as the backup shortstop, but was inserted into the starting lineup at the beginning of the WCC season. Junior Aritz Garcia went on to post the third highest batting average on the team and start 32 games to become the Jonnie Knoble Award winner, which goes to the newcomer of the year.
Junior college transfer Ted LeMasters found himself buried on the depth chart for the starting left field job early in the season, but by season's end the spot was his. LeMasters started 13 of the Dons' final 17 games in left field, including all three games at Gonzaga and two of the three NCAA Tournament games. The Con Dempsey Jr. Late Bloomer Award belongs to LeMasters this year.
Second baseman Jason Mahood started 56 games for USF, making just two errors all season. He was the definition of a "student-athlete" this spring, turning in a perfect 4.0 GPA this spring to improve his cumulative GPA to a 3.79 and win the team's Academic Award this year.
"Individual accolades are great honors, but when they are shared with overall group success they become fabulous," Giarratano said. "I'd like to recognize each and every individual for their work and perseverance in getting to this point of being recognized as a superior student-athlete at USF."
The 2011 Dons also made their marks in the program's record book. This season's pitching staff set a new school record in strikeouts with 437. USF's 14 saves ranked second. The team turned in the fourth best seasons in ERA (3.76), innings pitched (510.1) and wins (32). The Dons also ranked fifth best in doubles (116) and conference wins (16).
Individually, the 2011 Dons also impacted single-season program records. Bernatz set a new team record in sacrifice hits, totaling 14, and junior first baseman Nik Balog recorded a program-best 502 put outs. Lavin turned in a stellar season, tying for third-most doubles (20), tying for fifth in at bats (236) and ranking fifth in hits (82). Travis Higgs tied for the sixth-best season in double with 19, while Zimmer's 89 strikeouts tied him for the 10th most in school history.
