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Program-record 4 earn all-region nod
6/17/2022 1:40:00 PM | Baseball
Colato lands on 1st team; Avitia, Reilly, Aguilar on 2nd team
Grand Canyon landed a program-record four individuals on the American Baseball Coaches Association / Rawlings NCAA Division I West All-Region Teams.
Senior third baseman Juan Colato earned first-team honors. Junior right fielder Tayler Aguilar, junior relief pitcher Vince Reilly and freshman starting pitcher Daniel Avitia each landed on the second team.
GCU was tied for second-most honors in the region. Stanford had a region-best six honorees, while Oregon State matched the Lopes with four.
GCU's four all-region honorees in 2022 match the cumulative total of honorees in the Lopes previous eight seasons since returning to the D-I level in 2014. The Lopes had multiple all-region honorees for the first time since 1991, the program's previous high of three selections.
Colato ended the year with a .379 batting average that ranked top 40 in the nation and second in the WAC. In conference play, he was among the WAC's top 10 in batting average, slugging percentage and runs scored after hitting .417 with six home runs and 29 RBIs. Colato was the fifth straight Lope to take home first-team All-WAC honors at third base. He had a pair of walk-off hits on the season, homering to beat California Baptist in the regular season and hitting a single to defeat Lamar in the WAC Tournament.
Colato is GCU's only first-team all-region honoree since the program returned to D-I.
Avitia rewrote conference history by being the first freshman to win WAC Pitcher of the Year. Also the WAC Freshman of the Year, Avitia started the year in relief but his success quickly forced him into the starting rotation by the time WAC play rolled around. Avitia finished ranked top 30 in the nation with 111 strikeouts, a GCU program record for freshmen. That included a 14-strikeout effort against Sacramento State on May 7 that was most by a GCU pitcher since 2004. Avitia has also earned Freshman All-American recognition from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Perfect Game.
Aguilar had a loud junior campaign as GCU's leading power hitter and run producer. He broke two of GCU's single-season records at the D-I level: home runs (23) and RBIs (75). A first-team All-WAC selection, Aguilar hit .326 on the season and also landed on the Stillwater Regional All-Tournament team after slugging three home runs in the Lopes' two games. Aguilar finished the season in the nation's top 20 for home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage.
Reilly joined Avitia and Aguilar in setting new program records in 2022. GCU's closer finished with 14 saves, surpassing Frankie Scalzo's 2021 mark of 13 saves for the program's D-I single-season record. Reilly also racked up seven victories on the season. Reilly finished with a win or save against the likes of Stanford, Texas Tech, UC Irvine, Arizona and Arizona State.
Senior third baseman Juan Colato earned first-team honors. Junior right fielder Tayler Aguilar, junior relief pitcher Vince Reilly and freshman starting pitcher Daniel Avitia each landed on the second team.
GCU was tied for second-most honors in the region. Stanford had a region-best six honorees, while Oregon State matched the Lopes with four.
GCU's four all-region honorees in 2022 match the cumulative total of honorees in the Lopes previous eight seasons since returning to the D-I level in 2014. The Lopes had multiple all-region honorees for the first time since 1991, the program's previous high of three selections.
Colato ended the year with a .379 batting average that ranked top 40 in the nation and second in the WAC. In conference play, he was among the WAC's top 10 in batting average, slugging percentage and runs scored after hitting .417 with six home runs and 29 RBIs. Colato was the fifth straight Lope to take home first-team All-WAC honors at third base. He had a pair of walk-off hits on the season, homering to beat California Baptist in the regular season and hitting a single to defeat Lamar in the WAC Tournament.
Colato is GCU's only first-team all-region honoree since the program returned to D-I.
Avitia rewrote conference history by being the first freshman to win WAC Pitcher of the Year. Also the WAC Freshman of the Year, Avitia started the year in relief but his success quickly forced him into the starting rotation by the time WAC play rolled around. Avitia finished ranked top 30 in the nation with 111 strikeouts, a GCU program record for freshmen. That included a 14-strikeout effort against Sacramento State on May 7 that was most by a GCU pitcher since 2004. Avitia has also earned Freshman All-American recognition from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Perfect Game.
Aguilar had a loud junior campaign as GCU's leading power hitter and run producer. He broke two of GCU's single-season records at the D-I level: home runs (23) and RBIs (75). A first-team All-WAC selection, Aguilar hit .326 on the season and also landed on the Stillwater Regional All-Tournament team after slugging three home runs in the Lopes' two games. Aguilar finished the season in the nation's top 20 for home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage.
Reilly joined Avitia and Aguilar in setting new program records in 2022. GCU's closer finished with 14 saves, surpassing Frankie Scalzo's 2021 mark of 13 saves for the program's D-I single-season record. Reilly also racked up seven victories on the season. Reilly finished with a win or save against the likes of Stanford, Texas Tech, UC Irvine, Arizona and Arizona State.
2022 WEST ALL-REGION PICKS BY SCHOOL
| 6 |
 |
Stanford |
| 4 |
 |
Grand Canyon |
| 4 |
 |
Oregon State |
| 3 |
 |
Oregon |
| 2 |
 |
Cal Poly |
| 2 |
 |
Portland |
| 2 |
 |
California |
GCU's D-I ALL-REGION PICKS
1991 Tim Florez, 2B
1991 Ryan Freeburg, OF
1991 Bart Grubbs, P
1992 Ryan Freeburg, OF
1992 Doug Kimball, 3B
1996 Rod Bair, OF
2017 Garrison Schwartz, OF (2nd)
2018 Quin Cotton, OF (2nd)
2019 Kade Mechals, P (2nd)
2021 Pierson Ohl, P (2nd)
2022 Juan Colato, 3B (1st)
2022 Daniel Avitia, SP (2nd)
2022 Tayler Aguilar, OF (2nd)
2022 Vince Reilly, RP (2nd)
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
UTIL
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RHP
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RHP
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RHP
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