TWO VAQUEROS HONORED

Two members of the Central Arizona baseball team collected national honors this week.  Grant Townsend was awarded NJCAA 1^st team All American and Pikai Winchester earned NJCAA Rawlings Gold Glove.

Townsend a sophomore RHP from Lake Tapps WA, was only one of three NJCAA Division 1 pitchers to receive the honor.  Townsend lead the Vaqueros all year throwing 100.2 IP, striking out 119, walking only 24 and finishing with a 1.79 ERA.  "He deserves all the awards," said pitching coach Jerry A'Hearn.  "Grant works extremely hard and made a huge jump from his freshman to sophomore year." Townsend is the first 1^st Team All American since Nicco Blank in 2014.  He will attend Oral Roberts University in the fall.

Winchester a native of Hawaii, earned an NJCAA Rawlings Gold Glove.  Playing 2B the entire season, Winchester who led the team in hitting, also received the prestigious defensive award.  He finished the year with 114 assists, 98 put outs, turned 29 double plays and committed only 6 errors finishing with a .972 fielding percentage.  Infield Coach Joe Perez said, "Pikai made a commitment early in the year to improve his defense, he worked his tail off and turned himself into an outstanding defender." Winchester will attend Grand Canyon University.