The Bellevue College baseball team has ended another successful season with a record of 36 wins and 18 losses. Led by coach Mark Yoshino as well as assistant coaches Bryan Barnes and David Olson, the Bulldogs are continuing their streak of not having a losing season for over 30 years. This season also marks the second most wins ever in a season for Bellevue College baseball after the team 37-1 in 2007 and 37-14 in 2011.
However, despite placing 2nd in the entire NWAC for wins, the Bulldogs came short and placed 5th in the NWAC championship tournament. BC sophomore Joe Wainhouse led the entire conference in home runs with 11 and placed 5th in RBIs with 38, leading him to be named first team All-NWAC. Another impressive player this year was sophomore pitcher Cody Anderson, leading the conference with 109 strikeouts and ending the season with a 7-3 record and a impressive 2.51 ERA. Anderson is part of the many early signees and will be headed to WSU. Some other early signees are Dylan Vchulek, who will attend University of Hawaii, Travis Ulvestad, who signed with Seattle U and Zach Ussleman will join North Carolina State.
Team awards were also announced with Evan Johnson winning the Paul Villiott Most Inspirational Award out of 10 other nominees, which coach Mark Yoshino says is “an indicator of how great our teammates are; there are many who put forth a great passion for this club in 2016 and were great teammates.” Other winners include freshman Austin Pinorini for most improved player and the Silver Bat award, freshman Dominic DeMiero was awarded Most Valuable Pitcher and Most Valuable Player and sophomore Lawyer Braun took home Gold Glove honors.
The Bulldogs also had achievements off the field. NWAC presented the Academic Excellence Awards for sophomores holding a cumulative GPA of over 3.25. Bellevue had seven sophomores on the list, placing second behind Big Bend Community College. Zach Usselman led the list with the highest sophomore GPA on the team. Joining him on the list was Joe Wainhouse, Travis Ulvestad, Brooks Hanson, Evan Johnson, Drew Lomsdalen and Danny Torlai.
