Southland Conference announces five awards

(Southland Conference photo)

By Andrew Riedell

On the eve of its conference tournament, the Southland Conference league office has announced the five main annual awards, as well as the all-league conference teams. Let's congratulate the winners, talk about each award, and highlight their seasons as well:

Player of the Year: Armani Raygoza, UTRGV

Armani Raygoza also was the First Team All-Conference DH this year in his fourth season with the program. Raygoza has just built up and up this season and truly deserves this award, having played a key role in the Vaqueros' success and their landing the number two seed in the tournament. Raygoza hit .393 this season, with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs, doubling his career high in almost every statistical category this season. He will probably be THE player to watch for this UTRGV team this week in Edinburg.

Hitter of the Year: Damian Ruiz, Lamar

Damian Ruiz wins the Hitter of the Year award as well as First Team All-Conference and also rightfully deserves this. He transferred from Houston Christian this season and had a record-breaking season for the Cardinals. He led Lamar with a .395 batting average and broke the program single season records for both hitting streak, with 32 games, and on base streak, with 49. He has been a lot of fun to watch this year and also ranked second in the nation for runs scored, with a program-record 75.

Pitcher of the Year: Brennan Stuprich, Southeastern

The best pitcher in the Southland Conference resides in Hammond, LA, at Southeastern University, Stuprich just dominating this year for the Lions. The redshirt senior went 9-4 with 105 strikeouts and a 2.65 ERA, ranking fifth nationally in wins and seventh in strikeouts. He also dominated with a .197 opponents' batting average.

Relief Pitcher of the Year: Brady St. Pierre, Southeastern

The best relief pitcher also hails from Hammond and Southeastern, Brady St. Pierre, a freshman for the Lions this season. He had nine saves with a 3.77 ERA in 28.2 innings and has played a big role for the Lions and their success. He has 33 strikeouts, and batters are hitting just .198 this season off him.

Clay Gould Coach of the Year: Bobby Barbier, Southeastern

Usually, Coach-of-the-Year awards go to the number one seed in the conference tournament, and that is again the case. BUT, the merit is more than that, as Barbier has done a phenomenal job turning the program and team around, and Southeastern back on the map. In his second season as Southeastern head coach, Barbier made a 12-win improvement in conference play and has the Lions fighting for an At-Large spot should they not win the Southland Tournament.

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