USA Baseball Announces 2010 Organizational Award Winners USA Baseball announced its annual year-end award winners on Thursday, recognizing the organization’s Richard W. “Dick” Case Player of the Year, SportsWoman of the Year and Team of the Year.
USA Baseball announced its annual year-end award winners on Thursday, recognizing the organization’s Richard W. “Dick” Case Player of the Year, SportsWoman of the Year, Team of the Year and International Performance of the Year. In conjunction with the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), the organization also named its National, Developmental and Volunteer Coach of the Year recipients.
The 16U National Team program received three awards. USA Baseball award winners from the team include second baseman Alex Bregman, receiving the Richard W. “Dick” Case Player of the Year Award, the 16U squad, winning the Team of the Year Award and manager Eric Kibler, receiving National Coach of the Year honors. Bregman and Kibler represent the first youth-level (18U, 16U and 14U National Team programs) player and coach, respectively, to receive player and coach of the year recognition.
Bregman took home Pan Am MVP and All-Tournament Team honors, finishing 22-for-39 (.564) with 17 runs scored, two homers and 17 RBIs over nine games. He also captured awards for scoring the most runs in the tournament and for recording the highest batting average. Seattle Mariners first baseman and 2009 World Cup Team member Justin Smoak was the recipient of the Dick Case Player of the Year Award last year, and other past winners include Stephen Strasburg (2008), Ryan Zimmerman (2004) and Ben Sheets (2000).
The 16U National Team continued its run of international success in 2010, winning its 40th straight game, dating back to 2005, with an 11-4 victory over host Mexico to win the COPABE “AA”/16U Pan American Baseball Championships in Lagos de Mareno. The team established new program records in hits with 143, besting the 122 the team scored in 1998. It also established a new record in runs scored (127), topping the previous high of 119 set in 2006. The World Cup Team (professional players) received the Team of the Year Award in 2009, and the 16U National Team was previously honored with the award in 2001 and 1998.
In addition to managing the 16U Team to gold, Kibler also led Horizon High School in Scottsdale, Ariz., to his sixth Arizona 5A state championship in 2010. He donned the red, white and blue in 2010 for the second time, having also served as an assistant coach on the world champion 2009 16U National Team. Kibler follows 2009 winner Eddie Rodriguez from the World Cup Team, and joins Davey Johnson (2005-07) and Tommy Lasorda (2000) as past winners.
“The level of parity within international baseball continues to rise each year, making what the 16U National Team has accomplished over the last several years that much more impressive,” said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO. “We are proud to honor Alex, Eric and the 16U Team, along with all of our other 2010 award winners for their accomplishments.”
Jenna Marston of the 2010 Women’s National Team was named USA Baseball’s SportsWoman of the Year. The University of Missouri sophomore -- and current Tigers softball star – helped lead Team
