Portland Pilots baseball players Trey Swygart and Will Labonte were named to the All-West Coast Conference Second Team, while Alex Via received honorable mention and Labonte, Via, and Leo Cote were selected for the All-Freshman Team, according to a May 19 announcement from the league office.
These honors highlight the individual achievements of several young athletes on a team that finished its season with a winning record. The recognition also reflects the development of talent within the program under head coach Geoff Loomis.
Swygart, a sophomore from Middleton, Idaho, became the first Pilot semifinalist for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year award. He batted .270 with 11 doubles, six home runs, 27 runs scored and 30 runs batted in. His on-base percentage was .418. On the mound, Swygart posted a 5-2 record with a 3.86 earned run average across 13 appearances.
Labonte is a freshman right-handed pitcher from Montreal who was named as one of only two freshmen semifinalists for College Baseball Hall of Fame’s National Pitcher of the Year honor. He finished his campaign with a 3-2 record and an earned run average of 2.82 over a team-high 73.1 innings pitched.
Via was recognized as an NCBWA Stopper of the Year semifinalist after making a team-best 21 appearances out of relief and collecting nine saves—the most by any freshman nationally this season—and maintaining an earned run average of just 2.59 while limiting opponents to .174 hitting.
Cote is a redshirt freshman infielder from Montreal who transferred from Oregon State University; he hit seven home runs and drove in twenty-five runs over thirty-eight games played this year.
The Pilots ended their season at 27-25 overall—marking their fourth above-.500 finish in five years under Loomis—with only six seniors on their roster.
