Vavaroutsos Shippensburg’s PSAC Freshman of the Year

Toronto Mets grad OF Tony Vavaroutsos (Toronto, Ont.) earned 2019 All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Freshman of the Year and was named to the conference Second Team.

The Shippensburg University Raiders team had four players named to the 2019 All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division Teams, while Tony Vavaroutsos (Toronto, Ont.) was named the East’s Freshman of the Year, after voting results were announced by the league office.

All four of Shippensburg’s honorees were selected to the Second Team: senior Jack Goertzen at catcher, Vavaroutsos in the outfield, senior Tommy Baggett as a utility player, and senior Michael Hope as a starting pitcher.

Vavaroutsos (Toronto, Ont.) is Shippensburg’s first PSAC Freshman of the Year award winner since current San Diego Padres farmhand Gabe Mosser in 2015. Vavaroutsos hit .336, the best batting average by an SU freshman since Nick Spangler in 2015, while leading the team with a .439 on-base percentage (OBP). Vavaroutsos led the team with 38 RBIs, had 20 extra-base hits (12 doubles, one triple, seven home runs), a team-high 23 walks, and scored 31 runs. He had 12 multi-hit games, including five three-hit games, and nine multi-RBI games. Against the PSAC East, Vavaroutsos had a .423 OBP, totaling 25 hits, 17 RBIs and 15 walks. Defensively, Vavaroutsos did not commit an error in 40 defensive chances.

All-conference voting is conducted by the league’s coaches. The All-PSAC divisional teams include one First Team and one Second Team player at each primary position, along with three outfielders, three starting pitchers, one relief pitcher, one designated hitter and one utility player.

Goertzen is tied for second in the PSAC with a career-high 13 home runs, five more than his three-year career total entering his senior season. He also produced single-season career highs with 32 RBIs, 37 runs and a .609 slugging percentage while also recording seven doubles and 22 walks. Goertzen finished the year with 14 multi-hit games (including six three-hit games) and 10 multi-RBI games. He hit six of his home runs against PSAC East opponents.

Baggett tied for eighth in the PSAC in doubles (13) and ranks ninth in the PSAC in hits (54). He led Shippensburg with a .340 batting average and had single-season career highs with eight home runs, 18 walks and a .572 slugging percentage. Baggett also tied a career high with 37 runs scored. He produced 15 multi-hit games, had eight multi-RBI games and produced a season-long hitting streak of 10 games. Against the PSAC East, Baggett hit .343 with 13 extra-base hits and 22 RBIs.

Hope, in his first full season as a starter, ranked sixth in the PSAC with a career high in strikeouts (74) and tied for eighth in wins (six). He made nine starts and appeared four times out of the bullpen, recording a save against Slippery Rock. Hope struck out at least six batters in six of his nine starts, including double-digit strikeouts on three occasions. Against the PSAC East, Hope went 4-2 with shutouts of Kutztown and Mansfield, striking out 53 in 43.1 innings.