June 11, 2015
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - A trio of San Diego State baseball players have been named to the West ABCA/Rawlings All-Region second team by the members of the American Baseball Coaches Association. That threesome includes pitcher Bubba Derby, outfielder Steven Pallares and catcher Seby Zavala. The team was selected from the top players in the Pac-12, Big West, West Coast and Mountain West conferences.
Derby (Monrovia, Calif./LaSalle HS) was a first-team all-Mountain West selection this past season who finished with a record of 8-4 and a 3.32 earned run averaged. He led the conference by a wide margin with 131 strikeouts, a figure that ranks as the third-most ever in a season by an Aztec hurler. Derby was also named to the NCAA Regional All-Tournament team last month during SDSU's postseason play at Lake Elsinore, Calif.
Pallares (Corona, Calif./Santiago HS) was a second-team all-conference honoree who ended the season with a team-leading .352 batting average along with 17 doubles, nine home runs and 48 runs batted in. He ended the season on a 21-game hitting streak and finished ranked among the top eight hitters in the Mountain West in eight offensive categories. In addition, Pallares was an all-tourney selection at the NCAA Regional where he hit .600 (6-for-10) over the Aztecs' three contests with a home run, four RBI and five runs scored.
Zavala (West Covina, Calif./Bishop Amat HS) hit .290 this past season while leading the team in home runs (14) and RBI (67). He was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2015 Mountain West Tournament when he hit .435 over the Aztecs' six games with two doubles, five home runs, 11 RBI and eight runs scored. Zavala was also a second-team all-West Region and all-conference selection.
All three players were selected in the Major League draft conducted earlier this week. Derby and Pallares were taken by the Oakland Athletics in the sixth and 10th rounds respectively while Zavala went in the 12th round to the Chicago White Sox.
San Diego State concluded it 2015 season with a record of 41-23, registering back-to-back 40-win seasons for the first time since 1990-91. The Aztecs won their third consecutive Mountain West championship and advanced to the NCAA Regionals for the third straight year. SDSU had seven players receive all-conference honors. produced the Mountain West Tournament MVP along with four other all-tourney honorees and had three athletes named to the all-tournament team at the NCAA Regional.