Six Hounds earn LSC baseball honors

Freedom New Mexico

RICHARDSON, Texas — Pitchers Jerry Manning and Anthony Smith and right fielder Ethan Wagner led six Eastern New Mexico University players in All-Lone Star Conference baseball selections for the 2010 season.

All three were selected to the second team. Meantime, freshman center fielder Luis Quinones, senior infielder Sean Cruce and senior second baseman Garrett Cook were chosen for honorable mention.

The Greyhounds completed their season last weekend with a 22-29 record, including 20-24 in the LSC for eighth place. They were in contention for a berth in the six-team conference tournament until the the final day of the season.

Manning, a right-hander from Cypress, Texas, compiled a 7-2 record and was the first-game starter in 10 of ENMU’s 11 conference series. He won his first six decisions of the season, including two wins over Tarleton State and road victories against regular-season champion Abilene Christian and Angelo State.

Wagner, a senior from San Antonio, batted .384 with five homers and a team-leading 42 RBIs, batting .484 with runners in scoring position. Smith, a senior from 29 Palms, Calif., was fourth in the LSC with eight saves and had a team-leading 4.54 earned run average.

Quinones, from Las Cruces, got a chance early on due to an injury to senior Jereme Johnson and batted .383 for the season with team-high 41 runs scored. He had a team-best 14-game hitting steak, and batting .379 in conference play.

Cook, from Deming, led the team in hitting at .390, notching 20 multiple-hit games. His average in conference play was .385.

Cruce, from Clovis, batted .328 with 18 multiple-hit games and 10 multiple-RBI outings. Splitting time between first and third base, he had a .995 fielding percentage for the season with just one error.