Mares Leads Group of Eight on All-Conference Teams

5/19/2021 10:43:00 AM

RICHARDSON, Texas – A day before the St. Mary's Baseball team continues with the second week of the Lone Star Conference Championship, eight Rattlers were honored on the all-conference teams as voted on by the league's head coaches.

Junior shortstop Jake Mares (Fort Worth, Texas) earned both First-Team and All-Defensive honors after leading the team with a .386 batting average, 59 hits, 46 runs, three triples, six sacrifice bunts and a .900 stolen base percentage (18-for-20) and all of those numbers rank in the top five in the Lone Star. This is the second time Mares has been named to a conference All-Defensive Team, as he earned 2019 All-Heartland honors.

Senior third baseman Mitchell Caskey (Houston) and senior centerfielder Derek Mueller (Carrolton, Texas) were also both named to the All-Defensive Team, which honors the best fielder at each position. Caskey totaled only one error in 133 chances at the hot corner (.992 fielding percentage), while Mueller had no errors in 95 chances.
Mueller, senior Zach De La Garza (San Antonio), senior Johnny Hernandez (El Paso, Texas), junior Ryan McGowen (San Antonio), senior Johnny Panatex (Pflugerville, Texas) and senior Fernando Zubia (El Paso) all were named to the honorable mention squad.

De La Garza led the league in games started and went 7-2 in conference games with a 4.91 ERA. He pitched two complete games and one shutout, striking out 73 in 69.2 innings. He is a three-time all-conference nod, earning First-Team All-Heartland honors in 2018 and Second-Team in 2019.

Hernandez is being honored for the second time in his StMU career after hitting .330 in conference games with eight of his 31 hits going for extra bases. The senior second baseman was one of the hardest in the Lone Star Conference to strike out in 2021, doing so just nine times in 128 plate appearances. Hernandez was named to the 2019 First Team and was the Heartland's Newcomer of the Year.

McGowen earns his first league nod, hitting .300 in conference contests. He tied for the team lead with four home runs and swiped nine bags. The right fielder was also hit by a pitch 10 times, doing a great job of flipping the lineup for the Rattlers all year.

Panatex leads the Lone Star Conference with four saves and in 27.2 innings pitched against Lone Star foes, the senior sported a 3.58 ERA with twice as many strikeouts as walks (24 to 12). Panatex did not allow a home run in his 13 appearances in garnering his first yearly award.

Zubia was named to the team as the utility player, playing both third base and left field for the Rattlers. The El Paso senior hit .337 with 11 of his 34 hits going for extra bases. His slugging percentage of .505 in Lone Star games is third on the team and he was second in walks with 22.

Angelo State's Josh Elivir and Trent Baker earned Lone Star Player and Pitcher of the Year honors, respectively, while Logan Garza from Texas A&M-Kingsville earned Newcomer of the Year and Oklahoma Christian's Michael DeFiore was tabbed the Freshman of the Year. West Texas A&M coaches were named the Coaching Staff of the Year after winning the regular season title. A full list of the All-Conference teams is available on the Lone Star Conference website.

The Rattlers face St. Edward's in the double elimination bracket play section of the Lone Star Conference Tournament on Thursday at 2 p.m.