Photo by: Arizona Athletics
Wells, Dooney Honored as Freshmen All-Americans by Collegiate Baseball
06/05/2019 | Baseball
TUCSON, Ariz. – After putting together two of the best first-year campaigns in recent history, Arizona Wildcats freshmen Austin Wells and Dayton Dooney have been named to the Collegiate Baseball Freshmen All-America team, the publication announced this morning.
This marks the first All-America honors for both players, and the first Freshmen All-American for the Wildcats since recently-drafted Nick Quintana earned the recognition in 2017.
Wells, a catcher/first baseman from Las Vegas, adds Freshmen All-America honors to his rapidly growing list of accomplishments that includes being named the 2019 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and a spot on the Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention squad.
He finished the year hitting .353 (78-for-221) with 73 runs scored, 15 doubles, seven triples, five home runs, 60 RBI, and more walks (46) than strikeouts (43). Wells set Arizona freshman records with his 73 runs scored and .462 on-base percentage, and ranked among the top 10 Division I freshmen in nation in triples, walks, RBI, OBP, batting average, hits, and total bases.
Wells excelled on defense and the base paths as well, posting a .986 fielding percentage between time at catcher, first base, and the outfield while going a perfect six-for-six in stolen base attempts.
Dooney, honored as a designated hitter, worked his way into a regular starting role for the Wildcats and finished his freshman campaign hitting .323 (52-for-161) with 43 runs scored, 14 doubles, 10 home runs, and 53 RBI. In 48 games and 40 starts, he collected 13 multi-hit games and 17 multi-RBI performances, the latter of which was tied for the second-best mark on the team.
The Poway, California native's 53 RBI were the third-most logged by an Arizona freshman since 1976, while his .596 slugging percentage stood as the 10th best mark among all Division I freshmen.
Dooney and Wells were two major pieces of a dominant showing from the Wildcats freshmen this year. As a group, the six Arizona freshmen who played in at least 30 games in 2019 combined to hit .308 with 203 runs scored, 51 doubles, 11 triples, 26 home runs, 190 RBI, 139 walks, a .505 slugging percentage, and a .418 on-base percentage.
The freshman class scored more than 12 entire Division I programs, swatted more doubles that three DI teams, legged out more triples than 122 DI squads, crushed more home runs than 64 DI programs, and worked more walks than two DI teams.
This marks the first All-America honors for both players, and the first Freshmen All-American for the Wildcats since recently-drafted Nick Quintana earned the recognition in 2017.
Wells, a catcher/first baseman from Las Vegas, adds Freshmen All-America honors to his rapidly growing list of accomplishments that includes being named the 2019 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and a spot on the Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention squad.
He finished the year hitting .353 (78-for-221) with 73 runs scored, 15 doubles, seven triples, five home runs, 60 RBI, and more walks (46) than strikeouts (43). Wells set Arizona freshman records with his 73 runs scored and .462 on-base percentage, and ranked among the top 10 Division I freshmen in nation in triples, walks, RBI, OBP, batting average, hits, and total bases.
Wells excelled on defense and the base paths as well, posting a .986 fielding percentage between time at catcher, first base, and the outfield while going a perfect six-for-six in stolen base attempts.
Dooney, honored as a designated hitter, worked his way into a regular starting role for the Wildcats and finished his freshman campaign hitting .323 (52-for-161) with 43 runs scored, 14 doubles, 10 home runs, and 53 RBI. In 48 games and 40 starts, he collected 13 multi-hit games and 17 multi-RBI performances, the latter of which was tied for the second-best mark on the team.
The Poway, California native's 53 RBI were the third-most logged by an Arizona freshman since 1976, while his .596 slugging percentage stood as the 10th best mark among all Division I freshmen.
Dooney and Wells were two major pieces of a dominant showing from the Wildcats freshmen this year. As a group, the six Arizona freshmen who played in at least 30 games in 2019 combined to hit .308 with 203 runs scored, 51 doubles, 11 triples, 26 home runs, 190 RBI, 139 walks, a .505 slugging percentage, and a .418 on-base percentage.
The freshman class scored more than 12 entire Division I programs, swatted more doubles that three DI teams, legged out more triples than 122 DI squads, crushed more home runs than 64 DI programs, and worked more walks than two DI teams.
Players Mentioned
Friday, August 14
Wednesday, May 06
Wednesday, April 29
Thursday, April 23
