SAN BRUNO, CALIF. — After a dynamic season on both sides of the ball that saw him rank among the nation's leading catchers, junior Caleb Ricketts was named the 2022 WCC Player of the Year, the West Coast Conference announced on Tuesday morning, marking the second consecutive season that a Torero has taken home the league's top honor.

Seven other San Diego players joined Ricketts — who was also selected to the All-WCC First Team — in earning an end-of-year conference accolade. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Brycen Mautz (Westview High School), and sophomore infielders Chase Meidroth and Kevin Sim (Torrey Pines High School) also landed on the All-WCC First Team, followed by graduate lefty Ian Churchill on the All-WCC Second Team, redshirt junior right-hander Ryan Robinson and graduate utility player RJ Teijeiro as All-WCC Honorable Mentions, and redshirt freshman Ryan Kysar on the All-WCC Freshman Team.

Ricketts, a native of Newport Beach, California, is the 10th Torero to earn conference player of the year honors after Thomas Luevano received the distinction in 2021. He joins Luevano, Riley Adams (2017), Dave Rolls (1988), Kevin Herde (1993), Shane Buschini (2007), James Meador (2009 and 2010), Kris Bryant (2011 and 2013), Connor Joe (2014), and Kyle Holder (2015) in the USD record books.

The junior led the WCC in hits and slugging percentage in 2022 (71 and .603), and paced the Toreros with a .357 (71-for-199) batting average that was good for second-best in the conference. He hammered 11 home runs (which was tied for the conference lead) alongside 12 doubles, two triples, 38 runs scored, 41 runs batted in, and a .463 on-base percentage.

Behind the dish Ricketts continued to show his prowess, ranking third in the WCC with 14 runners caught stealing.

Ricketts, who earned WCC Player of the Week honors on March 28 and was one of 16 players selected as a semifinalist for the 2022 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award on May 19, started 49 of San Diego's 50 regular-season games in 2022, including 33 at catcher, 11 in left field, one in right field, and four as the team's designated hitter.

The WCC Player of the Year award and All-WCC First Team selection are Ricketts' second and third conference accolades after being named to the All-WCC Preseason Team prior to the 2021 campaign.

He was joined on the All-WCC First Team by sophomore left-handed pitcher Brycen Mautz, who earned his first major conference award after leading the WCC in strikeouts with 111, a mark that ranks 10th nationally. The San Diego, California native paced USD with an 8-2 record in 2022 alongside a 4.02 ERA in a team-high 13 games started and 78.1 innings pitched. His 6.00 strikeout to walk ratio led the conference and ranked 29th nationally and his average of 13.10 strikeouts per nine led the WCC and was 13th nationally. The 6-foot-3 lefty was one of four WCC pitchers to turn in a complete game, tossed at least five innings in 12 of his 13 starts so far this season (the lone exception being a 4.2-inning effort in San Diego's 9-6 win over Pacific), and surrendered three earned runs or less in nine of those 13 outings. He was named the WCC Pitcher of the Week on April 18 and was selected as a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week on March 7.

Sophomore Chase Meidroth also earned All-WCC First Team Honors, the first major conference award for the infielder after being selected as the WCC Player of the Week on two occasions in 2022 (March 21 and May 2). Meidroth was second in the WCC with 68 total hits and batted .332 (68-for-205) with 10 home runs (one game shy of the conference lead), 17 doubles (also one game shy of the conference lead), 44 runs scored (second in the conference), 44 runs batted in (fifth in the conference), and 31 walks (sixth in the conference). His .435 on-base percentage ranked fourth among all WCC players and his .561 slugging percentage was fifth.

Meidroth reached base in 44 of his 49 regular-season games in 2022, was tied with sophomore utility player Jack Costello for the Toreros' second-longest hit streak (10 games), leads the team in multi-hit games (21) and multi-RBI games (13), and owns USD's second-longest on-base streak of the season at 26.

The Manhattan Beach, California native, who played in just six of San Diego's games as a freshman in 2021, started 49 of the Toreros' 50 contests this season, including 42 at second base and seven at third.

Sophomore Kevin Sim rounded out USD's First Team selections after a powerful 2022 campaign that saw him bat an even .300 (60-for-200) with 11 home runs and 47 runs batted in, which were tied for the conference lead and second in the conference, respectively. He clubbed 12 doubles, added a pair of triples, and scored 44 runs in 2022, which was tied for second place in the conference with Meidroth. His eight stolen bases ranked second on the USD roster and his .545 slugging percentage was seventh among all WCC hitters.

The San Diego, California native was one of three players to start all 50 of the Toreros' regular-season games, doing so with 42 at first base and eight as the team's designated hitter.

Graduate left-handed pitcher Ian Churchill marked San Diego's lone Second Team selection, an honor that came after the Santa Barbara, California native cemented himself as one of the Toreros' most dependable options out of the bullpen.

Churchill, who transferred to USD after two seasons at Santa Barbara City College and one at the University of Arizona, was 3-2 with a 4.10 ERA in 14 appearances (four starts) and 48.1 innings pitched in 2022, which was good for fourth most on the San Diego roster and the most of any relief pitcher.

Redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Ryan Robinson was another key piece out of the San Diego bullpen and earned an All-WCC Honorable Mention for the second consecutive season for his efforts. The Livermore, California native pitched his way to a 2-0 record and a 2.01 ERA in 2022, notching 40 strikeouts against just nine total walks as he consistently worked his way through high-leverage situations.

Graduate utility player RJ Teijeiro also earned an All-WCC Honorable Mention, breaking through after missing 53 games across last season and the beginning of 2022 due to injury to hit .294 (30-for-102) in 30 total contests. He came around to score 12 runs, drove in 19 more, ripped four doubles, and homered twice, including a walk-off winner in the bottom of the 10th on March 25 against Saint Mary's, a two-run shot that marked his first college longball.

Teijeiro, a native of Foster City, California who transferred to USD after graduating from UCLA in three years, started 26 games for the Toreros in 2022, including five at first base and 21 as the team's designated hitter.

Redshirt sophomore right-hander Ryan Kysar rounded out the Toreros' 2022 All-WCC accolades with a selection to the All-WCC Freshman team, an honor that came after an impressive college debut that saw him steadily improve as the season progressed.

The Valencia, California native finished the season with his most impressive college outing yet, tossing 6.0 innings of two-run ball against No. 10 Gonzaga at Fowler Park to earn his fourth win of the season and move to 4-0 in 2022. The outing, in which he worked around a trio of walks with a pair of strikeouts, marked his fifth appearance of five innings or more in 2022, including three straight games with at least six innings pitched to conclude the regular season.

His final regular-season numbers: 4-0, 4.50 ERA, 50.0 IP, 45 K, 20 BB.

The Toreros are back in action on Wednesday, May 25 when they begin play in the 2022 West Coast Conference Baseball Tournament as the event's No. 3 seed. First pitch at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, California against No. 6 seed San Francisco is set for 3 p.m.

The all-conference teams and major award winners are voted on solely by the league's 10 head coaches.

2022 Baseball All-Conference Awards
Coach of the Year: Mark Machtolf, Gonzaga
Player of the Year: Caleb Ricketts, San Diego
Pitcher of the Year: Brett Gillis, Portland
Defensive Player of the Year: Connor Coballes, Gonzaga
Freshman of the Year: Cade Mcgee, Gonzaga
 
All-Conference First Team
Diego Baqueiro, LMU
Diego Barrera, LMU
Austin Deming, BYU
Brett Gillis, Portland
Jake Holcroft, Portland
Gabriel Hughes, Gonzaga
Luke Keaschall, San Francisco
Brycen Mautz, San Diego
Chase Meidroth, San Diego
John Peck, Pepperdine
Tyler Rando, Gonzaga
Caleb Ricketts, San Diego
Kevin Sim, San Diego
 
All-Conference Second Team
Peter Allegro, Portland
Ian Churchill, San Diego
Nate Dahle, BYU
Dylan Dennis, LMU
Cole Kitchen, Santa Clara
Cooper McKeehan, BYU
Brandon Motheral, Pacific
Devan Ornelas, LMU
Nick Sando, Santa Clara
Chris Santiago, Saint Mary's
Jack Sterner, BYU
Trystan Vrieling, Gonzaga
Brock Watkins, BYU
 
All-WCC Honorable Mention
Enzo Apodaca, Gonzaga
Coleman Brigman, Santa Clara
Sam Brown, Portland
Alex Burge, LMU
Mario DeMera, San Francisco
Brock Gillis, Portland
Brandon Greim, San Francisco
Owen Hackman, LMU
Skylar Hales, Santa Clara
Eamonn Lance, Santa Clara
Charles Masino, Pepperdine
Cade Mcgee, Gonzaga
Mitch McIntyre, BYU
Eli Morse, Portland
Cy Nielson, BYU
Ben Patacsil, Portland
Savier Pinales, Gonzaga
Ozzie Pratt, BYU
Bryce Robison, BYU
Ryan Robinson, San Diego
Ezra Samperi, Gonzaga
Ryan Sepede, BYU
Hunter Schilperoort, Pacific
Justin Snook, Saint Mary's
Michael Spellacy, Gonzaga
Trace Tammaro, Portland
Jake Tsukada, Portland
RJ Teijeiro, San Diego
Owen Wild, Gonzaga
Harris Williams III, San Francisco
 
All-Freshman Team
Enzo Apodaca, Gonzaga
Joey Gartrell, Portland
Ryan Kysar, San Diego
Dalton Mashore, Saint Mary's
Cade Mcgee, Gonzaga
Devan Ornelas, LMU
Ozzie Pratt, BYU
Collin Reuter, BYU
Cole Sheehan, Pepperdine
Adam Shew, San Francisco