HENDERSON, Nev. (May 11, 2019) – The No. 7 College of Southern Nevada baseball team finished the season as the top team in the Scenic West Athletic Conference and that success surely manifested itself in postseason individual awards.
 
The awards, which were presented during Thursday's opening round of the Region 18 tournament, featured 15 Coyotes who earned individual honors. The awards were voted on by the head coaches of Region 18. 
 
Southern Nevada pitcher Nick Rupp earned the Region 18 Pitcher-of-the-Year award, while CSN coach Nick Garritano won the Coach-of-the-Year award. Southern Nevada won the league thanks to downing Salt Lake Community College in a four-game series the last weekend of the year, earning a 3-1 series win to win the league on percentage points. Salt Lake's Tyler Dean won Defensive-Player-of-the-Year and teammate RJ Hazen won Relief Pitcher-of-the-Year. Southern Idaho's Hayden Leatham won Player-of-the-Year for Region 18. The All-Region awards are selected by the head coaches in the region. 
 
Rupp finished the regular-season with an ERA of 2.11, finishing with a record of 8-1 and a league-best 68 strikeouts. Garritano led Southern Nevada to an overall record of 41-10 and 24-6 in the Scenic West. The Coyotes finished the season on a two-game winning streak, taking the final two games of the SLCC series to clinch the Scenic West title. CSN finished 29-4 at Morse Stadium in the regular season. 
 
Garritano said Rupp's season was one for the ages. 
 
"Nick (Rupp) has had a very impressive year," he said. "Nick has done an incredible job of working on his craft with our pitching coach, Bryan Gidge. It has been an honor to have him on our roster for the past two years."
 
The All-Region 18 first-team pitchers include Rupp, SLCC's Jake Wilson and Brock Eichelberger and Boden Mills of Southern Idaho. Hazen was an All-Region 18 relief pitcher. Southern Idaho's Nolan Walker led the All-Region 18 First-Team infield, followed by Southern Nevada's Jack Pineda and Cole Schaefer, along with SLCC's Tanner Argyle. The All-Region 18 outfield included Leatham, Salt Lake's Cole Gambill and Southern Idaho's Jackson Kohler. SLCC's Jaxson Otis was the designated hitter and Josh Cowden was the catcher. 
 
Pitchers on the All-Region 18 second-team included Southern Nevada's Matt Gilbertson, Johnny Cuevas and Buddy Pindel, along with SLCC's Cal Beardsley. CSN's Chase Bauerle was an All-Region 18 relief pitcher. The Second-Team infield was almost entirely made up from Salt Lake as the team featured SLCC's Tyler Dean, Gabe Singer and Colton Moore, matched with Southern Nevada's AJ Amelburu at shortstop. The outfielders were Southern Nevada's Matt Wong, Southern Nevada's Joey Walls and Salt Lake's Alex Bumpus. Colorado Northwestern's Austin Labarber-Porter was the catcher on the team and CSN's Nick Hernandez was the designated hitter. 
 
Several players made All-Region 18 Honorable Mention, including pitchers Jake Dygert (SLCC), Logan Hooley (CNCC) and Karter Pope (USU Eastern). Two Southern Idaho relief pitchers were also featured in Jason Hibbard and Matt Hansen. The Honorable-Mention infielders were Colorado Northwestern's Ty Lewis, Southern Nevada's Johnny Cuevas and Dax Fellows, and USU Eastern's Briggs Newman. Outfielders included SLCC's Brady Brook, USU Eastern's Ryan Curtis and CSN's Steven Rivas. Southern Nevada catcher Roger Riley and Southern Idaho's Ryke Erickson were the catchers on the list.
 
The Region 18 tournament will continue through Saturday at Morse Stadium in Henderson. The tournament bracket, as well as live streaming options, can be found at scenicwestsports.com.