Matt Bolt was named Most Valuable Player and Jay Molina was chosen as Team Captain and honored with the Hustle Award as the 2005 Illinois State baseball team recently voted on awards for the 2005 season.
Members of the 2005 team voted on the awards following the completion of the season, in which the Birds ended 26-27. Other awards included the Most Valuable Pitcher, which went to Eric Theisen, and the Most Improved Player, which went to Chris Frank.
Bolt completed his sophomore season by being named first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference earlier this week. The outfielder was second on the team in hitting with a .323 average and third on the team with 29 RBI. The outfielder led the team with five home runs and 16 stolen bases. Through the first 108 games of his career, Bolt has started every game as a Redbird.
Matt was Mr. Consistent for us all year long, said head coach Jim Brownlee. He is a guy who leads by example more than anything, but hes not afraid to be a vocal leader either. Hes been around for two years now and I would be very surprised if he did not have a huge year in 2006.
Junior Jay Molina was chosen as Team Captain and as was honored with the 2005 Duffy Bass Mr. Hustle Award. Molina started all 53 games at catcher for the Redbirds, hitting .294 with two home runs and 29 RBI.
We asked a lot out of Jay this year when our second catcher, Brad Sashko, went down with a season-ending injury before the year even started, said Brownlee. Hes been with us longer than anyone else in this program and hell be our only fourth-year player next year, so I looking for him to become the leader of this team next year.
Junior Chris Frank was selected as the teams Most Improved Player for 2005. After transferring in from Illinois Central Community College, Frank became the everyday leftfielder for the Redbirds, playing in 48 games and making 43 starts. Frank hit .280 with 16 RBI and seven stolen bases on the year.
Chris was a very pleasant surprise for us this year, said Brownlee. We knew he would contribute when he came into the program but we had no idea that he would become an everyday guy. Chris came in and played well from day one and after playing only one year in the league he should be a key cog for us next year.
Sophomore Eric Theisen was named the 2005 Most Valuable Pitcher. The right-hander from Adrian, Mich., went 6-0 with three saves in 22 appearances, including three starts. Theissen led the team with a 3.00 ERA and was second on the team with 57 strikeouts in 69.0 innings pitched. He was also a 2005 MVC Honorable Mention selection.
Eric has been very impressive in his first two years in this program, said Brownlee. He was clutch for us out of the bullpen all year but when we moved him to the rotation late in the year he was just as good. When he is on, he can really dominate a game. He really understands how to pitch and I see no reason why he shouldnt be one of the most dominant arms in our league next year.
