PEORIA, Ill. -- The Bradley baseball season officially ended Thursday, but the awards continue to trickle in for senior catcher/first baseman Brad Canada (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern H.S.), who was named a first team ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American today, according to an announcement from the College Sports Information Directors of America.
After becoming the baseball program's first-ever Academic All-American by gaining second team honors in 2004, Canada became the third student-athlete in school history to earn first-team notice from CoSIDA and the second to become a repeat honoree. Women's basketball player Judy Burns was the school's first first-team selection in 1983, while former soccer defender Dan Thorstenson was a second-team pick in 1999 and a first-team choice in 2000.
Canada graduated earlier this month with a bachelor's degree in finance after a fifth consecutive semester with a 4.0 grade point average boosted his final GPA to 3.90. He finished the 2005 season second on the team with a .339 batting average, giving him a final .315 career average. He also set the single-season school record by being hit by 19 pitches in 2005, which also gave him a school-record 33 career hit by pitches. Defensively, Canada wound up third in school history with 1,204 career putouts.
The announcement by CoSIDA signaled one of two postseason awards Canada received Tuesday as the Braves also announced their annual team awards. Canada shared the Don Stamp Hustle Award with sophomore second baseman Ryan Curry (Downers Grove, Ill./South H.S.). Curry hit just .234 in his second season with the Braves, but he led the team with eight sacrifice bunts and was fifth with 22 runs batted in. After settling in at shortstop last season, this year Curry was the regular starter at second base, where he recorded a .960 fielding percentage and made only one error in the last 19 games.
Sophomore third baseman Paul Rice (Beardstown, Ill./Beardstown H.S.) won the Rod Thompson Hitting Award by leading the team with a .357 batting average and he was voted the A.J. Robertson Most Valuable Player. Playing with a groin injury the final two weeks of the season, Rice also led the Braves with a .459 slugging percentage and 36 runs scored, and the first-team All-MVC third baseman was second with 24 runs batted in, a .443 on-base percentage and 20 stolen bases.
Junior right-hander Collin Walker (Channahon, Ill./Minooka H.S.) earned his second Zack Monroe Pitching Award after finishing the season with a 6-4 record and 2.70 earned run average. Walker, who joined Rice on the All-MVC first team, allowed the opposition to hit only .225 against him in 90.0 innings this spring.
Fellow junior right-hander Brandon Magee (Sheboygan, Wis./North H.S.) won the Tim Trunk Award as the team's most improved player. Magee began his college career as Bradley's top reliever in 2003, then split his time between the bullpen and a midweek starter in 2004. Entering the 2005 season with a 5-7 record and 5.62 career ERA, Magee became Bradley's first-game starter in Valley action and went on to earn honorable mention notice on the All-MVC team. Posting a 7-4 record and 4.43 ERA, Magee's seven victories were the most by a Bradley hurler since Rob Purvis in 1998. Magee also became the fifth pitcher in school history to toss at least 100 innings in a season, finishing with 103 2/3 in his 16 appearances.
Senior centerfielder Johnny Sage (Bartonville, Ill./Limestone H.S.) won the final team award, the Kirby Puckett Gold Glove. Sage, who reached base safely in nine of his 11 plate appearances during the ConAgra Foods MVC Tournament last week, made only one error this season while using his quick jump and speed to track down numerous fly balls.
Award winners Canada and Sage are two of the nine seniors (including fourth-year junior Brian LaJeone) who will not return for the Braves in 2006. In addition, Magee and Walker are expected to be selected in next week's Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, which could add to Bradley's offseason losses.
The Braves are expected to return just four position starters from the 2005 squad that posted a 28-22 overall record and tied for fifth in the final Missouri Valley Conference regular-season standings. In addition to Rice and Curry, junior right fielder Justin Carr (Camargo, Ill./Villa Grove H.S.) and freshman catcher Ryan Eigsti (Eureka, Ill./Eureka H.S.) should be back in 2006. Carr wound up third on the team with a .292 batting average and 10 doubles. Eigsti gradually moved into the No. 1 catching position as the season progressed, handling a pitching staff that finished with a 3.71 earned run average and a 2.27 strikeouts-to-walk ratio. Offensively, Eigsti heated up down the stretch, finishing with a .261 batting average and a share of the team lead with four home runs.
