Two of Bradley Baseball's breakout players during the 2014 season received honors Wednesday: third baseman Spencer Gaa (Metamora, Ill./Metamora H.S.) was named to the Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-America Team and junior center fielder Isaac Smith (Richmond, Ky./Madison Central H.S.) was picked for the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete first team.
Gaa becomes Bradley Baseball's sixth Freshman All-American and the fourth current team member to earn the honor as selected by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, joining juniors Max Murphy (OF) and Chris Godinez (2B) in 2012, as well as sophomore Tyler Leffler (SS) last year. Relief pitcher Brad Altbach was a Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-American in 2007 and first baseman Sean Watkins was a Mizuno Freshmen All-American in 1993.
Gaa played in all 51 games this season, including 50 starts at third base, finishing the season with a .294 batting average, 14 doubles, 15 stolen bases and 58 runs produced (32 runs scored and 26 RBI). An honorable mention All-MVC pick, Gaa was the first freshman to earn All-Valley honors at the hot corner since current Chicago White Sox player Conor Gillaspie (1st team) and Missouri State's Brayden Drake (honorable mention) both were recognized by the league's coaches in 2006. Gaa's 15 stolen bases in 2014 were the most by a Bradley freshman since future Baseball Hall-of-Famer Kirby Puckett swiped 21 bases during his lone season at Bradley in 1981.
Smith, who was selected first-team Capital One Academic All-District V last month, gives Bradley Baseball a first-team Valley Scholar-Athlete for the second consecutive year and is the school's record 22nd first-team MVC Scholar Athlete in all sports in 2013-14. Boasting a 3.50 cumulative grade point average as a finance major, Smith finished his first season as a full-time starter by batting .299 and sharing the team lead with 17 stolen bases, numbers that helped him earn Bradley Baseball's Tim Trunk Award as the team's Most Improved Player for the second consecutive year. He is the first Brave to twice earn the Tim Trunk Award in its 25-year history.
