College baseball and softball: Chop GSAC Player of the Year

Chad Chop, a Vanguard University first baseman who led the team

with a .403 batting average, has been named Golden State Athletic

Conference Player of the Year.

Chop, a 6-foot-3 215-pound senior, produced 60 RBIs and 12 home runs.

He went 11 for 17 with 19 RBIs in the Lions’ last four conference games,

when Vanguard needed to win each of those games to earn a playoff berth.

Joe Carnahan, a junior from Wisconsin, and Marcus Harris, a sophomore

pitcher from Oregon, were named to the All-GSAC team.

Carnahan, who batted .328, made the team as an outfielder, while

Harris went 5-3 with a 3.71 ERA, striking out 41 batters.

Coach Beth Renkoski’s Vanguard softball team put three of its players

on the All-GSAC team.

Gina Liebengood, a 5-9 senior pitcher who had a team-best 1.47 ERA

with 219 strikeouts, Lisa Jackson, a freshman infielder who led the team

with a .360 average, and Celina Camarillo, a junior outfielder who

carried a .353 average, earned All-GSAC laurels.

-- by Steve Virgen