June 16, 2007

Desme named first team All-American
The Big West Player of the Year is honored by Baseball America

Tribune staff report

Grant Desme has become Cal Poly’s first baseball player to earn All-America first-team honors at the Division I level. Desme, the Big West Conference Player of the Year this past season, was named Friday to Baseball America’s College All-America first team.He al-so was selected to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association second team.

The junior outfielder won the Big West regular season triple crown by batting .405 with 15 home runs and 53 RBI.He is the first Big West player to lead the conference in batting average, home runs and RBI in the regular season since Kurt Suzuki of Cal State Fullerton did so in 2004 on his way to leading the Titans to the national title.

Desme also led the Big West in on-base percentage (.494), slugging percentage (.733) and total bases (143).

Last week, Desme was drafted in the second round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Oakland Athletics and has announced he will bypass his senior season at Cal Poly.He was the 74th overall draft pick, making him the fourth-highest draft choice in school history.

In regular season national statistics, Desme was 16th in slugging percentage, 22 in home runs per game (0.3) and 28th in batting average.

Desme led the Mustangs (32-24, 13-8 Big West) to a fourth-place conference finish and the team’s fourth-straight 30-win season. The Mustangs have won 30 or more games in six of the past eight seasons but are still looking for their first NCAA Tournament appearance as a Division I school.