SEASIDE, Calif. - Cal Poly Pomona ace Caleb Reyes was named Tuesday night as the 2023 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Most Valuable Pitcher, and is one of eight Bronco baseball student-athletes honored overall as the league revealed its postseason accolades on the eve of the start to the 2023 CCAA Tournament.

Reyes is joined on the 17-member All-CCAA First Team by Rhys Stevens as two of the four starting pitchers on the squad. Among 31 earning All-CCAA honorable mentions are CPP newcomers Brent Cota, Marco Malerba and Nin Burns II, as well as outfielder Trent MacKinney, catcher Johnny Pappas and veteran closer Eric Romo.

Reyes, a senior, is the second straight Bronco hurler to garner CCAA Most Valuable Pitcher distinction, following fellow right-hander Will Rudy, later a fifth-round selection of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2022 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. The Encino native and first-year transfer out of Division III Occidental College has posted a 6-2 win-loss record with a CCAA-best 1.90 earned run average, 60 strikeouts, and a minuscule WHIP of 0.87 across a team-high 66.1 innings. Reyes has drawn nine straight starts after beginning his career in the green and gold with a pair of lengthy relief stints that resulted in saves. A two-time CCAA Pitcher of the Week, his best performance was a nine-inning complete game in a 6-1 triumph on April 21 versus Stanislaus State. He ranks third in Division II in WHIP and 10th in ERA.

Reyes moved into the Friday role over the final three weeks of the regular season, and is likely to take the mound in No. 4 seed CPP's single-elimination CCAA Tournament opener against No. 5 seed San Francisco State on Wednesday, May 10. First pitch at top-seeded regular-season champion Cal State Monterey Bay's Otter Sports Complex is slated for 3:30 p.m. Cal Poly Pomona will be making an eighth straight appearance as the event's two-time reigning champion.

Reyes is Cal Poly Pomona's eighth CCAA Most Valuable Pitcher all-time, after Alan Fowlkes (1979 and 1980), Charlie Webb (1987), Wayne Koklys (1988), Taylor Wilding (2005), Geoff Broussard (2012), Michael Koval (2016) and Rudy.

Stevens, a fourth-year junior right-hander out of Mission Viejo who missed most of the 2022 campaign due to injury after spending the 2020 and 2021 seasons at CPP and Saddleback College, respectively, is 3-2 with a 2.73 ERA (third in CCAA) and a team-best 62 strikeouts over 62.2 innings pitched. All 11 appearances have been starts, with Stevens going at least 5.0 frames in every outing but one and allowing more than two earned runs just twice. He was the season's first CCAA Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 6. Stevens leads the CCAA in opposing batting average (.194), just ahead of Reyes (.197).

All 40 starts for Burns II out of 41 games played have come in center field. He is batting .305 and is a perfect 12-for-12 in stolen base attempts to lead the Broncos, good enough for third in the league. A Covina native out of Mt. San Antonio College, where he was teammates with Cota, Burns II also tops Cal Poly Pomona in runs (31) and walks (18).

Cota, out of Rancho Cucamonga, is hitting .317 and tops the squad in at-bats (180), hits (57) and triples (two). He has appeared in all but one game, with all 43 starts coming in left field and a team-high 25 in the leadoff spot. Cota has collected 28 runs, 12 doubles, 18 RBI and five steals, and handled all 110 defensive chances with four outfield assists.

MacKinney did not appear in a game as a third-year Bronco before starting the 2023 opener in right field back on Feb. 3, and proceeded to post the program's ninth-longest reached-base streak since 2014 of 24 games to begin the season. The Santa Clarita product has started 31 of 35 games played, including a team-high 17 as the CPP designated hitter. MacKinney leads the team in batting average (.355) and on-base percentage (.413), and has provided 27 runs, seven doubles, two home runs, 19 RBI, and six steals on six tries.

Malerba has appeared in all but one game, starting 44 with all but one at first base. The Glendora native from Fullerton College is hitting .321 and leads the Broncos and is tied for 11th in the league with 14 doubles. The left-handed slugger has belted five home runs and paces CPP in OPS (.892), slugging (.506), RBI (35) and total bases (85), as well as in multiple-hit (19) and multiple-RBI (11) efforts.

Pappas, a fourth-year junior out of Chino Hills, is batting .311 with an .819 OPS, 18 runs, three doubles, a triple, three home runs, 20 RBI, 14 walks and a pair of steals. Pappas has started 32 of 35 games played, including 26 behind the dish, where he has been charged with a solitary error over 190 defensive chances for a stellar .995 fielding percentage.

Romo, from Bellflower, leads the team and is tied for seventh in the CCAA with four saves, the last of which came in the regular-season finale at SF State on April 30 with 2.2 scoreless frames and moved him into sole possession of second in the CPP career record book at 13. Romo's 14 appearances, all in relief, top the Broncos, and he is 4-2 with a 2.70 ERA, 12 strikeouts and no home runs over 20.0 frames.

Pappas was the All-CCAA First Team backstop in 2022, while Romo picked up an initial honorable mention. The other six Broncos recognized Tuesday are all first-timers.

Sophomore CSUMB shortstop Brady Miguel and skipper Walt White repeated as the CCAA Most Valuable Player and Coach of the Year, respectively. White is now a four-time recipient. The 2023 Newcomer of the Year is Cal State LA infielder Matthew Piotrowski, with Zach Geiss of Cal State Dominguez Hills the CCAA Freshman of the Year.

Tickets for the 2023 CCAA Baseball Tournament are available now at GoCCAA.org/Tickets. For fans who cannot attend, all games will be streamed live on the CCAA Network at CCAAnetwork.com.

2023 CCAA BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
HOSTED BY CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY - SEASIDE, CA

SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, MAY 10
Game 1 - #3 Cal State East Bay vs. #6 Stanislaus State, Noon
Game 2 - #4 Cal Poly Pomona vs. #5 San Francisco State, 3:30 p.m.

THURSDAY, MAY 11 (after reseed)
Game 3 - #1 Cal State Monterey Bay vs. #4 TBD, 9:30 a.m.
Game 4 - #2 Cal State San Bernardino vs. #3 TBD, 1 p.m.
Game 5 - Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser, 4:30 p.m. (elimination)

FRIDAY, MAY 12
Game 6 - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, Noon
Game 7 - Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser, 3:30 p.m. (elimination)

SATURDAY, MAY 13
Game 8 - Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner, Noon
Game 9 - If necessary, 30 minutes after

All home games and most away contests will stream live online via the CCAA Network at www.ccaanetwork.com. You may also download the CCAA Network app on your iOS or Android smartphone, tablet, or through web streaming devices such as Amazon Fire, Roku or Apple TV. For $9.95 per month, subscribers will have access to all CCAA broadcasts, both live and on-demand, for one low monthly price. Over half of each monthly subscription purchase will go directly back to the CCAA Athletic Department of your choice to support the student-athlete experience. Sign-ups are available right now at each universities' network portal. Just go to CCAAnetwork.com, select your favorite team at the top and the 'click to subscribe.'

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