Sports - The Beach Review

Jered Weaver and Evan Longoria

A couple of 49er first round draft picks got together in Tampa Bay, Fla., in June. Anaheim Angels pitching star Jered Weaver, left, celebrated his third win on the day he met Evan Longoria, chosen No. 3 by the Devil Rays as the highest-ever Dirtbag ever drafted by Major League Baseball.

Jered Weaver Shines in His Angels Rookie Season

Former Dirtbag pitcher Jered Weaver, a 2004 draft selection by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, made a spectacular major league baseball debut in mid-June by winning all four games while filling in for injured pitcher Bartolo Colon.

He briefly returned to Triple-A Salt Lake but was called back to the Angels in late June. He completed the 2006 season with a record of 11 wins, two losses and a 2.56 earned run average.

49ers Wins Big West Commissioner’s Cup

Thanks to four conference championships in women’s basketball, men’s track and field, women’s volleyball and women’s tennis, Long Beach State earned its first Big West Conference Commissioner’s Cup in June. Long Beach State finished in the top three in all 13 conference-sponsored sports in which it participates.

The cup is presented to the institution with the best overall results in the conference’s 17 sponsored sports championships during the 2005-06 season. The 49ers averaged 126.2 points ahead of UC Santa Barbara (107.5), who had won the trophy the previous five seasons.

Individually, “The Beach” garnered five conference players of the year in Crystal McCutcheon (women’s basketball), Evan Longoria (baseball-field), Hannah Grady (women’s tennis), Chris Richardson (track and field) and Michelle Turner (softball-pitcher); and five coaches of the year in Brian Gimmillaro (women’s volleyball), Mary Hegarty (women’s basketball), Jenny Hilt-Costello (women’s tennis), Bob Livingstone (men’s golf) and Andy Sythe (men’s track and field). LBSU also had four freshmen of the year, Hayley Bolt (women’s soccer), Danny Espinosa (baseball), Ali Daley (women’s volleyball) and Grady (tennis).

The 49ers had 10 All-Americans this season in 18 sports.

Four Dirtbags Selected by Major League Baseball Teams

Third baseman Evan Longoria became the highest ever Long Beach State player drafted when he went third overall to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in June’s Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

Longoria, one of five finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, batted .353 during his junior season with 11 home runs and 43 RBIs. The third team All-American was named co-Big West Player of the Year. He also was named an All-American second team honoree by Baseball America and third team member by Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association.

Pitcher Andrew Carpenter went in the second round to Philadelphia as the 65th overall pick in the draft. This is the fourth straight year LBSU has had two players selected in the first two rounds. Carpenter went 7-4 with a 2.91 ERA as a first team All-Big West selection.

The Pittsburgh Pirates took pitcher Jared Hughes in the fourth round with the 110th overall selection. Hughes was 8-4 this season and 16-7 in two seasons at LBSU. On day two, catcher Tito Cruz went in the 34th round to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Every CSULB starting catcher since 1989 has been drafted.