SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Four Santa Clara University baseball team members were named all-West Coast Conference Tuesday, headlined by junior right-handed pitcher Blake Hammond earning first team honors, the first Bronco to do so in seven years.
 
Hammond was joined by senior outfielder Michael O'Hara on the all-WCC second team, which marked O'Hara's second consecutive second team honor, having also earned the nod in 2023. Santa Clara baseball's future looks bright with two rookies landing on the WCC all-freshman team: right-handed pitcher Max Bayles and infielder Ben Cleary.
 
Hammond ranks among the WCC's top-10 this season in multiple pitching categories. He enters this week's WCC Tournament at No. 4 in the conference with a career-high 80 strikeouts. He's also fourth with 10.91 strikeouts per nine innings, and ranks ninth limiting opponents to 7.77 hits per nine. His 3.55 ERA is eighth in the WCC, and he's limited opponents to a .232 batting average, seventh in the conference.
 
Hammond was named Rawlings WCC Pitcher of the Week for the week of May 6-12 after he threw a career-high eight innings and struck out seven with only one earned run allowed against LMU. Hammond received a bevy of preseason accolades, landing on the preseason all-WCC team, being named preseason all-conference by Perfect Game, and getting placed on the NCBWA's Stopper of the Year Award watch list.
 
O'Hara has been an all-around contributor for the Broncos in 2024. He's batted in six of nine spots in the order while carrying a .266 average and .357 on-base percentage. He's third on the team with 36 runs scored and second with 12 stolen bases. O'Hara has 12 extra-base hits on the year, including four home runs. The veteran has had a knack for being clutch – three of his home runs have come in the eighth inning or later, and two of those were game-tying shots in the ninth.
 
Bayles was a two-time WCC Freshman of the Week during the regular season. He first earned the award for the week of Feb. 26 to March 3 when he pitched a total of 3 1/3 scoreless innings in two road games. He won the award again for the week of April 8-14 after setting season highs in innings pitched and strikeouts against Pepperdine while helping the Broncos clinch a series victory.
 
Bayles' five saves in 2024 are tied for the most by a Broncos pitcher in the past eight years. August Souza also had a team-high five last season, and Eric Lex had five in 2018. He is second on the team with 20 appearances and third with 50 strikeouts. Opponents have only hit .209 against the first-year pitcher while he's posted a 1.16 WHIP.
 
Cleary has started in 50 of the Broncos' 51 games this year as a true freshman, including 48 at second base. Cleary had a slow start offensively as he adjusted to the college game, but he's batted .308 since March 16, the best among everyday Broncos starters and the only one above .300 in that span. He's also carried a .410 on-base percentage during that period. Cleary has only committed three errors in more than 220 chances, proving to be a rock defensively in the infield for Santa Clara.
 
Hammond, O'Hara, Bayles, Cleary, and the rest of the Broncos begin their journey at the 2024 WCC Tournament at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday when they face No. 4 seed Gonzaga in the play-in round. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
 
2024 WCC Baseball All-Conference Awards
Coach of the Year – Brock Ungricht, San Diego
Player of the Year – Jakob Christian, San Diego
Pitcher of the Year – Carter Gaston, Portland
Freshman of the Year – Logan Reddemann, San Diego
Defensive Player of the Year – Ariel Armas, San Diego
 
?ALL-WCC FIRST TEAM

NAME	SCHOOL	POSITION	YEAR
Christian Almanza	Saint Mary's	INF	Gr.
Ariel Armas	San Diego	C	Jr.
Nick Brink	Portland	P	Jr.
Jakob Christian	San Diego	INF/OF	Jr.
Christian Dicochea	LMU	INF	Gr.
Derik Eaquinto	Saint Mary's	P	Sr.
Carter Gaston	Portland	P	So.
Blake Hammond	Santa Clara	P	Jr.
Jake Holcroft	Portland	OF	Sr.
Ben Patacsil	Portland	INF	Sr.
Logan Reddemann	San Diego	P	Fr.
Coleman Schmidt	Saint Mary's	OF	Sr.
Austin Smith	San Diego	P	Jr.

 
 
ALL-WCC SECOND TEAM

NAME	SCHOOL	POSITION	YEAR
Brendan Bobo	LMU	INF	Sr.
Jack Gurevitch	San Diego	INF	So.
Owen Hackman	LMU	P	Sr.
Dalton Mashore	Saint Mary's	OF	Sr.
Michael O'Hara	Santa Clara	OF	Gr.
Ryan Pierce	Saint Mary's	INF	So.
Josh Randall	San Diego	P	Jr.
Joe Soberon	San Francisco	P	Sr.
Sam Stuhr	Portland	P	Jr.
Conner Thurman	San Diego	P	Sr.
Connor Walsh	Pepperdine	OF	Sr.
Ryan Wiltse	Saint Mary's	P	Sr.
Will Worthington	San Diego	INF	Sr.

 
ALL-WCC FRESHMAN TEAM

NAME	SCHOOL	POSITION
Max Bayles	Santa Clara	P
Gabe Camacho	Pacific	INF
Ben Cleary	Santa Clara	INF
Morgan Codron	Portland	P
Miles Gosztola	Gonzaga	P
Connor Harrison	Saint Mary's	C
Erik Hoffberg	Gonzaga	P
Myles Kallinger	San Francisco	OF
Payton Knowles	Gonzaga	INF
Logan Reddemann	San Diego	P
Collin Valentine	Pepperdine	P

 
ALL-WCC HONORABLE MENTION

NAME	SCHOOL
Connor Bradshaw	Pepperdine
Jack Costello	San Diego
Justin DeCriscio	San Diego
Khadim Diaw	LMU
Tanner Douglas	Portland
Brian Duroff	Saint Mary's
Tommy Eisenstat	Gonzaga
Justin Feld	Gonzaga
Erik Hoffberg	Gonzaga
Tyler Howard	Portland
Payton Knowles	Gonzaga
Brady Renck	Pepperdine
Spencer Scott	Portland
Vincent Temesvary	Gonzaga
Jack Thomson	Portland