All-Decade Baseball Team

It's time for the UCO all-decade baseball team and what tough choices had to be made for this super squad! The Bronchos won a ton of games in the 2000s while featuring plenty of power-packed lineups along with some great pitching.

First Base - The one position that was seldom filled by the same player more than a year at time during the decade goes to Beau Sullivan, who had 15 homers and 68 RBI in winning Lone Star Conference North Division Player of the Year honors in 2005.

Second Base - Lots of good candidates here, but I went with Matt Wright (2000-01). Excellent defender and a tough out.

Shortstop - Hard to pass up Rothy Briggs and I didn't. A three-year stud for the Bronchos from 2000-02, Rothy made the tough plays look easy in the field while also yielding a mean bat. He batted .365 during his career and ranks second in all-time hits (194) at UCO.

Third Base - Didn't hesitate in going with John Rogers at the hot corner. A rare four-year player for the Bronchos from 2000-03, John was a three-time first-team All-LSC North Division selection and led UCO to 158 wins. He had a .368 career average and owns all-time school records for hits (227), runs (179), doubles (55), RBI (175) and at bats (617).

Outfield - I've got power and speed in the outfield with Bryan Coy, Ray Danzy and Nolan Randolph. An All-American as a senior, Coy (2001-02) was an amazing all-around talent at the plate with his ability to hit the ball out of the park or turn a gapper into a triple and he had a .392 career average. Danzy (2000-01) was also an All-American as a senior, rapping a school-record and NCAA Division II-leading 23 homers his final season. Randolph (2003-04) was a different kind of offensive threat with his base-stealing ability (64 career thefts) and he would definitely be in center with his ability to make plays all over the field.

Catcher - One of the best pure hitters I've seen at UCO will be behind the plate in Miguel Moctezuma, who also had a rifle of an arm. Miguel racked up 185 hits in three years (2006-08) despite playing just a few games in an injury-shortened sophomore season and hit .434 as a junior before leaving school after getting drafted.

Pitcher - I'll go with a three-man rotation of Ricky Belk (2001-02), Kyle Nevels (2003-04) and Jesse McGough (2005-06). Belk had the most dominating season in school history as a junior, going 14-0 in earning first-team All-America honors and he followed with an 11-win campaign his final year. Nevels was a two-time first-team All-LSC North pick and McGough won 18 games during his career.

Designated Hitter - Brandon Bacon saw a lot of action at third base during his two-year career (2006-06), but he also got plenty of time at DH and he's my pick here. The hard-hitting Bacon ranks second in career homes (33) and fifth in career RBI (140) at UCO.

Utility - Two players will fill utility roles, with Breck Draper (2007-08) and Barrett Whitney (2002-03) my picks. Draper played a number of different positions during his two years with the Bronchos -- earning All-America acclaim at catcher as a junior -- and is the best home run hitter in school history with 42 career dingers, slamming 20 as a junior and 22 as a senior. Whitney played first and second base and was a doubles machine, hitting a school-record 32 his final season.

There it is, the UCO all-decade baseball team for the 2000s. Coming next week -- volleyball, soccer and football.