'Team and togetherness' reigns

If ever you needed a sign to illustrate just how fully bought-in to the Dan Fitzgerald culture of Kansas baseball his players are, you’d do well to ask the Jayhawks to talk about their recent individual honors. 

Honored? Yeah. 

Appreciative? You bet. 

Willing to make a fuss over them? Absolutely not. 

Just like their coach. 

On Tuesday, seven Jayhawks earned postseason all-Big 12 recognition, with closer Boede Rahe and shortstop Tyson LeBlanc receiving first-team spots. 

Second baseman Cade Baldridge, first baseman Josh Dykhoff and starting pitcher Dom Voegele were named second-team selections and left fielder Brady Ballinger and Mason Cook earned honorable mention.

Right there alongside them, Fitzgerald was named Big 12 Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season, making him the first coach in KU history to win such an honor twice and the first Big 12 coach to go back-to-back with it since Texas legend Augie Garrido back in 2010 and 2011.

While meeting with the media after Tuesday’s practice, LeBlanc and Cook were asked about their recognition and that of their head coach. With Fitzgerald talking after them, the trio sounded almost identical while explaining what the honors meant. 

“It’s pretty cool,” said LeBlanc, who leads KU in average (.323), home runs (19) and RBIs (53). “Fitz talked about it earlier. Everything that we just earned has been a team award. Him winning coach of the year, us winning the regular season Big 12, it all comes with being on a great team.” 

All seven Jayhawks found out about their Big 12 honors at a team meeting before practice. Fitzgerald did, too, when KU AD Travis Goff made a trip to the dugout to talk to the team. 

How’d he take it? 

“Very humble. Very humble,” LeBlanc said. “He put it all on us. He was like, ‘Look, guys, second year in a row I win it, but this has to do with hundreds of guys before y’all even got here and this award specifically is a team award. This goes to the coach of the best team and that’s what I had. I coached the best team this year.’” 

By just about any measure, the Jayhawks were that, winning their first regular season crown since 1949 and taking the No. 1 seed into this week’s Big 12 tournament. 

But at no point during this remarkable season did the Jayhawks (39-16, seeded 1st at this week's Big 12 tournament in Arizona) deviate from who they are and what they’ve been for four seasons under Fitzgerald. 

It’s team-first, hard work and appreciate every opportunity at Kansas. And most of these guys show up with that already engrained in them and merely watch the philosophy grow during their time in Lawrence. 

“I think some things are, you know, coach speak and cliche,” Fitzgerald said Tuesday. “That culture piece for us is not; it's a very real thing. We spent zero time today talking about tomorrow, and we’ll spend zero time tomorrow talking about whatever the next day is after that. So, it's a fun group. They're really kind to each other, they love each other, and they love competing together.”

He added: “I think that the strength of our team is the team and the togetherness that they have, and the continuity that they have as a group.” 

It turns out that their commonalities also exist in how they feel about their head coach. 

“He’s the greatest coach in the Big 12. He’s the greatest coach in the country,” LeBlanc said. “So, everything he’s getting, he’s really deserving. Like he said, he’s coaching a great team, (with) a bunch of great players and a bunch of great coaches around him.” 

Added Cook, when asked about Fitzgerald winning Coach of the Year: “Oh, that was awesome. He deserves it. Best coach I’ve ever had.”

The Jayhawks will open play at the single-elimination Big 12 tourney at 2:30 p.m. Thursday against No. 8 Baylor, No. 9 BYU or No. 12 Texas Tech.

Here's a look at the seasons turned in by all 7 all-Big 12 honorees.

INF Tyson LeBlanc, All-Big 12 First Team
Overall: .323/.407/.650, 10 2B, 3 3B, 19 HR, 53 RBI, 55 R, 32 BB, 9 SB, 145 TB in 55 games (all starts)
Conference: .352/.408/.680, 7 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR, 28 RBI, 34 R, 15 BB, 5 SB, 87 TB in 30 games (all starts)

RHP Boede Rahe, All-Big 12 First Team
Overall: 5-1, 3.97 ERA, 25 G, 2 GS, 45.1 IP, 15 BB, 58 SO
Conference: 2-1, 5.59 ERA, 15 G, 2 GS, 29.0 IP, 14 BB, 38 SO

UTL Cade Baldridge, All-Big 12 Second Team
Overall: .318/.405/.464, 13 2B, 7 HR, 42 RBI, 46 R, 23 BB, 108 TB in 55 games (all starts)
Conference: .346/.416/.481, 6 2B, 4 HR, 28 RBI, 23 R, 12 BB, 64 TB in 30 games (all starts)

INF Josh Dykhoff, All-Big 12 Second Team
Overall: .302/.384/.609, 11 2B, 3 3B, 14 HR, 50 RBI, 42 R, 27 BB, 117 TB in 54 games (50 starts)
Conference: .327/.395/.636, 7 2B, 9 HR, 28 RBI, 26 R, 14 BB, 70 TB in 30 games (all starts)

RHP Dominic Voegele, All-Big 12 Second Team
Overall: 5-3, 6.43 ERA, 14 G, 14 GS, 78.1 IP, 33 BB, 100 SO
Conference: 3-1, 5.55 ERA, 10 G, 10 GS, 61.2 IP, 22 BB, 79 SO

INF/OF Brady Ballinger, All-Big 12 Honorable Mention
Overall: .286/.398/.476, 13 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 43 RBI, 49 R, 40 BB, 100 TB in 55 games (all starts)
Conference: .306/.408/.559, 6 2B, 2 3B, 6 HR, 27 RBI, 31 R, 22 BB, 62 TB in 30 games (all starts)

RHP Mason Cook, All-Big 12 Honorable Mention
Overall: 4-1, 4.53 ERA, 15 G, 10 GS, 55.2 IP, 21 BB, 57 SO
Conference: 4-1, 4.24 ERA, 10 G, 7 GS, 40.1 IP, 14 BB, 43 SO

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