Four Bruins Earn All-America, All-Region Honors
June 12, 2019 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ Four members of the UCLA baseball team โ sophomore outfielder Garrett Mitchell, junior right-handed pitcher Ryan Garcia, junior right-handed pitcher Jack Ralston, and sophomore right-handed pitcher Holden Powell โ picked up postseason honors on Wednesday as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its 2019 All-America Teams and the American Baseball Coaches Association announced its 2019 All-Region Teams.
All four Bruins were named to the ABCA All-West Region First Team. UCLA's four all-region honorees were the most of any school in the West Region, and the Bruins had twice as many first team picks as any other school in the region (Arizona St. and Fresno St. had two apiece).
In addition, all four picked up All-America honors from the NCBWA. Garcia and Powell were First Team honorees, Ralston made the Second Team, and Mitchell was tabbed to the Third Team. It was the first career All-America honor for Mitchell, and the highest national honor yet for Powell, who had been named a Second Team All-American earlier this spring.
UCLA was one of just two schools (East Carolina University) nationwide with multiple NCBWA First Team All-Americans.
Garcia has now been named a First Team All-American by four outlets (Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America, Perfect Game, NCBWA) after previously being named the 2019 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, a Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist, and Dick Howser Trophy Semifinalist.
The Sierra Madre, Calif. native had one of the best seasons of any collegiate pitcher in 2019, posting a 10-1 record with a 1.44 ERA and 117 strikeouts in just 94 innings. A second round selection by Texas (No. 50 overall) in the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft, Garcia allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of 16 appearances for the Bruins this season.
As of Jun. 12, Garcia ranks top-five in the NCAA in ERA (fourth), hits allowed per nine innings (4.98, second), and WHIP (0.83, second).
Powell, a sophomore, had one of the best campaigns by a reliever in Bruin history, recording a 1.84 ERA and 17 saves. His save total was second, both in the country this year and in the all-time UCLA single-season record book, trailing only the NCAA-record 24 recorded by David Berg in 2013. Powell made 40 appearances during the season, third-most of any pitcher nationwide (trailing only teammates Kyle Mora and Nate Hadley).
The Visalia, Calif. native is one of six finalists for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award, handed out annually to the nation's top relief pitcher.
Ralston had a breakout campaign as a redshirt junior for UCLA, going 11-1 with a 2.66 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 101 1/3 innings. The Newhall, Calif. native was especially hot down the stretch, putting together a 27-inning scoreless streak from Apr. 27 to May 23. He was eventually selected in the seventh round of the 2019 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Mitchell served as the catalyst for the UCLA offense in 2019, slashing .349/.418/.566 out of the leadoff spot. The speedy outfielder recorded 12 triples during the year, a UCLA single-season record and the most in the NCAA as of Jun. 12. He had a team-high 25 multi-hit games in 2019, including 10 three-hit performances and a pair of four-hit efforts. The Orange, Calif. native collected hits in 12 straight and 21 of 22 games to close out the year, slashing .420/.477/.750 over the span with 10 triples and 22 RBIs.
