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Jaeger, Lear, Gonsolin Reap League Awards

August 20, 2014 - Texas Collegiate League (TCL)
East Texas PumpJacks News Release


The East Texas Pump Jacks have never missed the Texas Collegiate League playoffs, reaching the postseason every year the team has taken the field.

The Pump Jacks continued an equally impressive streak last week when the TCL announced the annual slate of league awards. Pitcher John Jaeger shared TCL Freshman of the Year honors, marking the sixth-straight year the Jacks have won the award for top rookie.

The league also announced the All-TCL team, the circuit's annual all-star team, which included Pump Jacks James Lear and Anthony Gonsolin.

Jaeger evolved throughout the season from a dependable reliever to a frontline starter. He finished fifth in the league with a 2.20 ERA and sixth in strikeouts with 49. Despite making only five starts in his 16 appearances, Jaeger was second in the TCL in innings pitched at 61.1.

The former University of the Pacific closer tied for the team lead with three wins against just one loss. Jaeger finished second on the Pump Jacks behind Jeremy Hallonquist in strikeouts, and he led the Jacks staff in ERA and innings.

Jaeger's ascent mirrored the fortunes of the Pump Jacks. The Tracy, California native spent the entire first half of the season in the pen while the Jacks struggled. Several games into the second half, Jaeger made his first start and took on a new role in the rotation. As Jaeger pitched more, East Texas surged, going 14-7 in the last 21 games to clinch a playoff berth for the seventh-straight season.

Jaeger shared the TCL Freshman of the Year award with Victoria Generals infielder Pedro Barrios, just as Matthew Dickey split the honor with the Bombers' Blake Kopetsky in 2013.

The Pump Jacks award streak began when Matt Juengel was named Freshman of the Year in 2009. Zach Fisher defended the award in 2010, and Hunter Dozier made it a three-peat in 2011. Kyle Kubat won in 2012 before Dickey and now Jaeger.

The award has been a harbinger of success for its winners. Juengel leads the Miami Marlins' Florida State League affiliate in runs scored and hit a homer in a cameo in Triple-A this season. Fisher batted .318 to earn a promotion to Class A for the Chicago White Sox.

Dozier went on to become the highest-drafted Pump Jacks alumni when he was picked eighth overall by the Kansas City Royals last year, and he was quickly promoted to Double-A this summer.

Like Jaeger, Lear turned a tough first half into an award-winning second half, earned a spot in the outfield on the All-TCL team. Lear finished third on the Pump Jacks with a .270 average, leading the team in runs scored (41), steals (32), and games played (52). In fact, he was second in the league in stolen bases and third in runs.

Lear finished the season on a tear, reaching base safely in his last 18 regular season games. After setting the Northwest Mississippi Community College records for steals in a season and a career, the sophomore dynamo had separate stolen base streaks of five and seven games this summer.

A Mississippi native, Lear is headed to Southern Miss this fall.

Gonsolin earned a position on the All-TCL team as a two-way utility player after an all-star season on the mound and in the outfield. He went 3-1 with two saves in nine mound appearances, two of them starts. He had a 3.17 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 22.2 innings pitched. The Saint Mary's College sophomore held opposing hitters to a .169 average, allowing just 13 hits on the season.

At the plate, he batted .179 with 17 runs scored and 10 RBI in 33 games.

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