Former California Baptist University outfielder Zachary Esquerra of La Habra, Calif. won triple honors off the field while competing for the Hillsboro Hops, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Class A minor league team. Esquerra was named the NCAA Division II Conference Commissioners Association West Region Scholar-Athlete of the Year in September, adding to a trophy case that already includes NCAA Division II Player of the Year, the PacWest Player of the Year and the PacWest Scholar Athlete of the Year. Esquerra is one of eight scholar-athletes being considered for the Division II Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor that will be selected from the regional winners.
College Sports Information Directors of America selected him to the Capital One Academic All-America First Team. CBU’s Bernadette Witz took home Scholar Athlete honors for women’s soccer, and Jennifer Mallen grabbed the honor for women’s cross country. Witz maintained a 3.60 grade point average last season as a marketing major, earning PacWest Women’s Soccer Player of the Year honors along the way. She was second in the conference with 12 goals and led the league with five game-winning goals. Mallen held a 3.95 grade point average through the course of the 2012-13 school year, graduating with a degree in psychology. After finishing third at the PacWest Championship meet, she was named the conference’s Newcomer of the Year. Mallen also won an individual NCCAA title last season.
A criminal justice major with a 3.88 grade point average, Esquerra led the PacWest with 51 runs scored while ranking second in hitting (.382) and third in both doubles (15) and runs batted in (47). Esquerra’s 17 home runs landed him fourth in all of college baseball, covering all three NCAA divisional levels and the NAIA. Esquerra’s 17 home runs landed him fourth in all of college baseball covering all three NCAA divisional levels and the NAIA.
Right page, from left: Bernadette Witz was named PacWest Women’s Soccer player of the Year, while Jennifer Mallen (#447 in the photo) was honored as PacWest NewComer of the Year. Both women were also recognized as scholar-athletes.
15 | THE ROUNDTABLE | FALL 2013