Hill

After guiding Kansas State to a school-record 43 wins and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2009, head coach Brad Hill has been named the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Midwest Region Coach of the Year, the organization announced on Wednesday.

Hill, who also earned 2009 Big 12 Coach of the Year honors, is the first coach in school history to earn the distinction from the ABCA. He was selected out of 35 Division I coaches from the states of Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Utah.

In his sixth season at Kansas State, Hill led K-State to a 43-18-1 record, including a 14-11-1 mark in Big 12 play. The 43 wins were eight games better than the previous school record of 35 set in 1976, while the 14 conference victories were also the most in school history.

The Wildcats were among the leaders in the Big 12 on offense and on the mound, and the team finished in the top 10 in 14 different school-record categories.

At the plate, the Wildcats led the Big 12 with a .317 team average, while they were also tops in the league with 22 triples. The Cats also totaled 675 hits and stole 149 bases, both school records, while they finished third in school history in batting average, RBI (420) and home runs (58).

Hill's pitching staff, which included eight newcomers, allowed the fewest walks (169) in the Big 12 and was 14th in the nation in walks per nine innings. The staff also boasted the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year in A.J. Morris, who finished second in the Big 12 and sixth in the nation with a 2.09 ERA, while he was named an all-American by six organizations. The 2009 pitching staff also tallied the most strikeouts in school history (453) and finished the season with a 4.52 team ERA, the third lowest in school history since the introduction of the aluminum bat 1977.

Hill also tutored six players who were either drafted or signed free-agent contracts following the 2009 season, including Morris, who was the highest draft pick (fourth round, Washington Nationals) since 1972.