Courtesy of PGCBL.com
The Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) has crowned Elmira Pioneers catcher Marshall Gilbert (John A. Logan) the Player of the Week and Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs right-hander Jonathan McKinney (Southern Union State C.C.) the Pitcher of the Week for the Week 6 of the 2017 season.
Gilbert has continued to swing a red-hot bat for the Pios. From July 10-16, he batted .524 with 11 hits, 12 RBI and nine runs. His runs batted in paced all players in the PGCBL over the course of the past week, while he was tied for first in home runs (2) and tied for second in runs scored. Among players with at least 20 plate appearances, Gilbert ranked second in both slugging percentage (.905) and OPS (1.461).
A native of Trevor, Wis., Gilbert produced a hit in five of the six games in which he played last week, including four multi-hit outings and three with multiple RBIs. On July 10, he crushed a grand slam in the second inning of a bout with East Division-leading Amsterdam, as part of a 2-for-4 showing with four RBIs and two runs. The Mississippi State commit also went yard in a thrilling 18-17 extra-inning victory over the Newark on July 14. He finished the tilt against the Pilots 4-for-6 with four RBI and two runs scored. His most recent multi-hit, multi-RBI game came in a 13-9 win over Utica on July 16, when he reached base all five times by going 2-for-2 with three walks to go along with two runs and a trio of RBIs.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound backstop is the third Pioneer to win a weekly award this season, joining Pitcher of the Week honorees Houston Roth (Ole Miss) and Grant Donahue (Virginia). He’s the first Elmira batter to garner Player of the Week from the PGCBL since teammate Troy Dixon (Samford) did so in Week 1 of last season.
McKinney takes home the Week 6 Pitcher of the Week award after a brilliant start on July 15 in a 7-2 victory on the road against Saugerties. He toed the rubber for 7.1 scoreless innings of work, scattering six hits and two walks while striking out four. The outing was tied for the second-longest by a starting pitcher and was the only scoreless start of at least 5.0 innings registered in the PGCBL over the past week. The opposition hit a mere .220 off of the 6-foot-1 righty and he threw first-pitch strikes to 70.0-percent of the batters he faced.
The second-year DiamondDawg is the first Mohawk Valley player to earn weekly accolades from the league office this season and is the first Pitcher of the Week to come from Little Falls since David Palmer (New Haven) was awarded during Week 3 in 2016.
2017 PGCBL Weekly Award Winners
Player of the Week
Week 1: Christ Conley (Canisius) – Jamestown Jammers
Week 2: Mikey Arman (Kenyon) – Geneva Red Wings
Week 3: T.J. Collett (Kentucky), Liam Wilson (Canisius) – Amsterdam Mohawks
Week 4: Collin Stack (UMBC) – Jamestown Jammers
Week 5: Devon Garcia (Ohio) – Utica Blue Sox
Week 6: Marshall Gilbert (John A. Logan) – Elmira Pioneers
Pitcher of the Week
Week 1: Brian Reed (RIT) – Geneva Red Wings
Week 2: Jake Hershman (Wofford) – Oneonta Outlaws
Week 3: Houston Roth (Ole Miss) – Elmira Pioneers
Week 4: Brandon Reitz (Florida State) – Amsterdam Mohawks
Week 5: Grant Donahue (Virginia) – Elmira Pioneers
Week 6: Jonathan McKinney (Southern Union State C.C.) – Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs
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