Northwest Notes June 17, 2021
Manzardo named to ABCA/Rawlings All-Region first team
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Washington State first baseman Kyle Manzardo was named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-West Region first team by the American Baseball Coaches Association on Wednesday.
Manzardo, a junior from Lake City High who was named to the All-America first team by Collegiate Baseball earlier this month, is the first Cougar to earn All-Region first-team honors since first baseman Taylor Ard in 2012.
Manzardo finished the regular season fourth in the Pac-12 Conference in hitting (.365), third in slugging (.640), second in RBI (60), tied for third in doubles (19), tied for ninth in home runs (11) and fourth in total bases (126). He became the first Coug to record 60 RBI since Jim Murphy had 61 in 2008, led WSU with 24 multiple-hit games including seven 3-hit games, and also led the team with 17 multiple-RBI games including three 5-RBI performances. In conference play, Manzardo hit .325, led the Pac-12 with 13 doubles and tied for seventh in RBI (26) and also earned Pac-12 Player of the Week following the series against UCLA.
Manzardo, who earned All-Pac-12 honors, was WSU’s first All-American first-team selection since pitcher Aaron Sele in 1990 and was the first position player to earn All-American first-team honors since John Olerud in 1988. Manzardo is just the second Cougar to be a two-time All-American, joining Phil Westerndorf (1975, 1977) after earning third-team honors in 2020.
Gilbert named Vandals
offensive line coach
Idaho football and head coach Paul Petrino have announced Nick Gilbert as the new offensive line coach.
“This was an exciting job for me because this is honestly a place that is home away from home,” Gilbert said. “I got a master’s degree from here, met my wife here, she’s a Vandal alumni. It just always holds a special place, the way the community and the university treated me when I was a student here, a master’s student and a young coach, and now it’s my time to be able to give back to them. I’ve always told myself I’d love to get back to the Palouse, and now I have the ability to give back to the university and the program like it did to me, so I’m excited.”
Most recently, Gilbert spent the last season at Memphis as the offensive quality control coach, working with the running backs and tight ends. He played an active role in scouting and recruiting and helped manage the team of graduate assistants.
“It’s great to have Nick on board,” Petrino said. “It really helps that he’s been around the offense, both when he was here before and then being at Louisville, and even at Memphis the first time. He has a lot of experience, he’s a great, young mind and I think he’s going to be a real star in this profession. I can’t wait to get him out there and get him started.”
Gilbert got his coaching career started with the silver and gold back in 2013 as a graduate assistant, alongside the newly hired Petrino. He worked with coach Kris Cinkovich and the offensive line, helping to coordinate practice and create offensive installs, playbooks and cut ups.
Following his time in Moscow, Gilbert began his first stint with the Memphis. He spent one season with the Tigers, working with their offensive line, before moving on to the University of Louisville where he coached in 2017 and 2018. Gilbert then took over as the offensive line coach at Concord University in West Virginia for the 2019 season, before returning to Memphis.