Pintar, Gambill named Preseason All-WCC; Pintar Player of the Year

BYU sophomore infielder Andrew Pintar and junior outfielder Cole Gambill have been named to the 2022 Perfect Game Preseason WCC All-Conference Team. 

Pintar headlines the 15-member preseason team as the WCC Player of the Year. Gabriel Hughes a righthander from Gonzaga was the named Preseason Pitcher of the Year, while centerfielder Kyle Carr of San Diego was the Preseason Freshman of the Year. 

As a freshman in 2021, Pintar hit .333, with nine home runs and 32 RBI. The second baseman from Spanish Fork, Utah, finished top-10 in the WCC in 10 offensive categories including first in total bases (72); second in hits (38), home runs (9) and slugging percentage (.686); third in batting average (.362), RBI (23) and triples (3); fourth in runs (23); and ninth in on-base percentage (.427) and at-bats (105). He was honored by Collegiate Baseball News as a 2021 Freshman All-American and named WCC Co-Freshman of the Year along with Luke Keaschall of San Francisco.

Gambill played in all 50 games for the Cougars in 2021. The lefty from Alpine, Utah, hit .268 with 11 home runs and 38 RBI. He finished top-10 in WCC play in eight offensive categories including fourth in home runs (6) and total bases (59); fifth in walks (17); sixth in runs (22); seventh in RBI (20), doubles (9) and slugging percentage (.584); and ninth in triples. Gambill was named WCC Player of the Week on May 3 and 2021 WCC Second-Team All-Conference.

Perfect Game also named five Cougars to its 2022 list of top prospects from the WCC. In addition to Pintar and Gambill, sophomore lefthanded pitcher Cy Nielson (Spanish Fork, Utah), and righthanders Reid McLaughlin (Scottsdale, Arizona) and Jack Sterner (Laguna Niguel, California) were among the 19 players recognized from the 2022 class.

Two additional Cougars were among the top 11 WCC prospects for the 2024 class, including righthanded pitcher Janzen Keisel (Gunnison, Utah) and catcher Collin Reuter (Olive Branch, Mississippi). 

BYU will open the 2022 baseball season at the Snowbird Classic, Feb. 18-21, in Port Charlotte, Florida, with a double header against Marshall and single games versus Ohio State and Indiana State.