July 6, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. — After leading Kentucky with 12 homers and 51 RBI during its historic 2012 campaign, junior catcher Luke Maile has been named honorable mention All-America by College Baseball Insider, it was announced on Friday morning.
Maile is one of seven total catchers in the nation to be named to first or second-team, or honorable mention All-America on the College Baseball Insider list. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound backstop is the first UK player to earn All-America honors in 2012 and joins centerfielder Austin Cousino and two-way standout A.J. Reed, who became the first UK players in school history to be named consensus freshman All-America.
He is the first UK player to earn All-America honors since Sawyer Carroll and Collin Cowgill were each named All-America in 2008, with Carroll becoming the first consensus All-America selection in program history. UK has now had a total of 16 players named All-America and 18 players named honorable mention All-America in program history. Maile is the first UK catcher to earn All-America honors since Sean Coughlin in 2007.
A native of Crestview, Hills, Ky., Maile had a breakout season as UK’s everyday middle-of-the-order slugger. The 2009 Kentucky High School Mr. Baseball out of Covington Catholic High School, Maile hit .319 in 2012, with 13 doubles, 12 homers and 51 RBI, drawing a team-high 34 walks and stealing nine bases. Maile helped lead the UK pitching staff to the fewest steals allowed and the most pickoffs in the SEC, nabbing 10 of 18 runners trying to steal base and eight of 11 runners trying to steal base in SEC play.
Following the season, Maile was an eighth-round selection in the 2012 MLB Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays, headlining UK’s school-record nine draft picks, the second-most in college baseball. Maile has already opened his professional career in the New York-Penn League, batting .308 (16-for-52) in his first 15 career games, with three doubles, eight RBI and a 9-8 walk-strikeout ratio.
In his three-year UK career, Maile played in 139 games with 124 starting assignments, batting .295 (130-for-441) with 23 doubles, three triples, 23 homers and 93 RBI, stealing 17-of-21 bases. He finished his career with a .524 slugging percentage and a .404 on-base mark.
As a vocal, physical and emotional leader of the team in 2012, Maile helped UK to a school-record 45 win season and the best finishes in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments in program history. He was named second-team All-SEC in a voting of the league coaches at the end of the season and was also a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award, given to the top player in college baseball.
