2011 DIIIAll-BuckeyeState Baseball teams
July 3, 2011, 7:17 pm
By CHRISWEBB
BuckeyeState Baseball
National champion Marietta headlines all-BSB teams with seven first-team selections
A team doesn’t go 47-4 on its way to a national championship without a collection of outstanding individual talents and efforts. Nor does one have a dynasty composed of three consecutive regular season and conference titles and a national runners-up finish. For Ohio collegiate baseball fans, no two programs regardless of division has been as consistent and as powerful as Heidelberg and Marietta.
Where the Student Princes entered the season ranked #1 in the nation, the Pioneers finished the season as the nation’s best. Each program is filled with all-conference, all-region, and All-American players, that give the Buckeye state a collection of student-athletes that can go toe-to-toe with any in the state.
As a result it should be no surprise the two programs account for a combined 15 all-BSB performers. Leading all Ohio programs with eight all-BSB selections is Heidelberg. Marietta follows right behind with a total of seven, a mark that ties Division I Kent State. What makes the Marietta selections unique is all are first-team honorees.
Like KentState, Marietta can boast four first-team pitchers, led by 2011 Buckeye State Baseball DIII Pitcher of the Year Brian Gasser. As Gasser went 14-1, he led the Marietta pitching staff that finished a nation’s best ERA of 1.74. Gasser was pushed in his excellence as teammates Austin Blasik (12-2, 1.62), and Mark Williams (8-1, 1.59) had years that in any other state and/or season would have them as pitcher of the year. In the bullpen Kyle Lindquist racked up 12 saves to anchor the Pioneer Express. Ohio Athletic Conference Player of the Year John Snyder, is joined by middle infielders Kirby Becker and Tim Saunders as first-team Pioneer position players.
Where Marietta is returning to past glory, Case Western reached new heights for its program. Led by 2011 Buckeye State Baseball DIII Player of the Year Chad Mullins, the Spartans reached NCAA Regional play for the first time in school history. Mullins the D3Baseball Player of the Year, is joined by D3 All-Americans Andy Lowe and Ricardo Lizacano of Heidelberg alongside former All-American and Black and Orange teammate JasonLash. Lash, Lowe, and second-team picks Willie Brechun, Gar Keen, and Nathan James saw an unprecedented four-year run in PeacefulValley end in the Mideast Regional as second-place finishers to Marietta.
Rounding out the first team are outfielders GregFerrell of MountUnion and Matt Forgatch of Denison, with Bluffton shortstop Nick Broyles receiving first-team DH accolades, across the diamond at first is John Carroll's Tom Hickey, and Otterbein sophomore Wes Meadows as the first-team back-stop.
Behind the Heidelberg eight and Marietta seven, in a rebound year Wittenberg placed five on the all-BSB teams. Bluffton, Case Western, and Wooster each had three members. John Carroll, Ohio Wesleyan, and MountSt. Joseph each had two.
First-team
C- Soph. Wes Meadows, Otterbein: .373 AVG/.438 OBP/ .711 SLG 14 2B, 8 3B, 6 HR, 36 RBI, 27-42 SB-SBA
1B- Tom Hickey, John Carroll: .391/.491/.526 14 2B, 2 3B, 27 RBI
2B- Jr. Kirby Becker, Marietta: .328/.442/.364 7 2B, 30 RBI, 12-17 SB-ATT, .963 FLD%
SS- Sr. Jason Lash, Heidelberg: .369/.453/.531 20 2B, 3 HR, 38 RBI, 15-20 SB-ATT, .961 FLD%
SS- Jr. Tim Saunders, Marietta: .385/.429/.546 8 2B, 8 3B, 3 HR, 53 RBI, 27-31 SB-ATT, .949 FLD%
3B- Sr. Chad Mullins, Case Western: .437/.504/.658 16 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 71 RBI, 9-13 SB-ATT, .950 FLD%
OF- Sr. Greg Ferrell, MountUnion: .404/.477/.706 6 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 25 RBI, 11-11 SB-ATT
OF- Jr. Matt Forgatch, Denison: .446/.527/.752 10 2B, 6 3B, 5 HR, 26 RBI, 25-27 SB-ATT
OF-Jr. Ricardo Lizcano, Heidelberg: .402/.522/.661 10 2B, 4 3B, 9 HR, 34 RBI, 15-24 SB-ATT
OF- Sr. John Snyder, Marietta: .453/.552/.647 21 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 63 RBI, 13-21 SB-ATT
DH- Jr. Nick Broyles, Bluffton: .400/.478/.735 18 2B, 5 3B, 8 HR, 48 RBI, 17-18 SB-ATT
SP- Jr. Austin Blaski, Marietta: 12-2, 1.62 ERA, 17 G, 14 GS, 2 CG, 94.2 IP, 22 BB, 86 SO, .179 BAA
SP- Jr. Brian Gasser, Marietta: 14-1, 1.06 ERA, 15 G, 15 GS, 3 CG, 93.1 IP, 28 BB, 89 SO, .171 BAA
SP- Sr. Mark Williams, Marietta: 8-1, 1.59 ERA, 20 G, 11 GS, 79.0 IP, 23 BB, 97 SO, .173 BAA
RP- Jr. Kyle Lindquist, Marietta: 0-0, 1.70 ERA, 28 G, 12 SV, 42.1 IP, 7 BB, 48 SO, .211 BAA, 0.97 WHIP
RP- Sr. Andy Lowe, Heidelberg: 5-1, 2.08 ERA, 33 G, 14 SV, 65.0 IP, 14 BB, 58 SO, .223 BAA, 0.98 WHIP
Second-team
C- Fr. Tim Webb, Bluffton: .362/.400/.526 7 2B, 4 HR, 22 RBI, 5-5 SB-ATT, 42-56 SB-ATT
1B- Jr. Matt Hampp, Wittenberg: .399/.433/.587 11 2B, 5 HR, 26 RBI, 8-9 SB-ATT
2B- Sr. Gar Keen, Heidelberg: .314/.387/.419 12 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 25 RBI, 12-18 SB-ATT, .984 FLD%
SS- Soph. Matt Keen, Case Western: .381/.457/.510 18 2B, 4 HR, 37 RBI, 13-14 SB-ATT, .953 FLD%
3B- Sr. Willie Brechun, Heidelberg: .349/.411/.516 7 2B, 8 HR, 51 RBI, .931 FLD%
OF- Sr. Sam Alexander, Case Western: .368/.427/.580 19 2B, 5 3B, 4 HR, 55 RBI
OF- Sr. Alex Monroe: Heidelberg: .358/.480/.522 13 2B, 6 3B, 1 HR, 38 RBI, 16-17 SB-ATT
OF- Sr. Ray Noe, Wittenberg: .397/.456/.573 10 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 20 RBI, 9-11 SB-ATT
SP- Sr. Matt Barnes, Wooster: 4-3, 2.76 ERA, 15 G, 12 GS, 2 CG, 3 SV, 58.2 IP, 24 BB, 72 SO, .247 BAA
SP- Sr. Nathan James, Heidelberg: 7-1, 2.38 ERA, 11 G, 10 GS, 1 CG, 68.0 IP, 31 BB, 53 SO, .295 BAA
SP- Soph. David Cydus, Otterbein: 5-1, 1.46 ERA, 11 G, 7 GS, 4 CG, 49.1 IP, 11 BB, 26 SO, .230 BAA
RP- Sr. Phil Brua, Oberlin: 3-6, 3.31 ERA, 20 G, 5 SV, 51.2 IP, 15 BB, 36 SO, .213 BAA, 1.07 WHIP
Third-team
C- Sr. Jason Haunty, Wittenberg: .386/.466/.447 4 2B, 1 HR, 20 RBI, 9-9 SB-ATT, 37-42 SB-SBA
1B- Fr. Nate Lotze, Kenyon: .442/.522/.537 7 2B, 1 3B, 21 RBI
2B- Soph. Graham Wolff, Wittenberg: .338/.386/.429 9 2B, 1 HR, 14 RBI, .979 FLD%
SS- Jr. Josh Denney, MountSt. Joseph: .413/.493/.636 14 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 33 RBI, .913 FLD%
3B- Sr. Brian Benander, John Carroll: .352/.448/.486 13 2B, 2 HR, 20 RBI, 11-12 SB-ATT, .861 FLD%
OF- Soph. Kyle Neirmann, Bluffton: .382/.411/.539 13 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 36 RBI, 8-9 SB-ATT
OF- Ben Strouble, MountSt. Joseph: .377/.438/.536 13 2B, 3 HR, 30 RBI, 13-16 SB-ATT
OF- Fr. Zac Mathie: Wooster .346/.387/.532 12 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 42 RBI, 5-7 SB-ATT
DH- Sr. Zach Frentsos, Ohio Wesleyan: .377/.436/.525 9 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 39 RBI, 10-16 SB-ATT
SP- Soph. Austin Price, Ohio Northern: 3-6, 2.90 ERA, 12 G, 11 GS, 4 CG, 71.1 IP, 16 BB, 56 SO, .250 BAA
SP- Sr. Eric Livingston, Ohio Wesleyan: 4-1, 2.95 ERA, 12 G, 7 GS, 42.2 IP, 19 BB, 28 SO, .247 BAA
SP- Jr. Sylvester Nino, Heidelberg: 5-3, 3.05 ERA, 13 G, 10 GS, 56.0 IP, 30 BB, 55 SO, .228 BAA
RP- Jr. Matt Rupert, Wittenberg: 3-1, 3.41 ERA, 19 G, 8 SV, 29.0 IP, 11 BB, 26 SO, .269 BAA, 1.35 WHIP
Honorable Mention
Craig Day (Wooster), Bruce Dunlap (Wilmington), Andrew Dunn (Kenyon), Steve Dunn (Hiram), Matt Hampshire (Ohio Northern), Tyler Hardcastle (Muskingum), John Hastings (John Carroll), Tim Knezovich (Ohio Wesleyan), Craig Knott (Mount Union), Peter Krieger (Denison), Justin McDowell (Wooster), Max Phinney (Oberlin), Dan Roncolato (Wilmington), Erik Spitzer (Muskingum), Torry Stimson (Hiram),Tyler Stephenson (Bluffton), Michael Wellstead (Wooster), Keenan White (Wooster), Craig Wolc (Kenyon), Mike Yendock (Wittenberg)
Pitcher of the Year: Gasser
Player of the Year: Mullins
Freshman of the Year: Mathie