GVSU's Steve Anderson Named the 2012 Daktronics, Inc. Baseball All-Midwest Region "Player of the Year"

Louisville, Ky. – Grand Valley State’s Steve Anderson and Indianapolis’s Donovan Drake headline the 2012 Daktronics, Inc. Baseball All-Midwest Region First Team. The pair were selected as the Midwest Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, as selected by the region’s sports information directors.

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Anderson, a senior outfielder from Northville, Mich., was named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Co-Player of the Year. He is batting .368 with 71 hits, 16 doubles, five triples, six home runs and 48 RBI. Anderson leads the GLIAC in RBI (48), triples (5) and total bases (115). He is also second in the league in hits (71).He ranks in the top 10 of eight hitting categories in the GLIAC, has 24 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI games. Anderson is a two-time First Team All-GLIAC honoree. He has helped lead the Lakers to a 41-14 mark and the second seed in the Midwest Regional this weekend in Detroit, Mich.

Drake, a starting pitcher for the Greyhounds from Whiteland, Ind., was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s Pitcher of the Year posting a record of 7-2 and an earned run average of 1.59. He’s appeared in 12 games, 10 starts with six complete games and five shutouts in 73.2 innings pitched. Drake has 84 has struck out 78 batters while holding the opposition to a .208 batting average. He helped lead the ‘Hounds to a 42-14 mark and the top seed in this weekend’s Midwest Regional.

Joining Anderson and Drake on the first team are Grand Valley State’s Giancarlo Brugnoni (1B), Jared Cowan (C), Kyle Schepel (SP), Kevin Zak (SS) and Brad Zambron (RP); Missouri S&T’s Lee Voth-Gaeddert (OF), Zack Gronek (SP) and Andy Hall (DH); Rockhurst’s Mark Sappington (SP) and Scott Bradbury (3B); Lake Erie’s Brayan Cacique (2B), Tiffin’s Pat Curtin (OF) and Missouri-St. Louis’s Charlie Mohr (UT).

The second team is comprised of Lewis’s Mike Boling (OF) and Ben Albano (OF); Grand Valley’s Mike Nadratowski (OF)and Ryan Garman (SP); Indianapolis’s JaVaun West (SP), Tyler O’Daniel (3B), Scott Mourey (DH) and Nick Whitty (C); Northern Kentucky’s Brad Clement (2B) and Brett Loeding (RP); Ohio Dominican’s Kyle Tisdale (UT); Bellarmine’s Kyle Grana (SP); Rockhurst’s Ryan Porter (1B); Southern Indiana’s Brad Vance (SS) and Saginaw Valley State’s Mike Saunders (SP).

All 15 first-team All-Region selections will now be placed on the national ballot for All-America Consideration. The All-America teams are scheduled to be released on Friday, May 25. The complete Daktronics Midwest Region teams can be found on the following page.