GVSU’s Brugnoni and Nietfeldt Named 2014 GLIAC Baseball “Player of the Year” and “Pitcher of the Year,” Respectively

GVSU’s Brugnoni and Nietfeldt Named 2014 GLIAC Baseball  “Player of the Year” and “Pitcher of the Year,” Respectively

Lake Erie's Raley Named "Freshman of the Year," GVSU's Detillion Tabbed "Coach of the Year"

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BAY CITY, Mich. -- Grand Valley State University senior first baseman Giancarlo Brugnoni (Grosse Pointe, Mich. / De La Salle) was named the 2014 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) baseball "Player of the Year" by the league's head coaches in all-conference balloting. Brugnoni's teammate, junior Evan Nietfeldt (Homewood, Ill. / South Suburban C.C.), was named the 2014 GLIAC baseball "Pitcher of the Year."

The coaches named Lake Erie College rookie first baseman/outfielder Lucas Raley (Hinckley, Ohio / Medina Highland ) the conference's "Freshman of the Year," while Jamie Detillion, head coach of Grand Valley State's baseball team, was tabbed the "Coach of the Year" for the second straight season.

Brugnoni has been named the GLIAC "Player of the Year," the sixth time in school history that a Laker has  claimed the award. This season, Brugnoni is hitting .382 and led the GLIAC in home runs (13), runs batted in (55), total bases (101), walks (40), on-base percentage (.522) and slugging percentage (.771), and had eight  games this season with at least three RBI, including five in GLIAC play. Brugnoni has tallied the second-most home runs in a career in GLIAC history with 45 long balls,  trailing the record by only one. He is the active career leader in D-II for home runs and RBI.
 
Nietfeldt has been named the GLIAC "Pitcher of the Year" in his first year as a Laker, the fifth time a GVSU hurler has earned the award. Nietfeldt this season is 8-1 overall, tied for the GLIAC lead in victories, with a 1.72 ERA and had a 1.69 ERA in GLIAC games. In five of his seven GLIAC starts, Nietfeldt allowed two earned runs or fewer, including a nine-inning four-hit shutout of Ohio Dominican. Nietfeldt also went 6.1 innings against Wayne State, allowing zero earned runs and three hits in the victory. His 1.72 ERA is the best in the GLIAC among primarily starting pitchers.

Raley earned GLIAC "Freshman of the Year" honors at the tail end of a season that has seen the 6-foot-3 freshman slugger pile up  big numbers. Through May 7, Raley is batting .365 (58-of-159) with 10 doubles, one triple, nine home runs and 38 RBIs. He ranks in the league's top-10 in numerous categories including batting  average (ninth), home runs (second) and slugging percentage (second). The Hinckley, Ohio, native was twice decorated as the GLIAC "Player of the Week" during the regular season, and his exploits with the bat, in the field and on the base paths have helped lead Lake Erie to a program record for wins (28) in a year that has the Storm headed to the GLIAC Tournament as a No. 3 seed.
 
In his second year at GVSU, Detillion has won the GLIAC "Coach of the Year" award for the second time in as many seasons, guiding the Lakers to a 33-11 overall record with a 24-6 mark in the conference. GVSU this season won its 11th regular-season title in the last 12 years and 18th overall, and it is the ninth time a GVSU head coach has won the award. In his first two years at the helm of the Lakers, Detillion has led GVSU to a 71-29 overall record and a 46-13 mark in the GLIAC.

A complete list of the 2014 All-GLIAC baseball teams is below:

Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

2014 Baseball All-Conference Teams and Postseason Awards

Player of the Year:  Giancarlo Brugnoni - Grand Valley State

Pitcher of the Year:  Evan Nietfeldt - Grand Valley State

Freshman of the Year:   Lucas Raley - Lake Erie

Coach of the Year: Jamie Detillion - Grand Valley State

All-GLIAC First-Team 

Pos.

Name

School

Year

B/T

Hometown/Previous School

DH

Tad Sobieszczanski

Hillsdale

So.

R/R

Holland, Ohio / St. Francis de Sales

C

Kyle Tisdale

Ohio Dominican

Jr.

R/R

Uniontown, Ohio / Lake

1B

Giancarlo Brugnoni

Grand Valley State

Sr.

R/R

Grosse Pointe, Mich. / De La Salle

2B

Kevin Zak

Grand Valley State

Jr.

R/R

Novi, Mich.

SS

Jeremy Carrell

Wayne State

So.

R/R

St. Clair, Mich. / St. Clair

3B

Wade Kaido

Ashland

Sr.

R/R

Zanesville, Ohio / Zanesville

INF

Aaron Overbeck

Grand Valley State

Jr.

R/R

Mason City, Iowa / Des Moines Area C.C.

OF

Jossue Delgado

Ohio Dominican

Sr.

R/R

Barinas, Venezuela / 25 De Mayo

OF

Jamie Potts

Grand Valley State

Jr.

L/R

Ravenna, Mich. / Muskegon Oakridge

OF

Lucas Raley

Lake Erie

Fr.

R/R

Hinckley, Ohio / Medina Highland

OF

Garrett Vernau

Tiffin

So.

R/R

Newark, Ohio / Newark Catholic HS

SP

 Aaron Jensen

Grand Valley State

Jr.

R/R

Big Rapids, Mich. / Grand Rapids C.C.

SP

Alex Kinch

Wayne State

R-So.

R/R

Ann Arbor, Mich. / Pioneer

SP

Evan Nietfeldt

Grand Valley State

Jr.

R/R

Homewood, Ill. / South Suburban C.C.

SP

Kyle Zimmerman

Wayne State

Jr.

R/L

Frankfort, Mich. / Frankfort

RP

Alex Williams

Findlay

Jr.

R/R

Perrysburg, Ohio / Perrysburg

All-GLIAC Second-Team

Pos.

Name

School

Year

B/T

Hometown/Previous School

DH

Travis Smith

Northwood

Jr.

L/R

Clare, Mich. / Clare

C

Matt Davis

Malone

So.

R/R

Canton, Ohio / McKinley

1B

Logan Gray

Malone

Sr.

R/R

Gnadenhutten, Ohio / Indian Valley

2B

Cody Rogers

Northwood

Sr.

L/R

Saginaw, Mich. / Swan Valley

SS

Austin Walts

Ashland

Jr.

R/R

Amherst, Ohio / Amhest Steele

3B

Larsen Cronkright

Northwood 

Jr.

L/R

Midland, Mich. / Bullock Creek

INF

Stuart Eisler

Grand Valley State

Sr.

R/R

Fraser, Mich. / Macomb C.C.

OF

Mackenzie Hampshire

Ashland

So.

R/R

Delphos, Ohio / Elida

OF

Griffin Harms

Wayne State

R-Fr.

R/R

Bingham Farms, Mich. / Birmingham Groves

OF

Hayden Mobley

Malone

Jr.

R/R

Winesburg, Ohio / Berlin Hiland

OF

Brad Schalk

Saginaw Valley State

Jr.

R/R

Sterling Heights, Mich. / Bishop Foley HS

SP

Taylore Baker

Malone

Sr.

R/R

Canton, Ohio / Canton Central Catholi

SP

Sean Clancy

Grand Valley State

Sr.

R/R

Sturgis, Mich. / Kellogg C.C.

SP

Tyler Nichols

Tiffin

So.

R/L

Medina, Ohio / Medina Buckeye HS

SP

Danny Roper

Walsh

Jr.

R/R

 Cincinnati, Ohio / Princeton

RP

Chris Ripple

Grand Valley State

Sr.

R/R

Morton Grove, Ill. / Oakton C.C.

2014 GLIAC Baseball All-Conference Honorable Mention

Pos.

Name

School

Year

B/T

Hometown/Previous School

P

Vince Frate

Ashland

Jr.

R/R

North Royalton, Ohio / North Royalton

P

Alex Smith

Ashland

So.

R/R

Piqua, Ohio / Lehman Catholic

SS

Reid Rothenbuhler

Findlay

Sr.

R/R

Cygnet, Ohio / Elmwood

P

Derek Draper

Findlay

Sr.

R/L

Forest, Ohio / Riverdale

C

Taylor Banks

Grand Valley State

Sr.

R/R

Louisville, Ky. / Lincoln Trail J.C.

OF

Jesse Abel

Grand Valley State

Jr.

R/R

Bethalto, Ill. / Lincoln Trail J.C.

OF

Adam Ladzinski

Hillsdale

Sr.

R/R

Minnoka, Ill. / Trinity International

P

Dan Pochmara

Hillsdale

Jr.

R/R

 Farmington, Mich. / Farmington

3B

Zak DeCamp

Lake Erie

So.

R/R

Gahanna, Ohio / St. Francis DeSales

P

Heath Kelley

Lake Erie

Jr.

R/R

Mentor, Ohio / Mentor

OF

Keanan Locke

Malone

So.

R/R

Minerva, Ohio / Minerva

IF

Jon Crank

Malone

So.

S/R

Louisville, Ohio / Louisville

P

Steve Latos

Northwood

Sr.

R/R

Lloydminster, Alberta / Lloydminster Comp.

3B

Daniel Pulver

Northwood

Fr.

S/R

Mt. Pleasant, Mich. / Mt. Pleasant

P

Sean Blackburn

Ohio Dominican

Sr.

R/R

Wadsworth, Ohio / Wadsworth

OF

Bryan Rudolph

Ohio Dominican

Sr.

R/R

Pickerington, Ohio / Pickerington Central

P

Dale Reetz

Saginaw Valley State

Jr.

R/R

Saginaw, Mich. / Saginaw Heritage

P

Andrew Geese

Saginaw Valley State

Jr.

R/R

Saginaw, Mich. / Carrollton HS

P

Logan Sendelbach

Tiffin

So.

R/R

Tiffin, Ohio / Hopewell Loudon HS

UT

Cody Spires

Tiffin

Jr.

R/R

Lancaster, Ohio / Shawnee State

C

Mike Lee

Walsh

Sr.

R/R

Barberton, Ohio / Barberton

2B

Drew Link

Walsh

Sr.

R/R

 Granville, Ohio / Granville

P

Clayton Ruch

Wayne State

Sr.

R/L

Pemberville, Ohio / Eastwood

UT

Jimmy Jackson

Wayne State

Sr

R/R

Battle Creek, Mich. / Pennfield