GLIAC -- The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announced its 2018 All-GLIAC Baseball Teams and Postseason Awards in conjunction with the Conference's annual Baseball Tournament at the Detroit Police Athletic League (PAL) Corner Ballpark. The awards were voted on by the conference baseball coaches and include the fourth annual recipient of the Troy Berry Award.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Zac Wilson - Davenport
Zac Wilson had a blessing in disguise when he went down with an injury during the 2017 season. Without that injury, he would not have been the GLIAC Player of the Year in 2018 as a redshirt senior. Wilson has had a fabulous career and receiving this award is validation that perseverance plays off.
Wilson started in 46 games this season and finished with a .379 batting average, .659 slugging percentage and .444 on-base percentage. He concluded the year ranked in the top 10 in 11 different statistical categories in the GLIAC. The highlighted categories include second in total bases (120) and stolen bases (21), third in hits (69), fourth in home runs (10) and doubles (15), fifth in RBI (48) and seventh in batting average.
Wilson finished the regular season with 24 multi-hit games, meaning he had multiple hits in 52 percent of his games this season. He also led the team with 12 multi-RBI games including six games of three RBI and a season-high of five RBI coming against then No. 7 Minnesota State on March 2. In that game, he hit a three-run homer in the top of the seventh and a go-ahead, two-run blast in the top of the ninth in the 10-8 victory.
Wilson is currently the all-time leader in Davenport history with 150 runs scored, 214 hits, and 51 stolen bases. He is also second in games started (165), RBI (118) and total bases (293).
PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Tyler Jandron - Northwood
This is the second consecutive year that Tyler Jandron has been named the GLIAC Pitcher of the Year. He finished the regular season leading the conference in ERA at 1.93 – the second-best ERA in the league was 3.63. Jandron also ranks in the top three in the conference in wins (eight), complete games (four) and strikeouts (82). Despite being at Northwood for just two years, Jandron is the all-time winningest pitcher in school history, having gone 20-3 with a 2.18 ERA in his time in Midland. Jandron is the first player in GLIAC history to win Pitcher of the Year two consecutive years.
FRESHMAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Nolan Anspaugh - Grand Valley State
Grand Valley State freshman centerfielder Nolan Anspaugh (Schoolcraft, Mich.) has been named the GLIAC Freshman of the Year. Anspaugh, who started 41 games for the Lakers and batted leadoff, hit .320 with 48 hits, 45 runs scored, 14 RBIs and nine multi-hit games. Anspaugh tallied an on base percentage of .421, a slugging percentage of 393, while also going 9-for-9 in stolen bases. Defensively, Anspaugh notched a fielding percentage of 1.000 while roaming the outfield. Anspaugh is the seventh Laker all-time to be named GLIAC Freshman of the Year and the sixth since 2006.
FRESHMAN PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Kyle Freel - Purdue Northwest
Purdue Northwest right-hander Kyle Freel had an impressive debut season with the Pride leading the team in wins (5) and innings pitched (51.2) over his nine appearances this season, all starts. He finished the year with 38 strikeouts, the second highest total on the PNW staff, and also ranked in the top 12 among GLIAC pitchers in a number of categories, including wins (5), losses (4), hits allowed (66), earned runs allowed (32), doubles allowed (16) and home runs allowed (4).
For the second straight year, Jordan Bischel has earned GLIAC Coach of the Year honors. He led Northwood it is second consecutive conference championship this year, as the Timberwolves finished the year 34-14 overall, 21-7 in the GLIAC. Those totals are the second-highest in program history, trailing only last year's marks of 46 and 26, respectively. Over his four years as head coach at Northwood, Bischel has won 133 games – 34 more than any other four-year run in school history (99 – 1988-91). He is the only coach in school history to earn GLIAC Coach of the Year honors.
TROY BERRY AWARD: Ryan Mergener - Wayne State
Mergener collected 420 individual community service hours including a 10-day medical mission trip to Honduras, being a Team IMPACT leader, coordinating team volunteer efforts with the Belinda Sue Charity Detroit Zoo Walk impacting Ovarian Cancer awareness and was a key volunteer coordinator with Father Solanus Casey Beatification at Ford Field in Detroit.
2018 All-GLIAC Baseball First Team | ||||
Pos. | Name | School | Yr. | Hometown |
DH | Carson Mittermaier | Ashland | So. | Wharton, Ohio |
C | Justin Kelly | Wayne State | Jr. | Wheaton, Ill. |
1B | Ryan Blake-Jones | Grand Valley State | So. | Ann Arbor, Mich. |
2B | Brad Baldwin | Wayne State | Sr. | Troy, Mich. |
SS | Anthony Diponio | Davenport | Sr. | Dearborn Heights, Mich. |
3B | Austin LaDoux | Grand Valley State | Sr. | Hastings, Minn. |
INF | JT Conti | Wayne State | Gr. | Trenton, Mich. |
OF | David Vinsky | Northwood | So. | Farmington Hills, Mich. |
OF | Zac Wilson | Davenport | Sr. | New Lowell, Ont. |
OF | Brian Sobieski | Davenport | Sr. | St. Charles, Ill. |
OF | Jacob Gleason | Grand Valley State | Jr. | Grand Blanc, Mich. |
SP | Tyler Jandron | Northwood | Sr. | Negaunee, Mich. |
SP | Grant Wolfram | Davenport | Jr. | Hamilton, Mich. |
SP | Andrew Click | Davenport | Sr. | Portland, Mich. |
SP | Jared Tobey | Wayne State | Sr. | St. Clair, Mich. |
RP | Kyle Lawson | Grand Valley State | Sr. | Muskegon, Mich. |
RP | Lennon Gwizdala | Northwood | Jr. | Bay City, Mich. |
2018 All-GLIAC Baseball Second Team | ||||
Pos. | Name | School | Yr. | Hometown |
DH | Javier Martinez | Northwood | Sr. | Darien, Ill. |
C | Brian Dombrowski | Northwood | Sr. | Troy, Mich. |
1B | Ryan McClelland | Northwood | Sr. | Brighton, Mich. |
2B | Matt Littrell | Ashland | Jr. | Bourbonnais, Ill. |
SS | Colin McClelland | Northwood | Jr. | Brighton, Mich. |
3B | Alex Huard | Davenport | Jr. | Grand Ledge, Mich. |
INF | Greg Ludwig | Ashland | Sr. | Lombard, Ill. |
OF | Austin Petravicius | Davenport | Sr. | Riverview, Mich. |
OF | Patrick Adams | Wayne State | Sr. | Detroit, Mich. |
OF | Connor Barleben | Ashland | Sr. | Albion, N.Y. |
OF | Zach Berry | Grand Valley State | Jr. | Okemos, Mich. |
SP | Ian Dimitrie | Northwood | Sr. | Madison Heights, Mich. |
SP | Devin Peters | Ashland | Jr. | Churubusco, Ind. |
SP | Tate Brawley | Grand Valley State | Sr. | Niles, Mich. |
SP | Justin Palmbos | Davenport | Sr. | Zeeland, Mich. |
RP | Taylor Horn | Wayne State | Sr. | Leo, Ind. |
RP | Josh D. Smith | Grand Valley State | Jr. | Saline, Mich. |
2018 All-GLIAC Baseball Honorable Mention Team | ||||
Pos. | Name | School | Yr. | Hometown |
SS | Austin Eifrid | Ashland | Fr. | Lexington, Ohio |
P | Chance Hitchcock | Ashland | So. | Martinsville, Ind. |
C | Austin Lansky | Davenport | Jr. | Oxford, Mich. |
2B | Nolan Bryant | Davenport | So. | Rockford, Mich. |
2B | Josh C. Smith | Grand Valley State | Sr. | Marysville, Mich. |
P | Ryan Arnold | Grand Valley State | Sr. | Springfield, Ill. |
P | Jake Gross | Northwood | Jr. | Chesaning, Mich. |
OF | Nick Palmer | Northwood | Jr. | Warren, Mich. |
C | Hunter Thorn | Purdue Northwest | So. | Portage, Ind. |
P | Chad Patrick | Purdue Northwest | Fr. | Hebron, Ind. |
P | Brandon Wise | Saginaw Valley | So. | Auburn, Mich. |
1B | Quincy Jones | Saginaw Valley | Jr. | Southfield, Mich. |
P | Luke Fraley | Tiffin | Sr. | Sandusky, Ohio |
UTL | Brayden Callihan | Tiffin | Jr. | Gahanna, Ohio |
SS | Tristen Jorah | Wayne State | Jr. | Clinton Township, Mich |
P | Hunter Brown | Wayne State | So. | St. Clair Shores, Mich. |