2018 All-GLIAC Baseball Teams & Postseason Awards Announced

2018 All-GLIAC Baseball Teams & Postseason Awards Announced

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).​

COACH OF THE YEAR: Jordan Bischel - Northwood

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
 
Senior outfielder Ryan Mergener was named the recipient of the fourth annual Troy Berry Award for his character, leadership and integrity.  The award is presented annually to the GLIAC baseball player who best combines outstanding character.  The honor is named after former Findlay head baseball coach Troy Berry.  Wayne State student-athletes have won the award in three of the four seasons it has been given out.

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.

A complete list of the 2018 All-GLIAC baseball teams is below:
 
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.