Pettigrew and Jackson named First Team All-Region
May 16, 2019

Pettigrew and Jackson named First Team All-Region

Division II Baseball All-Region Teams Announced

In just their second season of competition, Northeast is already filling their trophy case. After winning the 2019 Region XI Tournament in Clinton on Monday, sophomore second baseman Drew Smith took home a pair of individual awards. 

Smith was voted both the 2019 ICCAC Division II Baseball Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year for his stellar performance this spring. His .427 average in conference play was best in the league and he finished in the top 10 in a bevy of categories including hits (4th), extra-base hits (1st), doubles (9th), triples (2nd), walks (7th), RBIs (6th) and total bases (2nd).

Defensively, Smith turned 20 double plays and assisted on 90 outs through the regional tournament, only committing eight errors all year. 

David Pearson, DMACC skipper, was voted Coach of the Year. The Bears won the ICCAC finishing with at 21-7 conference record and secured the No. 1 seed in the Region XI Tournament. It was Pearson's second season at the helm. Their conference crown was their first since the 2014 season. The Bears finished with a 38-17 record and were once ranked 19th in the NJCAA Division II poll. 

Northeast had two other players join Smith on First Team All-Region. One was Cam Taylor, a hard-throwing left-hander. He appeared in six conference games going a perfect 5-0 in ICCAC play. Overall, he is his team's leader in innings pitched at 69.1 and strikeouts with 76. Taylor is tied with his teammate Andrew Shaw, with eight wins this season. 

Rounding out the Region XI Champions' selections was Jayden Sinju. The outfielder boasted a .367 average in conference play with an OPS of 1.143. He hit five homers and had 27 RBIs against ICCAC opponents in 2019. 

DMACC placed two players on First Team; infielder Austin Murr and outfielder Calen Schwabe. Murr hit .415, second behind NECC's Smith. He was tied for second most extra-base hits as well with 16. He led his team with 54 RBIs on the season and had 34 walks. 

Schwabe, the centerfielder for the DMACC Bears, had a .978 fielding percentage and was equally successful at the dish, hitting .378 with an on-base percentage of .486.

The Region XI runners-up, Southeastern supplied the First Team All-Region with two members. Their shutdown closer Kyle Amendt pitched his way to the designated relief spot on First Team. The nation's leader in saves had 14 in total this season and a remarkable ERA of .63. He struck out 64 batters in 39.2 innings (14.69/ks per 9).

Joining him was outfield selection Marcos Sanchez. A .407 hitter, the sophomore belted five homers and had 24 RBIs in conference play with 31 runs, second most in league play. 

NIACC's top pitcher, Michael Oh, earned a spot on First Team. He led his team innings pitched, least amount of earned runs and most strikeouts which totaled up to 73. He has a 2.28 ERA overall. He went 4-0 in conference with two complete games in 40 innings. He was second in strikeouts with 43 against league opponents. 

NIACC added their second player with the first baseman, Fox Leum. He led the conference with 10 home runs and had 27 RBIs. He scored 30 runs (4th most), had 37 hits, (6th most) and had 73 total bases (most). Leum leads the country in total home runs with 24 and is third in RBIs with 69 on the season. 

Kirkwood supplied their infielder Zion Pettigrew to the First Team list. Pettigrew belted six homers and drove in 33 RBIs in 28 ICCAC games. He hit .410, racking up 41 hits in 100 at-bats, third best in ICCAC Division II. 

Rounding out the outfielders on the All-Region team was Kirkwood's second player, Taylor Jackson. Jackson saw the second most at-bats in conference play, 103. He knocked 33 hits and scored 21 runs. 

The lone player from Iowa Central was Devin Porter. He was selected as the designated hitter, crushing 10 home runs in all on the season which led the team and made for 52 RBIs. His season average, .366, also led his team.

Tyrese Mitchell represented the Ellsworth Panthers by being named the catcher to the First Team All-Region. Mitchell had 202 putouts and had a fielding percentage of .960 in 2019. He hit .339 with 53 hits in 157 at-bats all year. 

First Team All-Region 

# Name School Year Pos.
23 Tyrese Mitchell Ellsworth SO C
33 Cam Taylor Northeast FR P
35 Michael Oh NIACC SO P
33 Kyle Amendt Southeastern FR RP
13 Austin Murr DMACC SO INF
7 Drew Smith Northeast SO INF
5 Zion Pettigrew Kirkwood SO INF
1 Fox Leum NIACC SO INF
12 Calen Schwabe DMACC SO OF
25 Marcos Sanchez Southeastern SO OF
1 Taylor Jackson Kirkwood SO OF
22 Jayden Sinju Northeast FR OF
28 Devin Porter Iowa Central SO DH

Second Team All-Region

# Name School Year Pos.
3 Morgan Holmes DMACC SO C
42 Eduardo Noguera Iowa Central FR C
18 Chas Sagedahl Southeastern SO P
23 Jarrett Blunt Iowa Central FR P
30 Andrew Shaw Northeast SO P
6 Alex Potter Northeast FR RP
18 Alberto Ortiz Iowa Central SO INF
34 Jayden Adrians Iowa Lakes SO INF
1 Christian Dumont Northeast SO INF
35 Dayson Croes Southeastern SO INF
39 Devin Buckner Southeastern SO INF
23 Levi Usher Kirkwood FR OF
4 Albert Mora Iowa Central SO OF
15 Carlos Pineryo Southeastern FR OF
9 Evan Salmon DMACC SO DH

Honorable Mention All-Region

# Name School Year Pos.
20 Bryce Walker Northeast SO C
36 Kaden Peterson DMACC SO P
30 Hayden Malenfant Southeastern SO P
16 Jayden Maifeld Iowa Central FR P
10 Will Moritz DMACC SO P
17 Brenden Roder Iowa Central FR P
28 Derek Botaletto Northeast FR INF
6 Denver Blinn DMACC SO INF
2 Nathin Mortimer Iowa Central FR INF
17 Kal Youngquist Kirkwood SO INF
14 Carter Troncin DMACC FR INF
26 Reed Collins Ellsworth SO INF
8 Ben Fitzgerald NIACC SO OF
9 Evan Salmon DMACC SO OF
22 Will Sturek NIACC SO OF

 

Player of the Year: Drew Smith, Northeast

Defensive Player of the Year: Drew Smith, Northeast

Coach of the Year: David Pearson, DMACC