Posted: 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