All-MAC Baseball Teams & Specialty Award Winners Announced
Cleveland, Ohio - Today the Mid-American Conference announced the All-MAC First Team, Second Team & Specialty Award selections for the 2016 season. The teams were voted on by the league's head coaches. The league's All-Defensive Team was also announced this evening.
Ball State's Alex Call was named MAC Player of the Year, while Kent State's Eric Lauer was tabbed as MAC Pitcher of the Year. Western Michigan's Connor Smith earned MAC Freshman of the Year honors, NIU's William Anderson was picked as this year's MAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year & Toledo's Deion Tansel earned MAC Defensive Player of the Year accolades for the second consecutive season. Kent State's Jeff Duncan was named the leagues MAC Coach of the Year.
The MAC Baseball Championship begins tomorrow with four games. No. 3 Miami takes on No. 6 Central Michigan at 9:30 a.m., while No. 2 Ball State will battle No. 7 Western Michigan at 1 p.m. No. 1 Kent State takes on No. 8 Eastern Michigan at 4:30 p.m. and No. 4 Northern Illinois closes out the day with an 8 p.m. game vs. No. 5 Toledo.
More coming soon...
MAC Player of the Year
Alex Call, Ball State, Jr., OF
MAC Pitcher of the Year
Eric Lauer, Kent State, Jr., LHP
MAC Freshman of the Year
Connor Smith, Western Michigan, Fr., SS
MAC Freshman Pitcher of the Year
William Anderson, Northern Illinois, Fr., RHP
MAC Defensive Player of the Year
Deion Tansel, Sr., Toledo, SS
MAC Coach of the Year
Jeff Duncan, Kent State
All-MAC First Team
C- Jarett Rindfleisch, Jr., Ball State
1B - Caleb Stayton, Jr., Ball State
2B - Brad Wood, So., Northern Illinois
3B - Mitch McGeein, Sr., Eastern Michigan
SS - Deion Tansel, Sr., Toledo
OF - Alex Call, Jr., Ball State
OF - Luke Burch, Jr., Kent State
OF - Vinny Mallaro, Jr., Buffalo
SP - Eric Lauer, Jr., Kent State
SP - Keegan Akin, Jr., Western Michigan
SP - Eli Kraus, So., Kent State
SP - Alec Tuohy, Jr., Buffalo
RP - B.J. Butler, Jr., Ball State
DH - Zarley Zalewski, Sr., Kent State
DH -- Gary Russo, Sr., Miami
All-MAC Second Team
C- Cody Gaertner, Sr., Ohio
1B - Ross Haffey, So., Miami
2B - Steve Sada, Jr., Miami
3B - Dylan Rosa, So., Kent State
SS - Connor Smith, Fr., Western Michigan
OF - Mitch Longo, Jr., Ohio
OF - Daniel Jipping, So., Central Michigan
OF - Stephen Letz, Sr., Northern Illinois
SP - Ross Achter, Sr., Toledo
SP - Cole Gnetz, Fr., Miami
SP - Andy Ravel, Jr., Kent State
SP - William Anderson, Fr., Northern Illinois
RP - Zach Willeman, So., Kent State
DH - Brennan Williams, So., Eastern Michigan
At-Large - Conner Simonetti, Jr., Kent State
MAC All-Defensive Team
C: Cody Gaertner, Sr., Ohio
1B: Tommy Hook, Jr., Northern Illinois
2B: Riley Minorik, Fr., Bowling Green
SS: Deion Tansel, Sr., Toledo
3B: Sean Kennedy, Jr., Ball State
OF: Manny DeJesus, Sr., Ohio
OF: Mason Mamarella, So., Kent State
OF: Alex Call, Jr., Ball State
P: Keegan Akin, Jr., Western Michigan
