CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Mid-American Conference announced the All-MAC First Team, Second Team & Specialty Award selections for the 2025 season today. The teams were voted on by the Conference's head coaches. The All-Defensive Team has also been announced.
Kent State’s Hayden Jatczak was named MAC Player of the Year, while Miami’s Cooper Katskee was tabbed the MAC Pitcher of the Year.
Kent State’s Sawyer Solitaria earned Freshman of the Year accolades, while Toledo’s Brady Sasse was selected as the Freshman Pitcher of the Year. Bowling Green’s Garrett Wright earned Defensive Player of the Year honors, while Miami’s Brian Smiley rounded out the speciality awards by being selected as the Coach of the Year.
Jatczak becomes just the seventh Golden Flash to earn Player of the Year honors and the first since George Roberts in 2012. The grad student slashed .384/.494/.768 on the season while leading the MAC in runs (75), Runs Batted In (78), and lead all of Division 1 baseball with 28 doubles. Jatczak’s 75 runs in a Kent State single season program record passing John VanBenschoten’s 74 runs in 2001.
Katskee was named the MAC Pitcher of the Year and selected to the All-MAC First Team as a starting pitcher after making eight starts and 14 total appearances for the RedHawks. The redshirt sophomore from Greenwood Village, Colo., is tied for the fourth-most wins across Division I baseball with a 10-1 record and leads the MAC in wins by three. Katskee boasts the second-lowest ERA in the MAC (2.86) behind Byers and the sixth-most innings pitched with 72.1. He earned MAC Pitcher of the Week honors twice this season and pitched two complete games, including a 4-1 nine-inning win against Central Michigan.
Solitaira is the fifth Golden Flash to win Freshman of the Year honors and is the first since Justin Kirby in 2019. Solitaria played and started in 51 games for the Flashes hitting .317 in the cleanup spot providing 61 RBIs, on 60 hits, 52 runs scored, and stolen bases (20). The Freshman saw time in the field at left field, third base, first base, and designated hitter.
Sasse worked his way into Toledo's weekend rotation, having made 13 appearances and 10 starts this season. In 51.1 innings, Sasse has a 3.68 ERA, a .236 opponent batting average, and leads the Rockets with a 1.17 WHIP, totaling 40 strikeouts to 15 walks. In MAC games, Sasse holds a 1.02 WHIP and has allowed opponents to hit just .225, also allowing just six walks to 28 strikeouts. He pitched 5.0 shutout innings on three hits and four strikeouts against Akron on April 6 and set a season high with 6.0 innings, allowing just one unearned run on two hits as Toledo clinched the Battle of I-75 regular-season series against Bowling Green on May 3.
Wright is just the second player in program history to be named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year, joining Catcher T.J. Losby from the 2014 campaign. Wright is just the fourth Falcon to be a two-time All-MAC Defensive member, joining Zac Carey (2017-18), Jake Wilson (2018-19) and Nathan Archer (2023-24).
On top of his strong season at the plate, Wright has been excellent defensively as well. Playing in 52 of BGSU’s 53 games, he’s posted a perfect fielding percentage behind the dish while also appearing at five different positions for the Falcons over the course of the season. He’s made 34 starts at catcher, 11 in left field, three in right field, two in left field and two at third base. Overall, he’s currently repping a .991 fielding percentage over the five positions with just three errors on 325 chances. Of his few errors, two came at third and one in center field, giving him a perfect fielding percentage at three different positions this season, all three with three or more games played there.
Brian Smiley was named the 2025 MAC Coach of the Year after leading the RedHawks to 23 regular season conference wins, the most in Red and White history. After a 27-27 record in 2024, the 2025 squad improved to 32-21 under the second-year coach. Additionally, Miami went undefeated in conference series, taking at least two games from every conference opponent this season. Smiley is the first head coach to receive MAC Coach of the Year since Tracy Smith in 2005. The RedHawks also won a share of the regular season MAC title for the first time since 2005 under Smiley’s coaching and will head to Avon as the number one seed this week.
The MAC Baseball Tournament begins tomorrow at Crushers Stadium in Avon, Ohio as No. 3 Ball State takes on No. 6 Eastern Michigan at 12:30 p.m. ET, while No. 4 Bowling Green faces No. 5 Toledo at 6 p.m. ET. Both games can be seen on ESPN+.
2025 MAC Baseball Postseason Awards & All-MAC Teams
Coach of the Year: Brian Smiley, Miami
Player of the Year: Hayden Jatczak, Kent State
Pitcher of the Year: Cooper Katskee, Miami
Freshman of the Year: Sawyer Solitaria, Kent State
Freshman Pitcher of the Year: Brady Sasse, Toledo
Defensive Player of the Year: Garrett Wright, Bowling Green
All-MAC First Team
C– Garrett Wright, Bowling Green
1B– Evan Appelwick, Miami
2B– Nick Husovsky, Ball State
3B– Hayden Jatczak, Kent State
SS– Dylan Grego, Ball State
OF– Jake Casey, Kent State
OF– Ben Slanker, Ohio
OF– Blake Bevis, Ball State
DH– Sawyer Solitaria, Kent State
SP– Cooper Katskee, Miami
SP– Jacob Bean, Kent State
SP– Jacob Tabor, Toledo
SP– Keegan Johnson, Ball State
RP– Connar Penrod, Bowling Green
At-Large– Dillon Baker, Miami
All-MAC Second Team
C– Logan Gregorio, Northern Illinois
1B– Gavin Baldwin, Northern Illinois
2B– Matt Ineich, Ohio
3B– Alex Richter, Ball State
SS– Luke Matthews, Kent State
OF– Anthony Zarlingo, Miami
OF– Logan Hugo, Eastern Michigan
OF– Ryan Novak, Miami
OF– Caden Konczak, Toledo
DH– Ty Batusich, Miami
SP– Jacob Hartlaub, Ball State
SP– Jared Schaeffer, Akron
SP– Brady Sasse, Toledo
SP– Drew Beckner, Eastern Michigan
RP– Carson Byers, Miami
All-MAC Defensive Team
C– Garrett Wright, Bowling Green
1B– Hunter Klotz, Kent State
2B– Charlie Schebler, Akron
3B– Alex Richter, Ball State
SS– Dylan Grego, Ball State
OF– Anthony Zarlingo, Miami
OF– Zach Knowlton, Central Michigan
OF– Tanner Mally, Western Michigan
P– Jared Schaeffer, Akron
