By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Eight Washburn University baseball players received recognition on the 2022 All-MIAA Baseball Team, released Thursday afternoon by the conference office.
Three Washburn players earned All-MIAA second team accolades.
Senior third baseman Brett Ingram earned a second-team nod for the second consecutive year as he has put together a career season, surpassing his stats from the previous two years combined. He has started all 47 games and leads the team with a .369 batting average, 72 hits (fifth in the MIAA), 48 runs, 17 doubles (sixth in the MIAA) and 24 multi-hit games. He is also second on the team with 43 runs batted in and 11 home runs. On March 13 at Northeastern State, Ingram was a grand slam shy of hitting for the home run cycle as he finished the game 5-7 with three homers, four runs, and six RBI.
Pitchers Dalton Huggins and Casey Steward both earned their first all-conference award and joined Ingram on the second team.
Huggins, a Washburn Rural product, has recorded an impressive senior season on the mound for the Ichabods as he ranks in the top-10 among MIAA pitchers in 11 different stat categories. He has a conference-low 3.22 ERA to go with a team-leading 79 strikeouts (third in the MIAA). He's held opponents to a .220 batting average (third in MIAA) and a conference-low 46 hits and 25 runs. The southpaw is 5-1 with three saves in 58.2 innings of work. Against Fort Hays State earlier this year, he struck out a career-high eight batters and allowed just one run, one walk, and three hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Steward, a sophomore, has turned into the Ichabods' Game 1 starter. He is 5-2 in 13 starts and has thrown a team-high 63 and 1/3 innings. He has a 5.97 ERA and 70 strikeouts (seventh in the MIAA) while holding opponents to a .242 batting average (sixth in the MIAA). This season Steward won four consecutive starts with victories over Missouri Western, Central Missouri, Central Oklahoma and Emporia State during that stretch. On April 14 at ESU, he struck out a career-high 11 batters in his six innings of work and threw a one-hitter after the first inning.
A trio of Ichabods were named to the third team as Tyler Clark-Chiapparelli, Parker Dunn and Zion Bowlin received all-conference honors for the second straight season.
Senior second baseman Clark-Chiapparelli was a third-team selection last year and this season he has started and played in 44 games and has a .290 batting average with 51 hits, 12 doubles, seven homers, 38 runs scored and 31 RBI. He's had several clutch hits this year as he had the walk-off sacrifice fly in the 12th inning against Fort Hays State and hit the go-ahead RBI double in the top of the ninth at Emporia State to clinch the rivalry series win.
Dunn, a senior outfielder, was also a member of the third team last season. The power-hitting lefty leads the squad with 51 RBI and 14 home runs (10th in the MIAA) and has tallied 28 home runs in his time as an Ichabod, which is tied for third for the most in program history. He has also landed 49 hits, 12 doubles and scored 38 times this season. On March 4 at Newman, Dunn hit three home runs to become the first Ichabod since 2006 to go yard three times in a game. He also launched a grand slam at Rogers State on April 22.
Senior utility player Bowlin obtained third-team honors after receiving honorable mention last year. He started 30 games and was hitting .339 with 43 hits, six doubles, five homers, 30 RBI, and 29 runs scored before suffering an injury on April 3. At Northeastern State on March 14, he was 3-5 with two homers, three runs scored, and five RBI.
In their first season at Washburn, John Cross and Cal Watkins garnered honorable mention accolades.
Cross has made 11 appearances with three starts and holds a 1-1 record on the year. He has a 3.26 earned run average and 49 strikeouts after 30.1 innings of work. In his most recent start against Pittsburg State, he struck out nine in four innings.
Watkins, a junior, has started all 47 games at shortstop for the Ichabods this season and is batting .286 with 54 hits, 12 doubles, 26 RBI, and 44 runs scored. He has also laid down six sacrifice bunts to help the team, which ranks fourth in the MIAA. On March 5 at Newman, he was a single away from hitting for the cycle as he finished the day 3-5 with four RBI and four runs scored.
Washburn is the No. 5 seed in the MIAA tournament and will play at the No. 4 seed Central Oklahoma this weekend in a best-of-three quarterfinal series. Game one is set for Friday at 6 p.m. in Edmond, Okla.
2022 MIAA Baseball Awards
Co-Player of the Year – Brennen van Breusegen, Outfield – Central Missouri
Co-Player of the Year – Brock Reller, Outfield – Northeastern State
Pitcher of the Year – Kyler Patterson – Central Oklahoma
Freshman of the Year – TJ Racherbaumer, Catcher – Emporia State
Coach of the Year – Kyle Crookes – Central Missouri
2022 All-MIAA Baseball Teams
First-Team
Starting Pitcher – Collin Jones – Central Missouri*
Starting Pitcher – Logan VanWey – Missouri Southern*
Starting Pitcher – Max Spitzmiller – Northwest Missouri
Relief Pitcher – Kyler Patterson – Central Oklahoma
Catcher – Brayden Rodden – Northeastern State
First Base – Garrett McGowan – Pittsburg State*
Second Base – Blaze Brothers – Northeastern State
Shortstop – Jesse Holguin – Rogers State
Third Base – Alex Croach – Missouri Western
Outfield – Brennan van Breusegen – Central Missouri*
Outfield – Blake Freeman – Northeastern State
Outfield – Brock Reller – Northeastern State
Designated Hitter – Garrett Pennington – Central Missouri
Utility – Garrett Takamatsu – Central Oklahoma
Second-Team
Starting Pitcher – Jonathan Smithey – Northeastern State
Starting Pitcher – Jordan Ewig – Rogers State
Starting Pitcher – Casey Steward - Washburn
Relief Pitcher – Brady Gavin – Central Missouri
Relief Pitcher – Dalton Huggins - Washburn
Catcher – Tommy Stevenson – Missouri Southern
First Base – John Prudhom – Central Missouri
Second Base – Mason Hartman – Pittsburg State
Shortstop – Harrison Schnurbusch – Central Missouri
Third Base – Brett Ingram - Washburn
Outfield – Michael Chrisman – Central Missouri
Outfield – Tyler Push - Newman
Outfield – Matt Kaiser – Northeastern State
Outfield – Jordan Maxson – Pittsburg State
Designated Hitter – Caleb Carr – Pittsburg State
Utility – Matt Miller – Missouri Southern
Third-Team
Starting Pitcher – Jared Kengott – Emporia State
Starting Pitcher – Asher Finke - Newman
Starting Pitcher – Peyton Ingalls – Pittsburg State
Relief Pitcher – Harrison Babbitt – Central Missouri
Relief Pitcher – Beaux Bonvillain – Central Oklahoma
Relief Pitcher – Connor Langrell - Newman
Catcher – TJ Racherbaumer – Missouri Southern
First Base – CD White – Northeastern State
Second Base – Tyler Clark – Chiapparelli - Washburn
Shortstop – Jaden Parsons – Central Oklahoma
Third Base – Cole Moore – Central Missouri
Outfield – Clayton Peterson – Central Oklahoma
Outfield – Sam Chaput – Emporia State
Outfield – Parker Dunn - Washburn
Designated Hitter – Ryan Doran – Missouri Southern
Designated Hitter – Joel Escalante – Rogers State
Utility – Blake Carroll – Emporia State
Utility – Zion Bowlin - Washburn
Gold Glove Team
Pitcher – Collin Jones – Central Missouri
Pitcher – Kyler Patterson – Central Oklahoma
Catcher – Jonathan Soto – Rogers State
First Base – Garrett McGowan – Pittsburg State
Second Base – Blaze Brothers – Northeastern State
Shortstop – Jaden Parsons – Central Oklahoma
Third Base – Brett Holden – Northwest Missouri
Outfield – Michael Chrisman – Central Missouri
Outfield – Noah Olson – Central Oklahoma
Outfield – Matt Kaiser – Northeastern State
Outfield – Prescott Horn – Rogers State
Honorable Mentions
Central Missouri: Isaiah Pani – Catcher; Donovan Dittio – Second Base; Sam Tatam – Outfield; Jacob Steele - Utility
Central Oklahoma: Lawton Isaacs – Relief Pitcher; Noah Olson – Outfield; Landon Wood – Outfield
Emporia State: Aaron Bechtel – Starting Pitcher
Fort Hays State: Grant Schmidt – Outfield; Tenner Kehe - Utility
Missouri Southern: Cole Woods – Starting Pitcher; Treghan Parker – Second Base; Nate Mieszkowski – Shortstop; Henry Kusiak – Third Base; Jordan Fitzpatrick – Outfield
Missouri Western: Brady Holden – Outfield; Jared Munk - Utility
Newman: Jenner Steele – First Base
Northeastern State: Seth Key – Starting Pitcher; Jake Bigham – Relief Pitcher; Kademon Graff – Shortstop; Collin Klingensmith – Third Base; Tucker Dunlap – Designated Hitter
Northwest Missouri: Alex Slocum – Starting Pitcher; Jacob Gajic – Relief Pitcher; Jacob Pinkerton – Shortstop; Ryan Koski – Outfield
Pittsburg State: Tanner Lane – Starting Pitcher; Cruz Aranda - Shortstop
Rogers State: Octavio Sanchez – Relief Pitcher; Jonathan Soto – Catcher; Skyler Nelson – First Base; Gavin Mestas – Third Base
Washburn: John Cross – Starting Pitcher; Cal Watkins – Shortstop
*Indicates unanimous selection
^Includes ties in voting