ICCAC Division II Baseball Promotes All-Region Teams

ICCAC Division II Baseball produced another competitive season across the eight-team league in 2023. Today, the ICCAC released the All-Region teams and special awards.

This year's most prestigious award, Player of the Year, went to shortstop Evan Borst of Iowa Central.

Borst was in the top 10 in nearly every category during the 33-game conference season. He was second in hits and runs with 50 each. He was third in runs batted in with 40, and had five saves as a pitcher, also third-most. He hit .407 with a .510 on-base percentage and a slugging percentage of .740 -- totaling a 1.250 OPS. 

His power numbers saw 10 doubles, and nine home runs and two triples -- all top 10 in the league. In the field, Borst had 74 assists, 11 errors in 116 total chances and a .905 fielding percentage. 

He became the first Triton Baseball player to win the award since the ICCAC began awarding Player of the Year in all sports in 2017-18. 

The 2023 Defensive Player of the Year was awarded to Southeastern's Jose Sallorin. He committed just three errors in 30 conference games along with finishing inside the top 5 in assists at a total of 70. The First Team All-Region infielder had a .974 fielding percentage and had 43 putouts in conference. On the offensive side, Sallorin had 27 RBIs and batted at a .337 clip in conference play. 

Sallorin is the third Blackhawk to win DPOY since 2017-18, and second-straight winner after Taichi Nakao won the award last season. 

The lone First Team All-Region catcher selection, Jose Valentin, led the way in first place with 13 total homers and total bases at 98. The Ellsworth Panther was third in hits at 49, third in SLG% with a .824 average, and fifth in batting average with a .412. He did all of this in 119 at-bats in 33 total games. 

Both sophomore's Clay Beaumont and Gage Ingram of Northeast joined the First Team as pitchers. Beaumont started the most number of games and pitched the most innings too. He struck out a total of 41 batters and finished in the top 5 for the least amount of walks. Ingram in 28.1 innings pitched gave up 19 hits and just seven earned runs. He finished second in saves with a grand total of six too. 

Logan Runde was second in ERA in the conference at 2.80 and in 35.1 innings pitched, he struck out 39 batters. The First Teamer from Kirkwood averaged 9.93 strikeouts per nine innings while going 3-0 in seven starts, with a complete game as well.

NIACC's pitcher Ben Rosin was tied for third in the most innings at 38.1. Rosin led the entire conference in strikeouts with 44 and walked just seven hitters in seven appearances.

The final First Team All-Region pitchers belonged to Southeastern in Casey Perrenoud and Gage Pearson. Perrenoud led in ERA at 1.66 and was the only pitcher to have an ERA below 2.00. In his six appearances, Perrenoud pitched four complete games with all of them being shutouts. Pearson appeared in 10 games totaling two wins, a loss, and two saves. In 20.1 innings pitched he struck out 14 and walked just five batters.

The two other infielders on the First Team yet to be mentioned were Reed Stallman of DMACC and Jack Lux of Kirkwood.

Stallman knocked in 30 runners along with hitting 11 doubles in 102 at-bats. He was second in hit-by-pitches after getting hit 12 times and walked 23 times which placed him in 10^th.

Lux came on strong during the conference season. He knocked in 37 RBI, eighth-most, and hit .417 -- fourth-highest. 

Cole Yearsley joined the First Team as one of the three outfielders. In 99 at-bats, Yearsley had the best on base percentage with a .562 and was third in batting average at .424. His fielding percentage was a high .973 and committed just two errors.

The other two First Team outfielders included Quade Peters and Colten Becker, both from Iowa Central.

Peters was one of just five players to play over 32 games and have a 1.000 fielding percentage. He had the most runs, the second-best batting average, and was first in hits while having 10 more hits than the second-place finisher. Becker was fourth in slugging percentage and first in RBI with 56, 14 more than second place. He hit 11 home runs which was the third best and ended up with nine stolen bases as well.

Utility First Teamer, Noah Furcht, hit nine doubles, along with knocking in 40 runners. The Kirkwood sophomore had 81 assists, which was second-best, and committed 18 double plays which was the most in the conference. 

Adam Berghult, a freshman from NIACC, took home the only designated hitter spot on the First Team. Berghult brought the power for the Trojans finishing inside the top 2 in home runs (12), batting average (.451), on base percentage (.558), and slugging percentage (.923). He did it all in just 91 at-bats in 30 total games.

The Coach of the Year Award went to Eric Stein of Iowa Central. Stein coached his baseball club to a 46-11 record in 57 games. Iowa Central ended conference play at 25-8 and ended the regular season on an eight-game winning streak. It was their first regular season title since 2017 when they split with NIACC, and first outright since 2015. They ended the season ranked No. 8 in the NJCAA Division II poll.

(All stats referenced based on conference play, unless denoted otherwise).

Player of the Year: Evan Borst, Iowa Central

Defensive Player of the Year: Jose Sallorin, Southeastern

Coach of the Year: Eric Stein, Iowa Central