Three Central players earn weekly league honors

PELLA — It was a good week to be a Central College right fielder as the baseball team’s Colton DeRocher (sophomore, Sioux City, East HS) and the softball team’s Franie Burnett (sophomore, Ankeny, Centennial HS) were named the league’s Male and Female Athlete of the Week, respectively.

Baseball relief pitcher Wes Hamor (freshman, Tama, East Marshall HS) was also named the league’s pitcher of the week

DeRocher hit .677 in the final five games of Central’s trip to Florida, including a monstrous 5-for-5 and five RBI game against Bowdoin College (Maine) on Thursday. His single in the seventh inning against the State University of New York – Polytechnic was a walk-off winner. He drove in a total of 11 runs on 10 hits, scoring six times. He was also the league’s baseball position player of the week.

Burnett hit .760 in the final eight games of Central’s trip to Florida, recording at least two hits in each contest. She tied a school record with five stolen bases in an 8-4 win against Brockport State (N.Y.). She crossed the plate 13 times during the course of a 7-1 stretch for the Dutch. She was also the league’s position player of the week.

In his first two appearances for Central, Hamor notched a save and a win. He struck out six of nine batters faced in a three-inning save against Knox College (Ill.). He then got the win after two scoreless frames against the SUNY – Poly before the Dutch had a 6-5 walk-off win.

DeRocher was Central’s first player of the week since 2018 and Hamor was the program’s first pitcher of the week since 2015.

The Dutch baseball team hosts Buena Vista University in a three-game series this Friday and Saturday. The softball team hosts Bethel University (Minn.) at 2 p.m. on Saturday for a twinbill.