Five Players, Coach Garner All-Heart Awards
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa–A handful of Statesmen baseball players–as well as their skipper–were honored for a huge turnaround campaign in 2019 as the all-Heart of America Athletic Conference teams were announced Tuesday.
Center fielder Blaze Speas (Sr., O’Fallon, Mo., Wellness and Recreation) and starting pitcher Chase Stratton (Jr., Clearfield, Utah, Sports Management) collected first-team recognition, while third baseman Seth Reisbeck (Sr., Meridian, Idaho, History/Government) earned a second-team nod. First baseman Jarrett Hunt (Jr., Logan, Utah, Digital Communications) and starting pitcher Lionel Colon (Jr., Vieques, P.R., Business Management) notched honorable mentions as well.
The laurel is the first for all of the individuals besides Reisbeck who also collected an honorable mention last year.
William Penn Head Coach Mike Laird was chosen by his peers as Heart Coach of the Year. It marks the 10th time in his career that he has been lauded.
The group helped the navy and gold complete an incredible 180 from a season ago. The Statesmen were 15-30 in 2018 with an 8-22 mark in the league (tied for last place), but rebounded to finish this spring at 33-12, including a Heart regular season title at 18-7. WPU also received votes nationally this year.
Speas hit .352 (62-for-176) this year with five home runs and 51 RBIs. He also scored 38 times, posted 10 doubles, and legged out one triple. The senior owned a .560 slugging clip and a .410 on-base mark. He led the team in hits, RBIs, and runs, while also walking 17 times and stealing five bases.
Stratton was the ace of the pitching staff, posting a 6-3 record with a 3.05 Earned Run Average. In 73 2/3 innings of work, he struck out 109 batters (nearly 1.5 per inning) with just 31 walks, while opponents hit a paltry .213 against the junior. The owner of one shutout and one save, Stratton was a one-time Heart Pitcher of the Week.
Stratton is just the fourth pitcher in school history to hit the century mark in strikeouts in a single campaign and his 109 are the second-most all-time in one year at WPU.
Reisbeck produced a .371 batting clip (56-for-151) with five doubles, 28 RBIs, and 33 runs scored. He had a .404 slugging percentage and a .478 on-base clip, including 18 walks and a team-high 13 hit-by-pitches. The senior also stole three bases.
Hunt hit .327 with a squad-high 11 doubles. He drove in 31 runs and scored 34 times, while managing a .393 slugging mark and a .415 on-base percentage. The junior stole five bases and walked on 23 occasions.
Colon went 7-1 this spring with a 5.19 Earned Run Average in 67 2/3 innings. He tallied 68 strikeouts with 26 walks and opposing batters hit just .260 against him.
Laird earned his 1,000th career victory this spring and guided the program to its first 30-win season since 2009 and the 14th in his tenure.
Hunt was also honored for his skilled work in the field as he was named to the Heart’s Gold Glove team at first base. In a team-high 341 chances this year, he posted 325 putouts (also a team best) with 13 assists and committed just three errors for a remarkable .991 fielding percentage. The junior was a part of 21 double plays.
Daryl Myers of Benedictine earned Heart Player of the Year honors, while Mason Schwellenbach of Central Methodist was named Heart Pitcher of the Year.
