Regular season champion Saints lead UMAC baseball postseason awards; Vikings' Boran named Player of the Year
ST. PAUL, Minn.---For the 23rd-straight season, the College of St. Scholastica won the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) regular season baseball championship and headlines the postseason awards with two of the top four honors and seven All-UMAC First Team selections, while postseason champion Bethany Lutheran College's Ben Boran was named the UMAC Player of the Year, it was announced Tuesday.
The regular-season champion saw Jake Sande named Pitcher of the Year and Corey Kemp selected as Coach of the Year by his peers. The final major honor went to Jake Schramm of Northland College who was picked as the Rookie of the Year.
St. Scholastica finished the regular season 24-14 under Kemp and posted a 14-2 conference mark that allowed the Saints to win the title outright after sharing in 2018 with Bethany Lutheran. This year, the Saints were ranked No. 7 in the NCAA Division III Midwest rankings in consecutive weeks after a strong non-conference schedule in the first half of the season. The Saints also played six teams in the NCAA tournament – including Bethany Lutheran – and recorded a 3-5 mark against those squads. In conference play, Kemp's Saints led the offensive statistics in average (.351), doubles (47), triples (15), total bases (304), slugging (.541), walks (97), on-base percentage (.456) and stolen bases (61-of-73).
As a staff, the Saints' pitching was second in the conference in earned run average (ERA) with 3.88 and second in opponent average (.272). Leading the way was junior hurler Sande who made six appearances in conference play posting five wins including three against UMAC postseason teams. He led with a remarkable 0.00 ERA allowing just one run and holding opponents to a .184 average. Sande allows just 19 total hits and gave up three walks while tossing 13 strikeouts. In overall games, he ranked third in the UMAC for ERA (3.63) and was tied for first with seven wins.
While the Saints had a successful regular season, so did Bethany Lutheran which led to a second-consecutive UMAC postseason tournament title and opportunity to advance to the NCAA Championship thanks in large part to the monstrous season at the plate from Boran. The senior shortstop was remarkable in conference games leading the UMAC in slugging (.824), runs (26), RBI (28) and home runs (6). He also ranked int he top five in average (.456), on-base (.531), hits (31), doubles (7) and at bats (68). In overall games, Boran was even better as he led the conference in slugging (.714), hits (64), RBI (53) and at bats (154). He was second in average (.416), runs (46), doubles (16) and home runs (10).
Currently, Boran ranks 14th in NCAA Division III for RBI (53) and RBI per game (1.33). Following the UMAC tournament, Boran currently owns a 26-game hitting streak and has safely reached base in 31 consecutive games. In conference games this season, he recorded 11 multi-hit and 11 multi-RBI performances. Overall, Boran has 20 multi-hit games including seven with three or more hits and 19 games with two or more RBI.
Under new leadership and with talent like Schramm, the LumberJacks should be back in contention for the postseason in no time. First-year infielder Schramm was the only rookie position player to earn All-UMAC honors after leading the UMAC in batting average in overall games (.436) and conference-only games (.475). In conference play, he ranked third in hits (29) and ninth in on-base (.507). For overall games, Schramm was sixth in hits (51) and on-base (.485). His .436 average currently ranks 19th in Division III. Schramm also recorded nine multi-hit games against UMAC opponents this season.
Boran, Sande and Schramm were among 26 total players to claim All-UMAC First-Team honors with the Saints earning a conference-most seven and the Vikings just behind with six. Carson Ferry of Northland is the only player on the list to have been selected All-UMAC First Team three times in their career. Nine players earned back-to-back First Team accolades including Cory Albertson (University of Wisconsin-Superior), Braeden Barr (Wisconsin-Superior), Grant Becher (Bethany Lutheran), Ross Beumer (Bethany Lutheran), Boran (Bethany Lutheran), Nick Caldeen (Bethany Lutheran), Cory Kukkola (North Central University), Philip Wall (University of Northwestern) and Aaron Weber (St. Scholastica). Caldeen and Kukkola are the only two players who have been named either First Team or Honorable Mention four times, while Albertson, Caleb Christopher (Martin Luther College), Gideon Dunn (Crown College) and Ferry have been on one of the two squads three times.
Sande leads a group of 10 players who have been either First Team or Honorable Mention twice in their careers which also includes Matt Baehmen (Martin Luther), Adrian Bethel (Northland), Seth Betts (Crown), Matt Boyde (Wisconsin-Superior), Michael Head (University of Minnesota Morris), Carlton Lindow (Northwestern), Travis Miller (Wisconsin-Superior), Logan Nissen (Bethany Lutheran) and Brandon Scott (North Central).
Each year the UMAC recognizes the team sportsmanship award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represented sportsmanship throughout the entire season. North Central University earned the honor for the third-consecutive season. Each team also had one representative on the individual sportsmanship award list.
Player of the Year Award* – Ben Boran, Sr., Bethany Lutheran
Pitcher of the Year Award^ – Jake Sande, Jr., St. Scholastica
Rookie of the Year Award# – Jake Schramm, Fy., Northland
Coach of the Year Award – Corey Kemp, St. Scholastica
First-Team UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Position |
Hometown/High School |
| Cory Albertson |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Catcher |
Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater |
| Braeden Barr |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Utility |
San Diego, Calif./Grossmount |
| Grant Becher |
Jr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Infield |
Wells, Minn./United South Central |
| Seth Betts |
So. |
Crown |
Infield |
St. George, Utah/Desert Hills |
| Ross Beumer |
So. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Outfield |
Northfield, Minn./Northfield |
| Ben Boran* |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Infield |
Waterville, Minn./Waterville-Elysian-Morristown |
| Nick Caldeen |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Catcher |
Blaine, Minn./Blaine |
| Caleb Christopher |
Jr. |
Martin Luther |
Outfield |
Sharpsburg, Ga./Michigan Lutheran Seminary |
| Blaise Fairbanks |
Sr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Infield |
Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti |
| Carson Ferry |
Sr. |
Northland |
Pitcher |
Paw Paw, Mich./Homeschool |
| Adam Fjerstad |
So. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Pitcher |
Hayfield, Minn./Hayfield |
| Bryce Flanagan |
So. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Utility |
Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd |
| Brad Fossum |
Sr. |
St. Scholastica |
Infield |
Sturgeon Lake, Minn./Moose Lake |
| James Fuerniss |
Sr. |
St. Scholastica |
Infield |
Lonsdale, Minn./New Prague |
| Lane Girtz |
So. |
St. Scholastica |
Outfield |
Pierz, Minn./Pierz Healy |
| Cory Kukkola |
Sr. |
North Central |
Infield |
Fountain Hills, Ariz./Fountain Hills |
| Quinton Lindow |
Sr. |
Northwestern |
Pitcher |
Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls |
| Dallas McBroom |
So. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Pitcher |
Elysian, Minn./Waterville-Elysian-Morristown |
| Eric Pearson |
Jr. |
St. Scholastica |
Infield |
Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park |
| Ryan Rodriguez |
So. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Pitcher |
Chaska, Minn./Chaska |
| Jake Sande^ |
Jr. |
St. Scholastica |
Pitcher |
Hayward, Wis./Hayward |
| Jake Schramm# |
Fy. |
Northland |
Outfield |
Kaukauna, Wis./Kaukauna |
| Grant Taival |
Fy. |
St. Scholastica |
Pitcher |
Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi |
| Philip Wall |
So. |
Northwestern |
Utility |
Juneau, Alaska/IDEA |
| Aaron Weber |
Jr. |
St. Scholastica |
Infield |
Sauk Rapids, Minn./Pierz |
| Joe Wehr |
Jr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Pitcher |
St. Anthony, Minn./St. Anthony Village |
UMAC All-Conference Honorable Mention
| Name |
Year |
School |
Position |
Hometown/High School |
| Matt Baehman |
Sr. |
Martin Luther |
Outfield |
Neenah, Wis./Fox Valley Lutheran |
| Michael Barrientos |
Fy. |
North Central |
Pitcher |
Long Beach, Calif./Millikan |
| Joey Behm |
So. |
Martin Luther |
Infield |
Jackson, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran |
| Adrian Bethel |
So. |
Northland |
Outfield |
Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial |
| Matt Boyde |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Outfield |
Chanhassen, Minn./Minnetonka |
| Noah Cross |
So. |
Northland |
Infield |
Redford, Mich./Churchill |
| Gideon Dunn |
Sr. |
Crown |
Outfield |
Tampa, Fla./Steinbrenner |
| Michael Head |
Jr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Pitcher |
Kasson, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville |
| Carlton Lindow |
So. |
Northwestern |
Catcher |
Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls |
| Travis Miller |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Infield |
Whittier, Calif./La Serna |
| Sydney Ness |
So. |
Crown |
Pitcher |
Stanwood, Wash./Mount Vernon Christian |
| Logan Nissen |
Jr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Pitcher |
Olivia, Minn./B.O.L.D. |
| Mack O'Neil |
So. |
Minnesota Morris |
Outfield |
White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake |
| Brandon Scott |
Sr. |
North Central |
Infield |
Chicago, Ill./College of DuPage |
| Bradley Spencer |
Sr. |
Northwestern |
Pitcher |
Papillion, Neb./Papillion |
| Cole Tyman |
Jr. |
St. Scholastica |
Catcher |
Elk Mound, Minn./Elk Mound |
| Cody Ulfers |
Jr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Outfield |
Waseca, Minn./Waseca |
| Conor Wollenzien |
Sr. |
St. Scholastica |
Infield |
North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West |
UMAC Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award – North Central
Bethany Lutheran – Eric Westphal, Sr., North Mankato, Minn./Minnesota Valley Lutheran
Crown – Gideon Dunn, Sr., Tampa, Fla./Steinbrenner
Martin Luther – Nate Goelzer, Sr., Deland, Fla./Luther Prep
Minnesota Morris – Thomas Eckstien, Sr., Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo
North Central – Cole Sneed, Fy., Scottsdale, Ariz./Saguaro
Northland – Jonathan Knusta, Sr., Lublin, Wis/Thorp
Northwestern – Aaron Krahn, Sr., Roseau, Minn./Roseau
St. Scholastica – Drew Sathrum, Sr., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo
Wisconsin-Superior – Trevor Roszczewski, Sr., Minocqua, Wis./Lakeland Union