UMAC Regular Season Champion Eagles lead 2022 baseball awards
ST PAUL, Minn. -- For a second-straight season, the University of Northwestern claimed the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) baseball regular season title. Following this impressive feat, the champion Eagles headline the postseason all-conference awards and took the top four honors as nominated for and voted on by the conference coaches, it was announced Tuesday.
Owen Boerema repeated as the UMAC Pitcher of the Year for the Eagles, while slugger Keegan Vercoe was tabbed the Player of the Year. Payton Christenson of the Eagles and Aidan Russell of Bethany Lutheran College were both selected as Rookie of the Year, while Dave Hieb was named Coach of the Year by his peers for the second time in as many seasons.
In conference play this season, Boerema was nearly perfect with a 0.31 earned run average (ERA) for a league-best eight regular season wins. He pitched 58 innings and tallied 95 strikeouts – a total that is 30 more than the runner-up that category. The lefty held UMAC opponents to a .130 average and just two total earned runs.
Perhaps Boerema's most impressive outing of his career came in a critical 5-0 shutout of Crown College in which he threw a school-record 21 strikeouts that was just one shy of the NCAA Division III record. That week he was selected the national Pitcher of the Week. Boerema is third in NCAA Division with 120 strikeouts, and his current 1.18 ERA ranks fourth in the nation. Boerema was four times selected as the UMAC Pitcher of the Week.
At the plate, Vercoe was a powerful player for the champion Eagles ranking in the UMAC top 10 in nearly every hitting category. Against conference teams, Vercoe led the UMAC with 36 runs scored and was second in slugging (.951), RBI (41), home runs (14) and total bases (80). He was third in OPS (1.428) and walks (16). His 29 hits, 82 at bats and .477 on-base percentage also ranked in the top 10. The lefty hitter set program records for single-season and career home runs this year and was named to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week following a four-home run series against Bethany Lutheran. His 17 home runs this season rank seventh in Division III.
The future is bright for both the Eagles and Vikings with players like Christenson and Russell. As a designated hitter playing in just 15 conference games, Christenson was impressive with a .453 average, .678 slugging percentage and .507 on-base percentage. He also record 27 hits, 19 runs, 15 RBI and five doubles. Russell was among the top hitters in the league with a 1.012 OPS, 27 hits, 21 runs and 14 walks. At first base, Russell led the UMAC in putouts with 214 and boasted a .991 fielding percentage.
Hieb led Northwestern to another impressive season in which his Eagles finished 17-4 for first in the league in the new 21-game conference slate. As a squad the Eagles led the conference in team average (.362), at bats (755), hits (275), doubles (60), RBI (220), total bases (459), walks (105), fewest strikeouts (104), on-base (.453) and fielding (.970). The Eagles shut out six different UMAC teams in the regular season and held opponents to two or fewer runs four more times. In 12 games, the Eagles scored 10 or more runs against UMAC opponents.
Bethany Lutheran led all teams with seven First Team selections, while Northwestern had six and Crown and the University of Minnesota Morris each had five. Ross Buemer of Bethany Lutheran is also the only player among the honorees to have been selected UMAC First Team four times in his career and was the 2018 Rookie of the Year. Seth Betts of Crown and Bryce Flanagan and Ryan Rodriguez of the University of Wisconsin-Superior have each been three-time First Team selections, and Betts was the 2021 Player of the Year.
Eight players on the 2022 list have been two-time First Team honorees including Alex Baumann (Minnesota Morris), Boerema, Bryce Crabb (Northwestern), Adam Fjerstad (Bethany Lutheran), Eric Newman (Crown), Kyle Schroedle (Crown) and Vercoe. Three players have been named either First Team or Honorable Mention twice including Mason Brock (Crown), Jack Parker (North Central University) and Jake Schramm (Northland College).
Minnesota Morris won the team sportsmanship award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season. Each team also had one representative named to the individual sportsmanship award list.
Player of the Year - Keegan Vercoe, Sr., Northwestern
Pitcher of the Year - Owen Boerema, Jr., Northwestern
Co-Rookie of the Year - Payton Christenson, Fy., Northwestern
Co-Rookie of the Year - Aidan Russell, Fy., Bethany Lutheran
Coach of the Year - Dave Hieb, Northwestern
First Team UMAC All-Conference
| Name |
Yr. |
School |
Position |
Hometown/High School |
| Alex Baumann |
Jr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Infield |
Howard Lake, Minn./Mayer Lutheran |
| Seth Betts |
Sr. |
Crown |
Infield |
St. George, Utah/Desert Hills |
| Ross Beumer |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Outfield |
Northfield, Minn./Northfield |
| Owen Boerema |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Starting Pitcher |
Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield |
| Mason Brock |
So. |
Crown |
Infield |
Richmond, Texas/William B. Travis |
| Mason Cox |
So. |
Martin Luther |
Outfield |
New Ulm, Minn./Minnesota Valley Lutheran |
| Bryce Crabb |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Utility |
Des Moines, Iowa/Grand View Christian |
| Adam Fjerstad |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Starting Pitcher |
Hayfield, Minn./Hayfield |
| Bryce Flanagan |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Utility |
Brainerd, Minn./Brainerd |
| Isaac Fugere |
So. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Catcher |
Duluth, Minn./Duluth East |
| Logan Graves |
Sr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Outfield |
Mora, Minn./Mora |
| Colin Lindgren |
Sr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Relief Pitcher |
Elk River, Minn./Elk River |
| Conor Merton |
Jr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Starting Pitcher |
Perth, Australia/Trinity College |
| Eric Newman |
Sr. |
Crown |
Starting Pitcher |
Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo |
| Hunter Pearce |
So. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Catcher |
Berthoud, Colo./Bethoud |
| Joe Pelle |
Sr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Designated Hitter |
Elk River, Minn./Elk River |
| Liam Peterson |
Jr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Infield |
Port Orchard, Wash./Evergreen Lutheran |
| Sam Peterson |
Sr. |
Northwestern |
Infield |
Aitkin, Minn./Aitkin |
| Ben Rhodes |
So. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Infield |
Superior, Wis./Superior |
| Christian Rodriguez |
Fy. |
North Central |
Starting Pitcher |
Tucson, Ariz./Catalina Foothills |
| Ryan Rodriguez |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Starting Pitcher |
Chaska, Minn./Chaska |
| Aidan Russell |
Fy. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Infield |
Gilbert, Ariz./Campo Verde |
| Jacob Schaaf |
Fy. |
Minnesota Morris |
Starting Pitcher |
Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista |
| Kyle Schroedle |
Sr. |
Crown |
Outfield |
Redding, Calif./University Prep |
| Nick Shubert |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Relief Pitcher |
Mapleton, Minn./Maple River |
| Ben Spores |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Infield |
Arlington, Wash./Arlington |
| Guerin Szafraniec |
Sr. |
Northwestern |
Outfield |
Brighton, Colo./Brighton |
| Tyler VanCise |
So. |
Crown |
Starting Pitcher |
Kosciusko, Miss./Kosciusko |
| Keegan Vercoe |
Sr. |
Northwestern |
Outfield |
Queen Creek, Ariz./Poston Butte |
Honorable Mention
| Name |
Yr. |
School |
Position |
Hometown/HighSchool |
| Ty Beasley |
Fy. |
Minnesota Morris |
Infield |
Belleville, Ill./Althoff Catholic |
| Jack Becker |
Sr. |
Crown |
Infield |
New Prague, Minn./New Prague |
| Trey Boushee |
So. |
Northwestern |
Outfield |
Fosston, Minn./Fosston |
| Payton Christenson |
Fy.. |
Northwestern |
Designated Hitter |
St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls |
| Kyle Huerth |
Jr. |
North Central |
Outfield |
Moorpark, Calif./Moorpark |
| Zach Klement |
So. |
Martin Luther |
Utility |
Brookfield, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran |
| Spencer Lilienthal |
So. |
Martin Luther |
Infield |
Plato, Minn./Glencoe-Silver Lake |
| Sam McNosky |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Infield |
Minneapolis, Minn./De La Salle |
| Josh Osten |
Fy. |
Minnesota Morris |
Relief Pitcher |
Elkhorn, Neb./Elkhorn |
| Jack Parker |
Jr. |
North Central |
Starting Pitcher |
Bordentown, N.J./Bordentown Regional |
| Malachi Santiago |
Fy. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Infield |
Gilbert, Ariz./Campo Verde |
| Bailey Sarto |
Sr. |
Crown |
Infield |
Monroe, Wash./ |
| Jake Schramm |
Sr. |
Northland |
Outfield |
Kaukauna, Wis./Kaukauna |
| Payton Steiner |
Fy. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Utility |
Baraboo, Wis./Baraboo |
| Matt Verdugo |
Jr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Designated Hitter |
Arvada, Colo./Arvada West |
| Garrett Warren |
Sr. |
Northland |
Outfield |
Franktown, Colo. |
UMAC Sportsmanship Awards
Team Award –
Minnesota Morris
Bethany Lutheran – Ben Maes, So., North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West
Crown – Chad Herrera, Sr., Austin, Texas/Vadegrift
Martin Luther – Jonas Lindemann, Sr., Egg Harbor, Wis./Luther Prep
Minnesota Morris – Noah Kloss, Sr., Windom, Minn./Windom
North Central – Blaine Alden, Fy., Casa Grande, Ariz./Casa Grande Union
Northland – Luke Maxwell, Fy., St. Louis, Mich./St. Louis
Northwestern – Trey Boushee, So., Fosston, Minn./Fosston
Wisconsin-Superior – David Dibble, Sr., Kenosha, Wis./Tremper