UMAC Baseball Postseason Awards
St. Paul, MN - The 2023 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) baseball season came to a close over the weekend. The Bethany Lutheran Vikings won both the regular season and postseason title to clinch their bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Starting off with the major awards, Howie Hatton of Crown College has been selected as the UMAC Player of the Year. Hatton hit .486 this season with eight home runs and fifty-five runs batted in. Ryan Rodriguez won UMAC Pitcher of the Year after going 6-2 this season with a 2.59 earned run average.
Conference champion Bethany Lutheran took home a pair of the major awards, with Jackson Huiras winning UMAC Rookie of the Year and head coach Ryan Kragh won Coach of the Year. The Vikings had a conference best nine selections to the UMAC First Team. Starting pitchers Conner Merton and Gavin Jacobsen were named first team selections, Merton was also the UMAC Tournament MVP over the weekend. UMAC Rookie of the Year Jackson Huiras was also a first team selection as a relief pitcher. Viking outfielders Eli Fest and Liam Peterson were also first team selections as were infielders Aidan Russell, Ben Hopper, and Brad Bickmann. Designated hitter Matt Verdugo earned first team honors as the lone designated hitter first team selection. The Vikings also had Brody Curtiss and Hunter Pearce selected to the honorable mention team.
The two seed in the UMAC Tournament, UW-Superior, had five players selected to the first team. UMAC Pitcher of the Year Ryan Rodriguez was a first team selection along with fellow starting pitcher Matt Tappe. Outfielder Payton Steiner was a first team selection, as was infielder Christian Garcia, and catcher Isaac Fugere. Ben Rhodes and Noah Dagostino were honorable mention selections for the Yellowjackets.
The Crown College Polars, who finished third in the regular season standings and were the conference tournament runner ups, had three first team selections. UMAC Player of the Year Howie Hatton was a first team selection, along with starting pitcher Aidan Volk-Specht and infielder Seth Betts. Cael Magill and Rhys Dewick were chosen to the honorable mention team for the Polars.
The final team in to the UMAC Tournament, the Minnesota Morris Cougars, also had three first team selections. Starting pitcher Bryan Vanyo was a first team selection along with outfielder Ben Meuser and infielder Alex Baumann. Ethan Schmitz and David Steffen were honorable mention selections for the Cougars.
The Northland Lumberjacks also had three first team selections in starting pitcher Andrew Birko, relief pitcher Matthew Traeger, and catcher Zach Ross. The Lumberjacks had Ridge Guyette and Keaton Arreazola selected to the honorable mention team.
The Northwestern Eagles had two first team selections in utility selection Aaron Severson and infielder Bryce Crabb. Nick Drinken and Grady Karges were honorable mention selections for the Eagles.
The Rams of North Central also had two first team selections in infielder Daniel Montana and utility selection Teagan Burch. On the honorable mention team, Mike Maanum and Christian Rodriguez were selected for the Rams.
Mason Cox was a first team selection for the Martin Luther Knights while Carter Seltz and Spencer Lilienthal were honorable mention selections. Martin Luther was also the winner of 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 - Howie Hatton, Crown
Pitcher of the Year - Ryan Rodriguez, Wisconsin-Superior
Rookie of the Year - Jackson Huiras, Bethany Lutheran
Coach of the Year - Ryan Kragh, Bethany Lutheran
Team Sportsmanship Award - Martin Luther College
UMAC First Team All-Conference
| Name (Position) |
Year |
School |
Hometown |
| Connor Merton (SP) |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Perth, Australia |
| Gavin Jacobsen (SP) |
So. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Jackson, MN |
| Jackson Huiras (RP) |
Fr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Sleepy Eye, MN |
| Eli Fest (OF) |
So. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Heron Lake, MN |
| Liam Peterson (OF) |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Port Orchard, WA |
| Aidan Russell (INF) |
So. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Gilbert, AZ |
| Ben Hopper (INF) |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
North Mankato, MN |
| Brad Bickmann (INF) |
So. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Howard Lake, MN |
| Matt Verdugo (DH) |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Arvada, CO |
| Aidan Volk-Specht (SP) |
Jr. |
Crown |
Monroe, NC |
| Howie Hatton (OF) |
Sr. |
Crown |
North Riverside, IL |
| Seth Betts (INF) |
Grad. |
Crown |
St. George, UT |
| Mason Cox (OF) |
Jr. |
Martin Luther |
New Ulm, MN |
| Daniel Montana (INF) |
Jr. |
North Central |
Tucson, AZ |
| Teagan Burch (UTIL) |
So. |
North Central |
St. Paul, MN |
| Andrew Birko (SP) |
Jr. |
Northland |
Zellwood, FL |
| Matthew Traeger (RP) |
So. |
Northland |
Bradenton, FL |
| Zach Ross (C) |
Jr. |
Northland |
Portland, OR |
| Brian Vanyo (SP) |
Sr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Apple Valley, MN |
| Ben Meuser (OF) |
So. |
Minnesota Morris |
Burnsville, MN |
| Alex Baumann (INF) |
Sr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Howard Lake, MN |
| Aaron Severson (UTIL) |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Columbia Heights, MN |
| Bryce Crabb (INF) |
Sr. |
Northwestern |
Des Moines, IA |
| Ryan Rodriguez (SP) |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Chaska, MN |
| Matt Tappe (SP) |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
St. Anthony, MN |
| Payton Steiner (OF) |
So. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Baraboo, WI |
| Christian Garcia (INF) |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Blue Springs, MO |
| Isaac Fugere (C) |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Duluth, MN |
UMAC Honorable Mention Team
| Name |
Year |
School |
Hometown |
| Brody Curtiss |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Belle Plaine, MN |
| Hunter Pearce |
Sr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Berthoud, CO |
| Cael Magill |
So. |
Crown |
Atco, NJ |
| Rhys Dewick |
Sr. |
Crown |
Sydney, Australia |
| Carter Seltz |
So. |
Martin Luther |
Columbia, TN |
| Spencer Lilienthal |
Jr. |
Martin Luther |
Plato, MN |
| Mike Maanum |
Jr. |
North Central |
Fergus Falls, MN |
| Christian Rodriguez |
Jr. |
North Central |
Tucson, AZ |
| Ridge Guyette |
So. |
Northland |
Hilbert, WI |
| Keaton Arreazola |
Sr. |
Northland |
Janesville, WI |
| Ethan Schmitz |
So. |
Minnesota Morris |
St. Louis Park, MN |
| David Steffen |
So. |
Minnesota Morris |
Bloomington, MN |
| Nick Drinken |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Randolph, MN |
| Grady Karges |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Oriska, ND |
| Ben Rhodes |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Superior, WI |
| Noah Dagostino |
Fr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Andover, MN |
Individual Sportsmanship Awards
Xavier Palmer (BLC)
Tristan Shoemaker (CC)
Michael Fromm (MLC)
Nicolas Sheley (NCU)
Parker Williams (NC)
Zach Froman (UMM)
Isaac Pilon (UNW)
Nick Fredrikson (UWS)