ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced its baseball All-Conference honors on Wednesday morning, and Bethany Lutheran swept the honors.
Ryan Kragh,
Aidan Russell,
Trent Ash, and
Xander Meissner earned the conference's top accolades after a standout season for the Vikings. For the third consecutive year, Kragh was named Coach of the Year, while Russell repeated as Player of the Year. Ash, who was named last year's Rookie of the Year, took a step forward to earn Pitcher of the Year Honors, while this season's Rookie of the Year went to Meissner.
Joining the three athletes mentioned above on First Team All-Conference were
Sean Gamble,
Adryen Tietz,
Ty Vollmar,
Gary Swann,
Nolan Spence,
Eli Fest, and
Josh Robb, while
Will Carlson and
Seth Jones earned Honorable Mention. The 10 First Team selections are the most ever in a season for the program, with the previous best being nine in 2023. Rounding out the Vikings selections to All-Conference teams was
Xavier Palmer, who was Bethany's recipient for the All-Sportsmanship award.
Kragh earns his third straight COTY honor after Bethany won a program-best 19 conference games this season. He also earned his 400th career win this season, and currently sits at 412 career wins.
Russell earned his second straight POTY nod after tying for the team and UMAC lead in batting average with a mark of .414 on the year. His OPS (1.166), OB% (.525), RBI (51), and runs scored (52) are all the second best mark in the UMAC while his 60 hits are tied for first. Russell is currently first in program history in his career in home runs (24), hits (193), and RBI (162), while his batting average (.371), slugging percentage (.598), and OB% (.466) will all finish top four.
Ash earns his second straight UMAC honor after making a huge jump this year to being one of the top arms in the region. After a no-decision in his first start of the season, he earned 11 straight victories on the mound before garnering a save in the UMAC Championship game. His 11 wins are third in NCAA Division III while his 101 strikeouts are ninth. Ash's ERA of 2.96 was second best in the UMAC while his batting average against of .185 was the lowest in the conference by .041.
Meissner earned Rookie of the Year honors after a huge year in the Vikings cleanup spot with team-bests in slugging percentage (.735), home runs (12), and RBI (55). His 16 doubles were second most on the team while he added 31 free passes to his tally to reach base at a clip of .478. Meissner's 12 home runs this year are tied for most in all of NCAA Division III among freshman with his 55 RBI being the most among first-years.
Gamble garners All-Conference honors after a strong first season for Bethany, compiling a 7-2 record and 4.50 ERA in 66.0 innings pitched. He added 94 strikeouts on the season with his K/9 of 12.81 being the ninth best mark in all of NCAA Division III.
Tietz rounded out the Bethany weekend starting staff with Ash and Gamble and holds a record of 6-2 in 59.2 innings pitched this. His 3.62 ERA is a top five mark in the UMAC this season, as are his strikeouts and wins.
Vollmar is the last Bethany pitcher to gain First Team honors and was one of just three relief pitchers named to the team thanks to a 3.80 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 21.1 innings pitched. . His 14 appearances this season were the most on the team, and he compiled a 2-0 record out the bullpen with two saves.
Swann was another freshman for Bethany who had a big impact, as he hit .414 on the season and added 22 extra base hits to slug .621. His 18 doubles were the most on the team while his runs scored were the third most. The Vikings catcher also threw out seven baserunners this season and held opposing base stealers to the lowest success percentage in the UMAC.
Spence hit .387 this season for the Vikings and also tied with Swann for third on the team in OB% with a mark of .506. He added 37 RBI and 39 runs scored on the season while also hitting nine doubles and a pair of home runs to slug .513.
Fest led the team in OB% this season in the leadoff spot with a mark of .526 and his career mark of .496 is currently at the top of the program record book. The senior added 15 extra base hits this season to slug .548, while his 34 stolen bases are a single season program record and are a top 20 mark nationally.
Robb had a big season as the team's starting right fielder, tying for the team-lead with a batting average of .414 while reaching base at a clip of .506. The senior was third on the team in RBI (45) and doubles (14), while he also added three home runs to slug .586.
Carlson served as the Vikings everyday second baseman this season and hit .293, scoring 26 runs and driving in 22. He was second on the team in stolen bases with 14 and recorded a fielding percentage of .982 - second-best among non-first baseman and catchers in the conference.
Jones rounds out the All-Conference team after a year that saw him bat .321 and slug .505. The left fielder had a team-best four triples on the season, adding nine doubles and a home run all while driving in 34 runs and scoring 25 times.
UMAC Awards
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Aidan Russell (Bethany Lutheran)
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Trent Ash (Bethany Lutheran)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Xander Meissner (Bethany Lutheran)
COACH OF THE YEAR
Ryan Kragh (Bethany Lutheran)
TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Northwestern Eagles
ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
SP |
Trent Ash (Bethany Lutheran)
SP |
Nick Drinken (Northwestern)
SP |
Sean Gamble (Bethany Lutheran)
SP |
Adryen Tietz (Bethany Lutheran)
SP |
Jacob Van Dam (Crown)
SP |
Ryan Vondracek (Crown)
SP |
Ben Welle (UW-Superior)
RP |
Kevin Rahe (UW-Superior)
RP |
Breckin Silvain (Minnesota Morris)
RP |
Ty Vollmar (Bethany Lutheran)
C |
Teagan Burch (North Central)
C |
Gary Swann (Bethany Lutheran)
IF |
Bradie Black (Minnesota Morris)
IF |
Trevor Haberman (Minnesota Morris)
IF |
Xander Meissner (Bethany Lutheran)
IF |
Ben Meuser (Minnesota Morris)
IF |
Nolan Spence (Bethany Lutheran)
IF |
Kyler Thruston (Crown)
IF |
Tanner Voight (UW-Superior)
IF |
Parker Winghart (Martin Luther)
OF |
Benji Bruce (Northwestern)
OF |
Eli Fest (Bethany Lutheran)
OF |
Bryan Gerbers (Crown)
OF |
Josh Robb (Bethany Lutheran)
OF |
Trey Sybrant (UW-Superior)
OF |
David Steffen (Minnesota Morris)
OF |
Payton Steiner (UW-Superior)
UTL |
Christian Raya (Northwestern)
UTL |
Aaron Severson (Northwestern)
DH |
Aidan Russell (Bethany Lutheran)
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTIONS
Will Carlson (Bethany Lutheran)
Seth Jones (Bethany Lutheran)
Tyler Olson (Crown)
Aidan Volk-Specht (Crown)
Mark Vogel (Martin Luther)
Carlos Walta (Martin Luther)
Parker Gilchrist (Minnesota Morris)
Ethan Schmitz (Minnesota Morris)
Ridge Guyette (Northland)
Caden Willis (Northland)
Caleb Alfaro (North Central)
Dawson Barson (North Central)
Mark Bligh (Northwestern)
Beau Rabey (Northwestern)
Maxton Howell (UW-Superior)
Josh Pritchard (UW-Superior)
ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP
Kyle Cahill (North Central)
Drew Girtz (Crown)
Nolan Hemmesch (Northland)
Ben Leal (Minnesota Morris)
Mason McKellar (UW-Superior)
Xavier Palmer (Bethany Lutheran)
Carter Seltz (Martin Luther)
Colton Toutant (Northwestern)
