The Missouri Western State University baseball team landed six players on the All-MIAA team which was announced by the conference Thursday. Brandon Simmons and Spencer Shockley earned first team All-MIAA honors while Nik Juardo, Grant Fink and Nate Ramler earned second team All-MIAA honors. Shortstop Michael Schulze was the only Griffon named to the Honorable Mention squad.
Brandon Simmons had an outstanding season tying the MWSU single season record for victories with 11. He also leads the MIAA and the nation in victories. He made 13 aperances with 12 starts, pitching 10 complete games with two shutouts. He has thrown 85.1 innings giving up just 70 hits while striking out 56. He leads the Griffons with a 1.58 ERA giving up just 15 earned runs. He has won his last nine starts and has lost just one game he has stared all season. He gave up two or less runs in 12 of his 13 outings. He was named MIAA Pitcher of the Week on Monday, May 7. The marks the first time he has been named to the first team. He was honorable mention his first two seasons.
Spencer Shockley has had an outstanding season for the Griffons leading the way in batting average (.405), hits (64), total bases (99), slugging percentage (.627), on base percentage (.447) and putouts (358). He has struckout just eight times whlie walking 14 times. He has a .992 fielding percentage making just three errors with 11 assists. He has a hit in 19 of his last 20 games which includes eight straight. In his last eight games he has 18 hits which includes six multiple hit games. He has started 47 games and has scored 37 runs and knocked in 32. This is the first time he has been named to the first team.
Nik Jurado has been named to the second team for the first time in his career. Jurado had an outstanding regular season going 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA. He has made 12 starts with five complete games and one shutout. He has thrown 80.1 innings giving up just 16 earned runs whlie striking out 68 and walking just 11. He has giving up just 76 hits holding his opponents to a .255 batting average.
Grant Fink earned second team honors starting 47 games at third base for Western. He is fourth on the squad in hitting with a .313 batting average. He has scored 31 runs with 50 hits. Twenty three of his 50 hits have been for extra bases. He has 14 doubles, two triples and seven home runs. He has 29 RBI with 89 total bases. Fink was named MIAA Hitter of the Week back on April 17, 2012 for his performance against Pittsburg State.
Nate Ramler eanred second team honors at the designated player position. Ramler was third on the team with a .315 batting average in 47 games played. He had 51 hits with 22 of them going for extra bases. He led the Griffons with nine home runs. He had 12 doubles and one triple. Ramler scored 25 runs and knocked in a team hit 42.
Michael Schulze was named to the honorable mention squad at the shortstop postion for the Griffons. Schulze has played extreamly well as of late lifting his batting average to .356. He has started all 48 games leading the team with 47 runs scored, 14 doubles and five triples. He is second on the team with 63 runs scored and 96 total bases. He also leads the team with 13 stolen bases. He has a .963 fielding percentage making just seven errors. He had 56 putouts and 125 assists. He was named MIAA Hitter of the Week this past week for his performance against Fort Hays State.
The Griffons will face Missouri Southern, Washburn or Emporia State on Friday, May 11 at 2:30 pm in the MIAA Tournament from CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Mo.
2012 ALL-MIAA BASEBALL TEAM
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Bret Schwartz, Sr., SS, Central Missouri
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Lee Stoppelman, Sr., Central Missouri
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Shawn Talkington, P, Emporia State
COACH OF THE YEAR
Tommy Myers, Central Missouri
FIRST TEAM
SP: Lee Stoppelman, Sr., Central Missouri
SP: Brandon Simmons, Jr., Missouri Western
SP: Cody Griebling, Sr., Missouri Southern
RP: Brett Macari, Sr., Fort Hays State
C: Drew Miller, So., Southwest Baptist
1B: Spencer Shockley, Jr., Missouri Western
2B: Eric Dawson, Jr., Emporia State
SS: Bret Schwartz, Sr., Central Missouri** [r1]
3B: John Calhoun, Sr., Washburn**
OF: Ryan Busboom, Jr., Fort Hays State**
OF: Gabe Thibodeau, Sr., Central Missouri
OF: Ryan Abernathy, So., Northwest Missouri
DH: Joe Vaskas, Sr., Emporia State [r1]
UT: Chris Pfau, Sr., Lincoln
**Unanimous Selection
[r1] – Repeat first team selection from last season
SECOND TEAM
SP: Brett Ash, Jr., Washburn
SP: Nik Jurado, Sr., Missouri Western
SP: Kurtis Schuyler, So., Central Missouri
RP: Travis Unthank, Sr., Central Missouri
C: Chase Graskewicz, Jr., Central Missouri
1B: Brad Alberts, Jr., Washburn
2B: Luke Acosta, Sr., Missouri Southern
SS: Ashton McCoy, Jr., Emporia State
3B: Grant Fink, Jr., Missouri Western
OF: Nash Smith, Sr., Fort Hays State
OF: Tyler Christophel, Sr., Southwest Baptist
OF: Dorian Williams, Sr., Emporia State
DH: Nate Ramler, Jr., Missouri Western
UT: Tyler Bean, Sr., Washburn
HONORABLE MENTION
Central Missouri: Dane Krone, Jr., RP; John Oropeza, Jr., 1B; Jon Cotter, Jr., 2B; Jordan Coons, Sr., 3B; Albert Selanders, Jr., OF; Ben Cox, So., DH.
Emporia State: Derek Brooks, Sr., SP; Brandon Faulkner, Sr., SP; Joe Kornbrust, Sr., OF.
Fort Hays State: Shawn Lewick, Sr., SP; Mace Krol, Sr., DH.
Missouri Southern: David Reese, So., SP; Sam Ryan, Jr., C; Michael McCoy, Jr., OF; Jesse Kinzey, Sr., UT; Cullen Baxter,Sr., UT.
Missouri Western: Michael Schulze, So., SS.
Northwest Missouri: Steven Garber, Fr., 1B; Cameron Bedard, Jr., 2B; Eric Swain, Jr., SS; Eric McGlauflin, So., UT.
Pittsburg State: Matt Stalcup, Jr., SP; Chase Barnes, Sr., OF.
Southwest Baptist: Jacob Sullinger, Jr., RP.
Truman: Devon Myers, Sr., C.
Washburn: Kerry Schachenmeyer, Sr., SP; Richard Swan, Jr., C; Marcus Peavler, Sr., OF.
— MWSU Sports Information —