Junior pitcher Brandon Simmons and senior catcher Tony Loeffler earn south central region honors by the American Baseball Coaches Assocation team released Friday. Simmons was named to the second team while Loeffler earned Rawling South Central “Gold Glove” honors. For Simmons this marked the second time he has been named to an all-Region team in the past two days.

Brandon Simmons had an outstanding season breaking the MWSU single season record for victories with 12. He also leads the MIAA and the nation in victories. He made 14 appearances with 13 starts, pitching 10 complete games with two shutouts. He threw 92.2 innings giving up just 81 hits while striking out 65. He second on the team with a 1.94 ERA giving up just 20 earned runs. He won his last ten starts and lost just one game he has stared all season. He gave up two or less runs in 12 of his 14 outings. He was named MIAA Pitcher of the Week on Monday, May 7. He was honorable mention all-MIAA selection his first two seasons.

Loeffler was named to the Rawlings “Gold Glove” All-South Central Region team for his outstanding defense all season long. Loeffler played in 45 of the Griffons 51 games with 43 starts behind the plate. He held a 1.000 fielding percentage with 227 putouts and 32 assits. Offensively he had 24 hits with 22 runs scored. He had six doubles, one home run and 17 RBI’s.

Each member of the All Region Gold Glove Team will be eligible for NCAA DIVISION II Rawlings All-American Gold Glove consideration, which will be selected on Sunday, May 27, 2012 in Cary, NC in conjunction with the Division II National Championship Tournament.

The Griffons finished 34-17 and second in the MIAA at 26-12. They had their best finish since 2005 when they also finished second in the MIAA.

— MWSU Sports Information —