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Mease Named All-American; Leads Post-Season Honors
Posted: 6/25/2008
More Baseball news
Messiah's post-season honorees were (from top left to right): Senior Craig Mease, sophomore Adam Ranck, sophomore Sheldon Witmer, senior Ben Jordan, junior Ben Kirk and senior Dan Kern.
Grantham, PA — After tying a program record with 28 wins in the 2008 season, the Messiah College baseball program was honored in a variety of ways, posting an All-American and seven all-conference selections, the school announced Wednesday. Senior Craig Mease was named a First Team All-American by D3baseball.com and a Second Team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association, the highest honors ever attained by a Messiah baseball player. Mease also earned MAC Commonwealth Player of the Year honors, while sophomore third baseman Adam Ranck, sophomore outfielder Sheldon Witmer and senior designated hitter Ben Jordan joined Mease with First Team All-Commonwealth accolades. Witmer earned second team all-league honors as a pitcher, while junior catcher Ben Kirk and senior pitcher Dan Kern joined him. The story of the year was Mease, however, as the second baseman / shortstop set nine Messiah single-season records offensively: Mease etched his name in the record books in runs (54), hits (70), RBI (50), doubles (19), home runs (10), total bases (127), walks (39), extra-base hits (33) and total plate appearances (207), finishing with Messiah career records in RBI (129), triples (15) and walks (102) as well. His 39 walks were the 10th most in all of NCAA Division III baseball in 2008, while his 127 total bases ranked 16th and his 19 doubles ranked 24th. The sturdy middle infielder finished 9-17 (.529) from the plate in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament, blasting two home runs and three doubles in just four games en route to tournament MVP honors. Mease was also named a Rawlings First Team Mid-Atlantic Region selection, completing his lengthy list of honors. He joins former standout Chris Heisey as Messiah’s only All-American performers to date — Heisey earned Third Team ABCA All-American honors in 2005. Ranck was named a Rawlings First Team Mid-Atlantic Region Gold Glove recipient in addition to his first-team all-conference award, posting a fielding percentage of .944 while committing just eight errors at the hot corner. Ranck also was impressive at the plate, batting .307 in a team-leading 179 at-bats. His 55 hits were second behind Mease, while his 35 RBI were third-best on the squad. Witmer was named first team all-conference as an outfielder and second team all-league as a pitcher, batting .366 on the season while striking out a team-leading 51 hitters on the mound. His knack for power was evident by his five home runs and six doubles, while his .542 slugging percentage was the second-best mark on the squad. The right-hander started 11 games on the mound for the Falcons, earning the win in six. His 70 and 1/3 innings pitched were the second-most on the team. Jordan, meanwhile, appeared in 29 games as Messiah’s starting designated hitter, batting .339 on 38 hits with four doubles and two home runs. He scored 21 times and drove in 15. Behind the plate, Kirk appeared in 42 contests, hitting .291 on 39 base knocks (including nine doubles, two triples and four homers). Kirk drew 24 walks — the second-most on the team behind Mease — while driving in 25 runs and scoring 30 himself. His six stolen bases were a team base, while defensively Kirk set team and conference highs in runners picked off (eight) and runners caught stealing (11). The crafty, right-handed Kern rounded off Messiah’s post-season award winners, starting 12 games as the Falcons’ ace on the mound. Kern threw a team and conference-leading five complete games, finishing with 79 innings pitched and seven wins. Kern struck out 43 batters while compiling a 3.42 ERA, concluding his career fifth in pitching wins (16), fifth in appearances (41), eighth in starts (26), ninth in complete games (11), fifth in winning percentage (.667) and eighth in innings pitched (185). Widener University’s Tom DeAngelis was named the MAC Commonwealth Rookie of the Year, while Elizabethtown College’s Sam Heaps earned Pitcher of the Year honors. Albright College’s Jeff Feiler was named Coach of the Year. A complete list of all-conference award winners appears below.
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