10-19-06A

Baseball Ends One Chapter And Opens Another

The Heidelberg College baseball team and eighth-year head coach Matt Palm closed a chapter in its program's history and opened another at its annual awards banquet held on Sunday. Friends and family of the Berg baseball team gathered at the Camden Falls Conference Center to recognize the success of the 2006 team and to officially kick off the 2007 season.

Heidelberg put together its seventh-consecutive winning season in 2006 after posting a 26-16 overall record. The Berg made its seventh-overall appearance in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament, including its fourth-straight after standing third in the final league standings with an 11-7 mark.

Freshman Jeremy Wentworth (Johnstown, Ohio / St. Charles) was named the team's Rookie of the Year after hitting .333 with 24 RBIs, 21 stolen bases and a 1.000 fielding percentage in left field. Senior Jared Wolf (Jeromesville, Ohio / Hillsdale) posted a 4-3 record on the mound and a 2.86 ERA in 53 innings pitched and was voted the team's Best Pitcher. Handling duties at shortstop all season long was Matt Decker (Maumee, Ohio / Springfield) and he was voted as the Best Defensive Player after recording a .915 field percentage, 104 assists and 69 putouts.

Wentworth and Tyler Tocco (Dublin, Ohio / Coffman) were given the Team Award, which recognizes the individuals that put the team first before individual recognition. Finally, after posting a .409 batting average, along with 15 home runs, 61 hits, 43 runs scored, 14 doubles, 128 total bases, 56 RBI, 13 stolen bases and a .859 slugging percentage and also setting new single-season records for home runs, RBIs, total bases and slugging percentage senior A.J. Schlea (Gibsonburg, Ohio / Woodmore) was voted as the team’s Best Offensive Player, Most Valuable Player and also received the Captain’s Award.

Earning their fourth-year letters was Schlea, Thorpe and Wolf, while third-year honorees were Decker, Dan Machovina (Elyria, Ohio / Midview), Alex Rutter (Bowling Green, Ohio / Bowling Green) and Tocoo.

Second-year letter winners included Steve Calevro (Perrysburg, Ohio / Perrysburg), Cody James (Belle Center, Ohio / Benjamin Logan) and Andrew McFarland (Mansfield, Ohio / Madison). Freshman on the 2006 team, earning their first year award was Jack Bault (Randolph, Ohio / Waterloo), Biagio Boytim (Brunswick, Ohio / Brunswick), L.B. Emrhein (Seven Hills, Ohio / Padua), Matt Grassley (Grosse Pointe, Mich. / North), Bryan Hartman (Circleville, Ohio / Logan Elm), Matt Hille (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Homestead), David Paddock (Westerville, Ohio / North), Tony Pawlowicz (Montpelier, Ohio / Montpelier), Ben Way (Pickerington, Ohio / Central) and Wentworth.

Seven Student Princes were recognized on the 2006 All-Ohio Athletic Conference Team. Schlea was tabbed the Jack Rafeld Player of the Year and earned a first team nod with Thorpe and Pawlowicz.

Earning recognition for second team all-conference honors was Wolf, while Decker, Tocco and Paddock were tabbed as honorable mention honorees.

National recognition went to Schela as he was tabbed as Heidelberg's first American Baseball Coaches Association First Team All-American following his First Team All Mideast Region selection.

Academically, Schela, Decker and Wolf were all members of the OAC All-Academic Team. Schlea was a member of the first team, while Decker and Wolf earned a nod on the honorable mention list. Schlea also was named to the CoSida ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Four First Team.