In a release from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Wednesday afternoon, four Kalamazoo College baseball players were named All-MIAA for their efforts throughout the 2016 season.
Pitcher Ryan Orr and third baseman Jack Clark were named to the league's First Team, while pitcher Aaron Schwark and shortstop Mitchell VanKoevering were honored on the league's Second Team.
Orr, a sophomore from Dewitt, was a dominant force on the mound for the Hornets in 2016 and is being honored on the MIAA's First Team for the first time in his collegiate career. He ended the season with the league's lowest earned run average (2.01) including non-conference games, and struck out 50 batters in conference, the most in the league. Orr recorded a no-hitter on April 23 against Olivet, striking out nine batters in the outing.
Along with throwing a league-high seven complete games, Orr was also an effective pitcher out of the bullpen recording three saves.
Clark, a junior from Ann Arbor, proved to be the Hornets' most consistent bat in 2016 and this is his second consecutive year named to the All-MIAA First Team. More often than not batting third in the Kalamazoo lineup, Clark recorded a .381 batting average in conference and also posted a .504 on base percentage, the league's seventh highest percentage.
His 27 RBI were the second-most for Kalamazoo and he also recorded 11 stolen bases.
Schwark, a junior from Grand Rapids, is being honored as an All-MIAA selection for the first time in his career after going 4-2 and tossing 54.1 innings of work in 2016, the second-highest total for the Hornets. He gave up three or fewer earned runs in each of his starts throughout the conference season and served as one of the most consistent starters in the MIAA.
VanKoevering, a junior from La Grange Park, Ill., recorded the 11th-best batting average (.377) in the MIAA throughout conference play and recorded a .919 fielding percentage for the Hornets at shortstop. His 28 RBI led the Hornets in 2016 and he tied for the team high in hits with 48.
VanKoevering also stole 10 bases and recorded eight doubles, the second most for the Hornets. This is the second time he's been named to the All-MIAA Second Team after earning the same honor as a freshman in 2014.