Kalamazoo College baseball players Blake Bean, Spencer Baldwin and Doug Propson were awarded All-Region honors from D3baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings on Tuesday.
These three are the first Hornets to earn D3baseball.com All-Region honors since Ryan Orr's selection in 2018. Bean and Propson earned ABCA All-Region honors last season.
Bean, a senior from Farmington Hills, Mich. (Orchard Lake St. Mary's), was selected as a first-team outfielder by D3baseball.com and a second-team outfielder by ABCA/Rawlings. Bean hit .431 on the season with 18 doubles, two triples, nine home runs and 44 RBIs. He also walked 29 times, was hit-by-pitch 18 times and stole 16 bases. He ranks among national leaders in multiple categories including on-base percentage, runs per game, slugging percentage, doubles and batting average. He broke school records for home runs in a game (3) and RBIs in a game (8) at Manchester earlier this spring. He also set Kalamazoo College season records for runs, doubles and hit-by-pitch. Bean earned All-MIAA First Team honors for the second consecutive year, was a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, and was named to the NCAA III Regional All-Tournament Team at Marietta. In addition, Bean was named NCBWA National Hitter of the Week, MIAA Position Player of the Week and a member of the D3baseball.com Team of the Week following the Manchester series. He finished his Kalamazoo career with a .375 batting average with 35 doubles, six triples, 17 home runs and 82 RBIs.
Baldwin, a senior from Lansing, Mich. (Holt), was selected as the second-team first baseman by D3baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings. Baldwin hit .412 on the season with 13 doubles, four triples, nine home runs and 47 RBIs. He also walked 19 times, was hit-by-pitch nine times, and was charged with just two errors at first base for a .993 fielding percentage. Baldwin was named the All-MIAA First Team first baseman for the second year in a row, was MIAA Position Player of the Week on May 16 and was named to the NCAA III Regional All-Tournament Team at Marietta. Baldwin ranks among the national leaders in batting average and finished his career as Kalamazoo College's all-time leader with a .407 career average. He compiled 22 career doubles, seven triples, 13 home runs and 88 RBIs. He also tied the school record with six hits in a game against Alma earlier this season.
Propson, a senior from Rochester, Mich. (Stoney Creek), was selected as the third-team third baseman by D3baseball.com and ABCA/Rawlings. Propson hit .376 on the season with 13 doubles, one triple, five home runs and 52 RBIs. He also walked 14 times was hit-by-pitch five times and stole 17 bases. Propson was named to the All-MIAA First Team for the second consecutive year, was twice named MIAA Position Player of the Week this spring and was a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection. He ranks among the national leaders in RBIs per game and set school records for RBIs and at-bats in a season. Propson also made 10 appearances on the mound this spring, sporting a 2-2 record with 25 strikeouts in 25.2 innings. He finished his career tied for first in program history with nine saves. Propson finished his Kalamazoo career with a .345 average with 26 doubles, six triples, 10 home runs, 93 RBIs and 42 stolen bases. He was 6-4 on the mound with nine saves and a 4.48 career earned run average.
Kalamazoo finished the season with a record of 27-13, the second-most wins in school history. The Hornets earned their first NCAA III Tournament victory in their second appearance after winning the MIAA Tournament championship.
Players chosen to the D3baseball.com All-Region team are eligible for All-American selection. This is the 10th year D3baseball.com has named an All-Region team and this year's All-America team will be the 15th annual All-American selections. ABCA/Rawlings All-Region First Team selections are nominated for ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors. The ABCA All-America team was first recognized in 1949.