The Kalamazoo College baseball team had four individuals selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team, as announced on Tuesday (May 16). The student-athletes selected were Lukas Bolton, Tanner Hawkins, Harrison Poeszat, and David Stechow.
To be selected for the award, the student-athlete must be a starter or an important reserve with at least a 3.50 cumulative GPA, have played at least 50% of their team's competitions, and be at least a sophomore academically and athletically.
Bolton was the starting center fielder this past season, starting in 41 games and primarily hitting in either the lead-off or fifth spot of the Hornet order. He was second on the team with 18 stolen bases and 29 walks. In 146 at-bats, Bolton hit .336 with 49 hits, nine doubles, a triple, two home runs, 33 RBI, 34 runs, a .469 on-base percentage, and a .452 slugging percentage. He had 11 multi-hit and six multi-RBI games, with his best game coming against Marathana Baptist, where he went 2-3 with a double, five RBI, and a walk. He was nearly perfect in the field with a .990 fielding percentage, committing just one error in 100 total chances, along with 95 putouts and four assists. Bolton has a 3.64 cumulative GPA and is majoring in mathematics.
Hawkins slowly moved from hitting ninth to sixth in his first season of being the everyday left fielder. Playing all 42 games, he hit .319 with 43 hits, eight doubles, 21 RBI, 35 runs, 20 walks, eight stolen bases, a .439 on-base percentage, and a .378 slugging percentage in 135 at-bats. He had 12 multi-hit and three multi-RBI games, with his best game coming against Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he went 3-4 with a double, an RBI, and a walk. He also had a .934 fielding percentage with four errors, 56 putouts, and an assist in 61 chances while being an All-MIAA Second Team selection. Hawkins has a 3.53 cumulative GPA and is majoring in economics.
Poeszat was impressive this season by catching all 42 games and hitting in either the second or third spot in the order. He led the team with 17 doubles, 22 hit-by-pitches, and a .524 on-base percentage while being second with a .397 average, 58 hits, two triples, four home runs, 44 RBI, 53 runs, and a .623 slugging percentage. In 146 at-bats, he also collected 18 walks and three stolen bases. Poeszat was also in the top five in the MIAA for average, runs, hits, doubles, OBP, and SLG. In addition, he broke the single-season and career records for hit-by-pitches. He had 16 multi-hit and 13 multi-RBI games, with his best game coming against Defiance, going 5-6 with three doubles, three RBI, and the walk-off hit. Behind the plate, Poeszat had a .982 fielding percentage with 253 putouts and 24 assists in 282 total chances and threw out eight runners on the base paths. He was an All-MIAA First Team selection. Poeszat has a 3.96 cumulative GPA and is majoring in chemistry, and this is his second consecutive year earning the honor.
Stechow transitioned from a utility bench player in his first season to the everyday second baseman in his second season and played 40 games. He had a .351 average with 52 hits and 42 RBI, as seven doubles and one triple contributed to his .412 slugging percentage. Stechow also added 11 walks and 12 hit-by-pitches for a .434 on-base percentage. He had 13 multi-hit and 11 multi-RBI games, with his best performance coming against Trine, where he went 3-4 with two doubles and four RBI. Stechow had a .922 fielding percentage with 73 putouts and 69 assists in 154 chances. In addition, he was named the MIAA Player of the Week once this season and was on the All-MIAA First Team. Stechow has a 3.76 cumulative GPA and is majoring in business.
Now that the four student-athletes have made the district team, they will move on to the CSC Academic All-American ballot, which will be announced in June.