The Kalamazoo College baseball team had Harrison Poeszat selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America First Team, as announced on Wednesday (June 7). Poeszat became the first Kalamazoo baseball player to be chosen as an Academic All-American in program history while being the 46th overall in school history.
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, be at least a sophomore academically and athletically, and be selected to the CSC Academic All-District Team.
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, a D3baseball.com All-Region 7 All-Region Third Team, and an ABCA/Rawlings NCAA DIII Region 7 All-Region Third Team selection. Poeszat has a 3.96 cumulative GPA and is majoring in chemistry, and has been selected to the all-district team the past two seasons.