Monday, May 23, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – Shortly after winning the conference’s Player of the Year award, Central Washington outfielder Adam Fahsel has also been acknowledged as one of the best in the West Region.

Fahsel was the conference’s only player to earn first-team All-West Region honors from both the Division II Conference Comissioners Association (D2CCA) and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA), leading 10 GNAC ballplayers to receive All-Region recognition.

Fahsel was named the GNAC Player of the Year after a season of prolific offensive production for the Wildcats. Fahsel slashed .351/.459/.580 with eight home runs and 44 RBI. He led the conference in runs scored (58) and slugging percentage (.580) and was second in batting average (.351), RBI, doubles (17) and walks (30).

GNAC Pitcher of the Year Arturo Alvarez garnered a first-team nod from the D2CCA and a second-team nod from the NCBWA. Alvarez went undefeated in the regular season and finished with a 7-2 record and a league-low 3.18 ERA in 13 starts. He held opponents to a .221 batting average. Northwest Nazarene outfielder Grant Kerry also earned a first-team D2CCA selection for the second consecutive year after hitting .293 and tying for second in the conference with 10 home runs.

The conference had three consensus second-team selections in Central Washington catcher Austin Ohland and the Northwest Nazarene duo of reliever Max Holtzclaw and utility pitcher Haden Keller. Ohland was the GNAC’s RBI leader with 51 and led the conference with 23 doubles. Ohland earned NCBWA second-team status for the second time after also doing so in 2021 and picked up his first D2CCA selection.

Holtzclaw, a consensus first-team pick in 2021, made the second team after recording a 1.80 ERA in a GNAC-high 25 appearances. Holtzclaw struck out 62, leading all relievers, and he ranks third in Division II with 12 saves. Keller, earning all-conference honors for the first time, went 8-4 on the mound with a 3.41 ERA, a conference-low .202 opponent batting average and a conference-leading 81 strikeouts. At the plate, Keller hit .298 with a .395 on-base percentage and six home runs.

While the aforementioned three players were the only D2CCA second-team selections, seven GNAC players earned second-team nods from the NCBWA. Ohland, Holtzclaw, Keller and Alvarez were joined by Western Oregon pitcher Mike Peterson, Central Washington outfielder Zach Berryman and Montana State Billings designated hitter Mitch Winter.

Peterson earned his second-team nod after a pair of first-team selections in 2021, when he was the conference’s Pitcher of the Year. Peterson followed it up with another incredibly solid campaign, going 4-1 with a 3.59 ERA in 62.2 innings. His 16 walks were the fewest of any GNAC pitcher with over 60 innings pitched.

Berryman won the GNAC batting title with a .379 average. He also led the GNAC with a .460 on-base percentage and 110 total bases to earn his second consecutive NCBWA second-team selection. Winter collected the first all-region honor of his career after he was the conference’s regular-season leader with 10 home runs. Winter would have had the second-highest slugging percentage in the conference had he reached the requisite number of at-bats to qualify for the league leaders.

Saint Martin’s pitcher Justice Yamashita earned a honorable mention nod from the NCBWA after going 6-4 with a 3.68 ERA and 71 strikeouts as the Saints’ ace.

The first-team selections are now eligible for both organizations’ All-American teams. The NCBWA will announce theirs on Thursday, June 2 and the D2CCA will announce theirs on Friday, June 3.