We’re less than two months away from the start of the Blue Ribbons season, but many of our players are already in action at their respective colleges. Here’s a quick look at how some of our past and present players have performed so far.
• At the D1 level, Belmont pitcher Jett Thielke has made eight relief appearances, going 3-0 with 17 strikeouts over 14 innings of work for the Bruins. The junior right-hander K’d a season-high five batters against Southern Indiana on March 21st.
• Meanwhile, across town in Nashville at Lipscomb University, junior catcher Jake Berg has started 20 of the 22 games he’s played in thus far, and he hit his first home run of the year in a game at Queens University last Friday.
• Freshman Peyton Seebacher has hit the ground running for JC McHenry County College, hitting .323 with one home runs and ten runs scored through his first nine games for the Scots.
• At Division 2 Concordia-St. Paul, junior infielder Jaden Werner has gotten off to a quick start as well, batting .292, with six doubles, a home run and 16 RBI over 21 games.
• At the D3 level, freshman pitcher Owen Deprez picked up right were he left off with the Ribbons, starting two of the three games he’s pitched in, going 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA, while leading the team with 23 K’s over 16 innings.
• Lakeland junior catcher Lane Sobieski has appeared in all nine games for the Muskies, starting seven, and is second on the team with a .333 average
• Junior outfielder Trent Van Ess has seen his role increase this year and UW-Stevens Point, starting all 14 of the team’s games, and is currently tied for the team lead in home runs and runs scored.
• Right-hander Bryce Miller has made a pair of starts for the Aurora Spartans, going 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA, while striking out ten batters over 11 innings.
• At Crown College in Minnesota, versatile junior Liam Jones has a record of 1-1 with 5 K’s over 4.1 innings in three relief outings, while also getting three pinch-hit at-bats.
• Last year’s team MVP, Eli Frank, has worked solely as a pitcher thus far this season at UW-Whitewater, making three relief appearances, going 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA while striking out 11 over 8.1 innnings.
• Finally, at Marian University, sophomore James Bornick came out swinging, hitting .327 over 13 games while going a perfect 8-for-8 on stolen base attempts for the Sabres, and teammate Jonah Landowski is hitting .306 with three home runs while also going 1-1 with 19 K’s over 16.1 innings in three starts on the mound.