MCC Baseball lands six players on All-Region IX teams
Six members of the McCook Community College baseball team have been named to 2022 All-Region IX teams. Two players were named to the first team, one to the second team and three players received honorable mention.
Sophomores Daniel Bannon and Zack Beatty were selected to the first team. Sophomore Ethan Fritz was named to the second team and receiving honorable mention were sophomores Caleb Eiguren, Max Mrakovic and freshman Ethan Murdoch.
This is the second year that Bannon, (Sydney, Australia), a second baseman, was named to the first team. Last year he was named Region IX Freshman of the year. This season he played in 51 games and batted .407 with five home runs, 19 doubles, 18 stolen bases and 51 RBIs. He was ninth in the region in hitting. He got on base 46.7 percent of his plate appearances and slugged .569. He had a .941 fielding percentage. With back-to-back seasons hitting better than .400 he finished his career with a .423 batting average, a .496 on-base percentage and a .674 slugging average. In 108 career games he scored 143 runs, had 175 hits, 34 doubles, 18 home runs, 103 RBIs and 31 steals.
Beatty, (Maple Park, Ill.) who played first base for MCC, was selected as DH on the Region IX first team after being selected to the second team last year as a freshman. He finished the 2022 season with 24 home runs, which was second in the nation (by one homer). He batted .346 with 80 RBIs in 56 games with an on-base mark of .468 and a .793 slugging average. He tied for six place in the nation with his 80 RBIs while leading Region IX in home runs and was second in RBIs.
Beatty set the single-season home record for MCC and holds the career mark with 42. For his career he batted .350 at MCC in 112 games with 143 RBIs, a .456 on-base percentage and a .755 slugging rate.
Fritz, a right-handed pitcher from Bellevue, went 6-6 with a team-best 4.34 ERA. He started 13 games and completed four this season. In 76.2 innings pitched he struck out 84 hitters. He led MCC in wins and tied for fourth in the region, and he also had the third lowest ERA in Region IX and the third most strikeouts.
In his two seasons at MCC, Fritz went 10-8 with 22 starts and eight complete games with a 5.16 ERA. In 118.2 innings pitched he struck out 111 hitters, an average of 8.42 strikeouts per nine innings.
Sophomore catcher Caleb Eiguren, (Broomfield, Colo.) received honorable mention, hitting .384 in 41 games with one home run and 28 RBIs. He was 12th in the region in hitting. Because of an extra year of eligibility with the Covid-19 provision, Eiguren played in 117 games over his three-year career at MCC, with 389 at bats, and 133 hits for a .342 career batting average. He had 21 doubles and four homers with 80 RBIs.
For Max Mrakovcic, a pitcher from Sydney, Australia, this is the second year he received Region IX post-season awards, being named to the second team as a freshman and receiving honorable mention this year. He started 12 games and completed two, going 4-3 with a 6.00 ERA, and striking out a team-high 92 hitters in 57 innings of work.
He was second in the region with his strikeout total and his strikeout rate of 14.53 strikeouts per nine innings was highest among pitchers with a minimum of 50 innings pitched. With two more innings pitched this season he would have qualifying on the national leaderboard, and that strikeout rate would have been eighth best in the nation. For his career, he pitched in 29 games at MCC, starting 25 of them and going 10-6 with a 659 ERA. In 127 innings pitched, he struck out 188 hitters, and allowed 124 hits.
Ethan Murdoch (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) is the lone MCC freshman to earn Region IX honors, receiving honorable mention status. The outfielder played in 44 games before a season-ending injury April 16. He batted .315 in 44 games with 44 runs driven in, eight doubles and 16 home runs and a .706 slugging average. He was fourth in Region IX with his 16 homers and 17th in RBIs.
He had a pair of two home-run games including his first on Feb. 27 at Sterling, Colo., against NJC. He homered in three consecutive games in that series and was named Region IX Player of the week. He also homered twice on April 2 at La Junta, Colo. against Otero Junior College.
Zach Johnson of Southeast Community College was named the Region IX player of the year. He led Region IX and was second in the nation with a .476 batting average to go with 21 home runs and 80 RBIs.
Isaac Gallegos of Trinidad State was named the Pitcher of the Year leading the region with 126 strikeouts (fourth in the nation). He went 11-2 with a 2.99 ERA in 90.1 innings. His Trojan teammate Benji Suave was named freshman of the year batting .411 with eight home runs and 47 RBIs in 58 games.
HERE IS THE 2022 ALL-REGION IX TEAM
First Team
1B- Cameron Sisneros – Lamar CC
2B- Daniel Bannon – McCook CC
SS- Benji Suave- Trinidad State JC
3B- Erick Ordonez – Trinidad State JC
OF – Matt Goetzmann- Southeast CC
OF- Christian Castaneda – Otero JC
OF- Michael McGinnis – Lamar CC
C- Zach Johnson – Southeast CC
DH- Zack Beatty – McCook CC
SP- Isaac Gallegos – Trinidad State JC
SP- Corbin Kirk – Western NE CC
SP- Ian Weil – Lamar CC
RP – Levi Gates – Southeast CC
Second Team
1B- Carlos Oquita – Trinidad State JC
2B- Kenneth Melendez – Trinidad State JC
SS- Trey Adams – Northeastern JC
3B- Tyler Preece – Southeast CC
OF – Zach Boone- Northeastern JC
OF- Cesar Saavedra – Trinidad State JC
OF- Joshua Pearl – Otero JC
C- Luis Ayala – Trindiad State JC
DH- Austin Hall – Trinidad State JC
SP- Alex Wize – Southeast CC
SP- Ethan Fritz – McCook CC
SP- Sage Ferguson – Northeastern JC
RP – Will Gabriel – Trinidad State JC
Honorable Mention
Pitchers - Southeast CC- Cole Whitehill, Brayden Curtis, Simon Gradoville; Luna CC- Jacob Limas, Chisum Rush; McCook CC- Max Mrakovcic; Lamar CC – Ross Martin; Northeastern JC- Stevins Spurgeon, Brian Walters, Jeffery Behrends.
Catchers- Southeast CC- Jackson Meier, McCook CC – Caleb Eiguren, Lamar CC – Brian Ledezma
Infielders – Southeast CC- Ryan David, Tyler Monroe; Luna CC- Kekoa Ogawa; Lamar CC- Demeitrio Archuleta, Hagen Escoto; Northeastern – Alex Alva
Outfielders – Lamar CC- Aiden Davis, Northeastern- Mason Sauter, Caleb Rozier, McCook – Ethan Murdoch
Player of the Year: Zach Johnson – Southeast CC
Pitcher of the Year: Isaac Gallegos – Trinidad State JC
Freshman on the Year: Benji Suave – Trinidad State JC
All-Region IX Defensive Team
1B- Carlos Oquita – Trinidad State JC
2B- Tyler Monroe – Southeast CC
SS- Nolan Brown – Southeast CC
3B- Erick Ordonez – Trinidad State JC
OF- Matt Goetzmann – Southeast CC
OF- Jalen Ruffin – Northeastern JC
OF- Cesar Saavedra – Trinidad State
C- Jackson Meier – Southeast CC
Defensive Player of the year. – Nolan Brown