2018 All-Great Midwest Baseball Team Release
A total of six Hillsdale College baseball players received all-conference honors at Tuesday night's postseason banquet, held at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio.
Senior Colin Hites, sophomore Jake Hoover and freshman James Krick were all named First-Team All-G-MAC at the awards banquet, held at the site of this year's conference tournament, which begins Wednesday.
Freshman David Toth earned Second-Team All-Conference recognition, while pitchers Andrew Verbrugge and Will Kruse each picked up honorable mention honors.
Hites has been incredibly reliable both in the field and at the plate in his senior season at Hillsdale. He batted .333 with 47 hits, including 11 multi-hit games, all coming since April 17. Since then, Hites raised his batting average 133 points, becoming a key component of the Charger lineup. He plays both in the infield and the outfield, giving the team enviable flexibility defensively.
Hoover returned to the program in 2018 and entrenched himself as one of the best shortstops in recent Charger memory. He is simply outstanding in the field, showing terrific range, arm strength and a quick exchange motion. He batted .324 with 2 home runs, 24 RBI, 47 hits and 28 runs scored. He's started 42 of the 45 games he's played in, and had a streak of one hit in 18 of 19 games played between March 18 and April 22.
Krick was elected to the first team in the utility-pitcher position. He qualified by making 10 appearances on the mound and playing in 26 games in the field during the season. He had 9 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings pitched during the season, and batted .235 at the plate with 3 home runs and 14 runs batted in.
Toth led the staff with 9 saves in 17 appearances during the season with a 3.00 earned run average. He accepted the challenging role of closer in his first year and had 26 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched.
Kruse was a G-MAC Pitcher of the Week selection and concluded the regular season with a 5-3 record and a 3.95 earned run average. He fanned 66 batters in 79 2/3 innings with just 17 walks allowed in 12 starts.
Verbrugge took his game to a new level in 2018, winning four games with a 2.62 earned run average. He yielded 23 earned runs in 79 innings pitched, with a terrific 48-to-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio.