A strong season for the Hillsdale College baseball team continues as regional and national awards begin to come out, and the Chargers are well-represented.
Hillsdale did especially well in an award that salutes both academic and athletic achievement, as four Chargers baseball players -- seniors Lewis Beals, Dillon Manion and Logan Simon, and junior Paul Brophy -- earned Academic All-District recognition from College Sports Communicators on Tuesday afternoon.
In order to be considered for CSC Academic All-District honors, an athlete must be either a starter or a meaningful contributor, and carry a 3.5 or better cumulative GPA. All Academic All-District honorees are entered into consideration to receive prestigious Academic All-American honors from CSC later in May, as voted on and selected by institution SIDs at the NCAA DII level.
Beals is a repeat recipient of Academic All-District honors from CSC after receiving recognition in 2022 and also going on to earn Second Team Academic All-American honors from CSC, becoming just the second Chargers baseball player in program history to recieve the distinction after a season where he also earned All-G-MAC and consensus All-Region honors.
The senior had another strong year in 2023 after bouncing back from a serious injury that cut his 2022 season short, hitting .308 with nine doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 40 RBIs while playing in right field every day for the Chargers. He finishes his Hillsdale career seventh all-time in program history with 23 home runs.
Off the field, Beals might be even more impressive, graduating from Hillsdale in the top five in his class with a degree in Biochemistry and a perfect 4.0 GPA. He was also named the 2022 Hillsdale Biology Department Junior Scholar of the Year and spent the summer of that year conducting research into Alzheimers disease at Hillsdale with Dr. Sang-Chul Nam, helping produce a paper titled "Comparison of Tau and Amyloid beta induced oxidation of optic disc mitochondria in Drosophila melongaster". Beals also volunteered with the Hillsdale Hospital Laboratory and Emergency Department during his time at Hillsdale.
He's joined on the Academic All-District team by two fellow graduating seniors. Dillon Manion is a relief pitcher for the Chargers who played an important role for Hillsdale out of the bullpen, appearing in 13 contests with a 3-2 record and striking out 18 batters in 23.1 innings pitched.
A graduate with a degree in exercise science for Hillsdale, Manion also boasts a strong academic reputation, earning three Academic All-G-MAC honors and also receiving the ADA Academic Achievement Award twice. He's also been an active member of the Hillsdale Student-Athlete Advisory Council throughout his time at Hillsdale.
Also making the team for the Chargers is senior pitcher Logan Simon, another important relief arm for the Chargers who appeared in 12 games and 17.1 innings as critical middle-relief for Hillsdale.
Simon also made his mark as a graduate with a degree in Accounting, earning Academic All-G-MAC honors every season at Hillsdale and volunteering with Miracle League Baseball where he worked with special needs children.
Junior pitcher Paul Brophy also received an award for the Chargers, after a season where he both started and came out of the bullpen as needed for Hillsdale. Brophy made 11 appearances, with seven starts, and pitched 32.1 innings with a 2-2 record and 21 strikeouts.
As a student, Brophy has been one of the baseball program's best, earning Academic All-G-MAC honors every year as a Biochemistry major, and receiving membership in both the Sigma Zeta math and science honorary and the American Chemical Society.
As All-District honorees, all four players are under consideration for CSC Academic All-American honors. A team of All-Americans will be chosen from the All-District winners and the selections will be announced on June 7.