2022 CoSIDA Academic All-American Baseball Teams
To be great in one area of collegiate athletics is hard enough.
To excel in every facet is impressive takes a special effort from a special student-athlete, and that's exactly what sophomore outfielder Lewis Beals represents for the Hillsdale College baseball team.
Beals is one of the top players in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference on the baseball diamond, while also standing as one of the top students Hillsdale College has to offer in the classroom.
That well-rounded excellence helped Beals earn an extremely rare and prestigious honor on Wednesday afternoon, as the Mason, Michigan native was one of just 35 baseball players across the nation at the NCAA DII level to earn 2022 CoSIDA Academic All-American honors. Beals made the organization's second team, one of just 22 players and six outfielders to earn first or second-team honors.
The 2022 Academic All-American® Baseball Teams, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The program, which has been around since 1952 and is the premier national academic award in collegiate athletics, recognizes baseball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
Beals is just the second baseball player in Hillsdale history to receive CoSIDA Academic All-American honors, joining Tony Castleberry, who received the distinction in 2000.
The sophomore had an impressive season in 2022, hitting .378 wih a .776 slugging percentage in 38 games, the second-highest single season slugging percentage in program history. Beals led the Chargers in home runs with 14, tied for the sixth most in a single season all time at Hillsdale, and finished second in RBIs with 44 while chipping in nine doubles, three triples and eight stolen bases.
Beals put up all those numbers despite missing the Chargers' final nine games of the season with an injury. The fact that Beals ranks so highly all-time in multiple categories despite missing nearly a quarter of his team's games is a testament to just how good he was when he was on the field.
His biggest moment came in a series against McKendree on March 4 and 5. In a 12-7 win over the Bearcats on March 4, Beals accomplished an extremely rare feat by hitting for the cycle, finishing with a single, a double, a triple and a home run in the same contest. It was part of a weekend where Beals went 11 of 17 at the plate with two doubles, a triple, five home runs and 10 RBIs, and became the first Charger baseball player in at least a decade to receive NCBWA National Player of the Week honors.
As good as he was on the field, Beals has been arguably even more impressive in the classroom. He's one of just two student-athletes on campus to carry a 4.0 GPA in his two years at Hillsdale, and he was named the Outstanding Junior among biology majors at Hillsdale this past spring. That he's able to continue to excel despite missed class time and a full schedule during the spring season is a testament to his work ethic and dedication.
Along with the Academic All-America distinction, Beals was also recognized as a first-team all-conference outfielder by the G-MAC and received All-Midwest Region recognition from all three major awards bodies in the sport of baseball, taking second-team honors from the Division II Conference Commissioners Association and the American Baseball Coaches Association, while also earning honorable mention from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
Beals will look to make a healthy return to play in the 2023 season this coming spring, and build on his excellent 2022 campaign while helping lead the Chargers to a strong team finish in the G-MAC as well.