Six Yellowjackets Earn Conference Honors (5/11/07)

BILLINGS, MT – The Heartland Conference announced its all-conference baseball teams on Friday.  Montana State-Billings placed six players on the all-conference teams with three first team and three second team selections.  The all-conference teams were selected by the league’s head coaches.  The Yellowjackets were 24-26 overall in their second season of competition since reinstating baseball.  They finished fourth in the Heartland with a 16-20 mark.

Named to the All-Heartland first team were pitcher Ben Lewerke (Mason City, IA), second baseman Matt Schoonover (Great Falls, MT), and shortstop Kyle Pryor (Billings, MT).  Relief pitcher Mike Cease (Deer Lodge, MT), catcher Jake Samuelson (Helena, MT), and outfielder Nick Hoskyn (Oelwein, IA) were selected to the All-Heartland second team.

Lewerke	Schoonover	Pryor	Cease	Samuelson	Hoskyn

Lewerke was among the top pitchers in the league all season.  He started the year with a 7-1 record in his first eight starts.  He did not factor into the decisions in his final two starts of the year.  For the season, Lewerke ranked second in the conference with a 2.74 ERA.  Four of his ten starts were complete games.  Lewerke was also selected the Yellowjackets’ team pitcher of the year and the athletic department’s most valuable male athlete.

The Jackets’ middle infield tandem of Pryor and Schoonover comprised half of the All-Heartland first team infield.  Pryor was the Jackets’ leadoff hitter and led the Heartland in walks.  He batted .327 and ranked third in the league with a .474 on base percentage.  Pryor also led the team with 42 runs and 17 stolen bases.  Schoonover led the Yellowjackets with a .378 batting average and .555 slugging percentage.  He hit four home runs and nine doubles.  Schoonover drove in 24 RBIs and scored 27 runs.

Cease was dominant as the Jackets’ closer early in the season.  He recorded six saves in 11 appearances, posting a 0.59 ERA with a .212 opponent batting average.  Samuelson was the Jackets’ field leader behind the plate and batted .281 with 17 RBIs and 16 runs.  He threw out 35 of 48 base runners.  Hoskyn was a mainstay in the Jackets’ outfield.  He batted .275 with 23 RBIs and 28 runs.

St. Edward’s won the 2007 Heartland Conference title and swept the conference’s top individual awards.  Outfielder Bradley Goldsmith was named the Heartland’s player of the year.  Patrick Colgan was the pitcher of the year, and Dexter Moreno was the freshman of the year.  Hilltopper coach Rob Penders was voted the conference coach of the year.