Nicholson, Key, Smith Land Top Honors for ICCAC DII Baseball

The ICCAC Division II Baseball All-Region teams were released along with the four individual awards on Tuesday, highlighting the best players in Region 11 during the 2024 season. 

Iowa Central led the way with six First Team All-Region selections, the most from any school and were headlined by freshman second baseman Cooper Nicholson receiving Player of the Year honors. 

In conference play, Nicholson led the league in hits (46), home runs (14), and total bases (103), while he was second in slugging percentage (.798). Nicholson hit .357 with 42 RBI, and 46 runs scored. Out in the field, he made 47 putouts in 113 total chances and committed 10 double plays throughout the season.

Overall, his 20 home runs this season are tied for second-most in the country, while he is top 5 in runs (76, 3rd) and total bases (156, 5th).

The 2024 Pitcher of the Year award went to DMACC's Chance Key. The Bear threw 44 innings while striking out 40 hitters on his way to an 5-0 record in conference games. Key was first in the conference in both ERA -- a measly 1.43 -- and WHIP which was 1.00. On the season, opponents batting averages against him were averaged at .222.

Key threw three complete games during the conference season, and in the most meaningful game of the season last week in the Region 11 Tournament, Key went the full nine allowing just five hits and two earned in a 10-2 win over Northeast.

Cole Smith of Southeastern was awarded Defensive Player of the Year. The centerfielder was automatic in the field, committing zero errors in 33 conference games while having a 1.000 fielding percentage. He made 84 putouts and 10 assists on 94 total chances as well. His ability to cover the outfield was an integral piece to the Blackhawks approach on the mound.

A Second Team All-Region selection, on offense, Smith batted .352 and stole 13 bases.

Will Smoot of Iowa Central was the First Team All-Region catcher. Smoot batted .368 with a .481 on-base percentage and a .764 slugging. He led the ICCAC in RBi with 49 in 33 conference games -- and had nine homers which was second-most. 

Troy Berg (Iowa Central), Ethan Bowers (Kirkwood), and Kooper Schulte (Southeastern) were First Team selections in the infield, along with Nicholson. 

Berg led the conference in triples with six, and had the league's highest on-base percentage at .544. He was fourth in steals with 18. 

Bowers batted .365, collecting 12 doubles, and 46 hits which was tied for first in the conference with Nicholson. He drove home 25 runners and stole 24 bases as well.

Schulte had the third-highest on-base percentage at .503 powered by his 20 walks and leading the league in hit by pitch, 15. 

Harrison Bowman and Jack Mausser of Iowa Central made up two of the three outfield selections on the First Team. Bowman was the league's top power producer --- he was top five in batting average (.386), on-base percentage (.484), and slugging percentage (.713). He leads the nation overall this season in RBI with 94, and his 17 homers are currently fifth-most in the NJCAA.  

Mausser was first in batting average at .417 and first in slugging percentage at .821. He hit nine home runs and seven doubles in his 26 conference games played.

Brayden Hellum of Kirkwood joined the First Team All-Region performer to round out the three-man outfield. In 32 conference games, Hellum batted .389 with 71 total bases and six home runs. He drove home 25 runners and struck out just 11 times.

On the mound, Oliver Ward (Northeast), Ian Culver (Iowa Central) and Andrew Carroll (Kirkwood) were the First Team starting pitchers, joining DMACC's Key. 

Ward had the league's second-lowest ERA behind Key at 1.71. He was 5-0 with his only loss coming against No. 1 ranked Division I Iowa Western. In 42 innings he struck out 45 batters and had a WHIP of 1.00.

Culver had the highest K/9 of the four First Teamers at 11.25. The University of Utah commit had a 4.05 ERA and a 5-1 record. He threw 40 innings in seven appearances.

Kirkwood's Carroll had a 2.13 conference ERA. Also 5-1, he boasted a 1.11 WHIP in 38 innings pitched. 

The two relief pitchers on the First Team were Sam Skarich of Southeastern and Boede Rahe of Kirkwood.

Skarich's strikeout per game was 15.58 in his eight appearances. He only allowed three earned runs and five hits in conference play.

Rahe pitched 22.1 innings, striking out 28 while only allowing 13 hits and four earned runs. His BAA was .160.

Kirkwood's Clayton Campidilli made First Team All-Region in the designated hitter spot. Campidilli had nine home runs, 38 RBI, 14 walks, and 37 hits in conference play. The big bat for Kirkwood was eighth in slugging percentage (.651) as well.

Tanner Short of Ellsworth was the utility selection in 2024. Short was second in the conference in doubles with 14 and tenth in total bases with 65. During conference games, Short had four home runs while batting .365 with a slugging percentage of .625.

Capping off the top honors for the season -- Justin Schulte of Southeastern was voted Coach of the Year. The long-time Blackhawks skipper led Southeastern to a 41-15 record during the regular season tied for the conference regular season title at 23-10. Most notably, Schulte picked up his 1000th career victory as a college baseball coach this season -- split between his time at Southeastern and Mt. Mercy.