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| Wooster's league-high eight all-conference picks included seven first-time selections. |
A league-leading eight College of Wooster baseball players earned All-North Coast Athletic Conference honors for the 2021 season, with the honorees announced by the conference office on Tuesday morning. Earning spots on the All-NCAC East Division Team were sophomore first baseman Dane Camphausen, junior shortstop Tyler Chumita, senior pitcher Jay DiBacco, senior pitcher Evan Faxon, junior center fielder Ben Gbur, junior right fielder Ben Hines, senior shortstop Gabe Sherman, and junior pitcher Colin Springer.
Camphausen caught fire down the stretch, hitting safely in 12 of Wooster's last 13 games. He had 14 RBI and three homers during that stretch. On the year, Camphausen ranked third on the team with a .355 average (43-for-121), logged 39 RBI, scored 29 runs, clubbed 11 doubles and eight homers, and sported a .459 on-base percentage. He was one of seven Scots to post an above-.300 average in divisional play, checking in at .308 (12-for-39). In the 12 league games, he had 11 RBI, nine runs scored, and three homers.
Chumita, arguably Wooster's top all-around player, ranks 22nd in NCAA Div. III in average (.465; 59-for-127), 19th in on-base percentage (.560), 25th in doubles (17), and 13th in hit by pitches (17) through games played May 23. He's currently tops in the NCAC in average, on-base percentage, hits, and hit by pitches, while also ranking second league-wide in runs (42) and doubles. During East Division games, Chumita hit .417 (15-for-36) with 11 RBI, 10 runs, three doubles, and a triple. He sported a .556 on-base percentage during the dozen divisional tilts with six walks and six hit by pitches. On the year, Chumita drove in 41 runs and walked 17 times.
DiBacco, who spent the season as Wooster's No. 2 pitcher, is currently the NCAC co-leader with six wins (6-1), and he entered the week tied for the conference lead with 10 starts and ranked eighth in innings pitched (48 1/3). The right-hander sported a 4.84 ERA and he's one of three NCAC pitchers with at least eight starts this season to allow under one base hit per inning pitched. DiBacco scattered 46 hits, allowed 27 runs (26 earned), and struck out 26. His signature outing came on March 27 at Denison University, where he fired a two-hit shutout while facing three batters over the minimum.
Faxon, Wooster's ace, is now a two-time All-NCAC honoree. The left-hander leads the NCAC in strikeouts (63) and he's currently tied for third in wins (5-1) and fifth in innings pitched (52). The senior, who had a 4.33 ERA, opened the year with a three-hit shutout against Ohio Wesleyan University, where he faced two batters over the minimum, thanks to a pair of double plays. He allowed one Battling Bishop to reach scoring position with that taking place in the seventh inning. He also had a three-hit shutout against Wittenberg University. In that game, Faxon retired the final 11 batters he faced, faced three batters over the minimum, and only allowed one Tiger to reach scoring position.
Gbur hit .324 (45-for-139) on the year, and he enters the week as the NCAC leader in runs (43) and triples (five), and he's also in the top-seven in RBI (second, 45), at bats (second, 139), steals (third, 18), homers (fourth, eight), and hits (seventh). In divisional play, Gbur hit .405 (15-for-37) with 20 RBI, 13 runs, eight stolen bases, four homers, two doubles, and a triple. The right-hander homered in four straight games at one point this year, finished with a perfect fielding percentage in 105 chances, and had 15 multi-RBI games and 13 multi-hit games this spring.
Hines is currently in the top-six in numerous NCAC statistical rankings, including average (sixth, .401; 57-for-142), at bats (first), hits (second), runs (third, 41), RBI (sixth, 37), triples (first, five), stolen bases (fourth, 16), walks (fifth, 18), and on-base percentage (sixth, .470). He led the team at the dish during the NCAC Championship Series, going 6-for-15 with six RBI, a homer, and walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th inning of game two last Thursday. This season, Hines strung together a 21-game hitting streak, during which he hit .462 (36-for-78) with 26 runs, 23 RBI, 10 walks, 10 stolen bases, four doubles, four triples, and a homer.
Sherman, who hit safely in 12 of his final 13 games, is currently tied for the NCAC lead in walks (22) and is in the top-seven in triples (fourth, three) and runs (seventh, 33). He hit .345 (40-for-116) on the year, and those numbers were bolstered by a breakout stretch during NCAC East Division play. There, he posted a team-high .469 average (15-for-32), and had he had one more base knock in the dozen divisional games, he would've had a .500 average. Elsewhere, Sherman scored 14 times, drew nine walks, tallied seven RBI, and had a .585 on-base percentage in league action.
Springer, who earned honors as a utility player, left his mark on the mound. There, he ranked first in the NCAC among those with at least 20 innings pitched in ERA (2.41) and he's the current conference leader in saves (4) and appearances (17). On the year, Springer went 2-3 over 33 2/3 innings. He allowed 27 hits, 16 runs (nine earned) and struck out 29, while holding the opposition to a .216 average against. He had seven scoreless outings on the year, and worked a career-high 6 1/3 innings against Denison during last week's 13-inning marathon in the NCAC Championship Series.
Wooster's eight all-conference selections are the most since the program had nine in 2018. The Fighting Scots finished the season at 25-13, which included a 9-3 mark in NCAC East play.