GREAT AMERICAN CONFERENCE
NEWS RELEASE
Contact: Eric Moyer, GAC Associate Commissioner for Communications
Release Date: Wednesday, May 10, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – In advance of the final round of the 2023 Great American Conference Baseball Championships, the league announced its awards recipients. The coaches voted Southern Nazarene’s DJ Van Atten as Player of the Year, Arkansas-Monticello’s Mason Philley the Pitcher of the Year and Harding’s Cooper Newsom as Freshman of the Year. Southern Arkansas’ Mikel Howell won Newcomer of the Year and the Muleriders’ Justin Pettigrew received Coach of the Year.
Van Atten became the first Crimson Storm player to win a baseball individual superlative award. He leads Division II in average, slugging percentage and total bases. He ranks second in on-base percentage. He led the league in hits and tied for the league lead in home runs. His batting average, .470, finished 68 points ahead of the GAC’s second-best hitter, Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Damon Burroughs, the same gap as from Burroughs to the 29th-best average.
2023 GAC BASEBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
Philley equaled the feat of Matt Lundh, in 2019, as Weevils dubbed GAC Pitcher of the Year. He tied for the league lead with eight victories and his 127 strikeouts led the conference. His 15 strikeouts against Oklahoma Baptist on March 18 represented the high single-game total in the conference this season.
Newsom, Harding’s second Freshman of the Year, led the league and ranked third in the country with 25 doubles. He hit .305 with a .560 slugging percentage.
Howell became SAU’s second-straight Newcomer of the Year. He went 6-2 with a 3.82 ERA. The ERA and his .243 opponent’s batting average each ranked sixth in the league. Pettigrew won his third Coach of the Year award and his second-straight.
The regular-season champion Muleriders paced the league with five First-Team selections. Brandon Nicoll earned the nod at third base by unanimous vote. He ranked third in the conference in hits and RBI. Catcher Brett McGee became a three-time First-Team selection. His 16 home runs and 62 RBI placed inside the top five. Starting pitcher Jeremy Adorno and short stop Riley Orr placed on the First Team for the second-straight season. Adorno followed up his 2022 Pitcher of the Year campaign by going 7-3. He struck out 116 batters in 93.0 innings pitched. Reliever Isaiah Haynes notched 12 saves in 16 appearances. He posted a 1.76 ERA and held opponents to a .167 average.
Ouachita Baptist and Arkansas Tech each put three players on the First Team. The Tigers, who won 37 games for the first time since 2009, saw starting pitcher Cooper Timmons, outfielder G. Allen and two-way star Dustin Bermudez make the First Team. Timmons went 7-4 with 109 strikeouts in 86.1 strikeouts. Allen ranked sixth in average, on-base percentage and slugging. Bermudez hit .327 with a team-leading 54 RBI. His 10 saves finished second to Haynes.
Starter John Gray, reliever Mason Griffin and outfielder Keaton Ranallo represented the Wonder Boys. Gray went 6-4 while his 3.69 ERA ranked fourth; Griffin tallied eight saves and Ranallo ranked in the top 10 in doubles and total bases.
Arkansas-Monticello second baseman Cade Thompson, Henderson State outfielder Greyson Stevens and Oklahoma Baptist designated hitter Alex Schroeder filled out the First Team. Thompson, who also made the First Team in 2022, led the league in walks and produced a .481 on-base percentage. Stevens finished second with 21 doubles and tied for sixth in hits. Schroeder matched Van Atten with 21 home runs while his .720 slugging percentage ranked third.
The All-GAC Second Team consisted of SAU’s Howell and Conner Allen; Arkansas Tech’s Sawyer Duddleston and Sam Stephenson; Arkansas-Monticello’s River Hunt and Chaz Poppy; Harding’s Coulton Doyle and Maddox Long; Henderson State’s Kaden Argenbright and Henry Coppens; Oklahoma Baptist’s Jake Hamilton and Dan Pruitt, Ouachita Baptist’s Michael Quinones and Teddy Webb, Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Hagen Barcello and Damon Burroughs.
The Honorable Mention All-GAC team featured Harding’s Andrew Bradshaw, Collin Helms, Sebastian Martinez and Will Roguske; Arkansas Tech’s Brandon Bunton, Cade McBride and Nick Jones; Arkansas-Monticello’s Chase Cripps, Connor Irvine and Kirk Woolf; Henderson State’s Ryan Galvan, Cade Tucker and Luke Rice; Oklahoma Baptist’s Brek Galbreath, Jayden Shafer and Kade Self, Ouachita Baptist’s Luke House and Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Reid Rice.
Timmons, McGee, Pruitt, Thompson, Orr and Bunton headlined the GAC’s All-Defensive Team. Harding’s Logan Lacey and Cody Smith plus Southern Arkansas’ Chris Lyles filled out the nine-member team.
The GAC also named its Elite and Distinguished Scholar Athletes. Oklahoma Baptist’s Jonah Mahen and Ouachita Baptist’s Jackson Lipscomb received the Elite Scholar Athlete award as both own perfect 4.00 GPAs.
A total of 15 standouts earned the Distinguished Scholar Athlete honor in Ouachita Baptist’s Allen, Quinones, Logan Bell, Jacob Bowman, Benjamin DePriest and Tallon Heine; Henderson State’s Stevens, Alex Day and Louis Holt; Oklahoma Baptist’s Austin Albright, Jordan Brewer and Nolan Feazle; Southern Arkansas’ Chance Bolter, Jack Liddell and Cy Murphy.