DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its first weekly NCAA Division II National Players of the Week awards of the 2016 season for the week ending on Feb. 16. Lubbock Christian senior outfielder Brett Wilhelm is the National Hitter of the Week while West Texas A&M senior righty Brooks Trujillo is the National Pitcher of the Week.
Wilhelm (Amarillo, Texas) led LCU to a 4-0 week. He led LCU batting .615, going 8-for-13 from the plate with six runs batted in, a .667 on base % and a 1.154 slugging mark. He tallied a trio of multi-hit performances and four of his eight hits were for extra bases (two doubles, a triple and a home run). Wilhelm also accounted for nine runs. He was also 6-for-9 (.667) with runners on base and 4-for-4 (1.000) when batting in a lead-off role.
Trujillo (Parker, Colo.) set a WT school-record with 17 strikeouts at Northwestern Oklahoma State Saturday in an 8-0, complete game shutout and he tossed a one-hitter. It was his first complete game and shutout of his WT career and he walked just two in the game as the Rangers hit .033 against him. WT's last one-hitter came on Feb. 24, 2014 against New Mexico Highlands. The previous best strikeouts by a player was Dylan James as he fanned 14 at Angelo State Mar. 29, 2013 and the previous for the team was 16 versus Southwestern Oklahoma State Mar. 16, 1997.
Division II Regional Players of the Week:
• Atlantic: Andy Szamski, Concord (W. Va.) (Hitter); Jon Anderson, Slippery Rock (Pitcher)
• Central: Brandon Arnold, St. Cloud State (Hitter); Sheldon Miks, St. Cloud State (Pitcher)
• East: No nominations
• Midwest: No nominations
• South: Alexander DeGoti, Barry University (Hitter); Walker O'Connor, University of West Florida (Pitcher)
• South Central: Brett Wilhelm, Lubbock Christian (Hitter); Brooks Trujillo, West Texas A&M (Pitcher)
• Southeast: Brian Parreira, South Carolina-Aiken (Hitter); Vince Apicella, Carson-Newman (Pitcher)
• West: Drew McLaughlin, Dixie State (Hitter); Jordan Kurokawa, Hawaii-Hilo (Pitcher)
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. Members receive a membership card, directory, newsletter updates and official votes in the Howser Award Player of the Year, Regional Player of the Year and NCBWA All-America voting. The NCBWA also sponsors preseason All-America awards, publication and writing contests.
2016 NCBWA Division II Players of the Week:
Week ending Feb. 16: Brett Wilhelm, Lubbock Christian (Hitter); Brooks Trujillo, West Texas A&M (Pitcher)
· Week ending Feb. 23: Andrew Vogelbaugh, Pittsburg State (Hitter); Guillaume Blanchette, Lubbock Christian (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 1: Blaise Warrick, Arkansas-Fort Smith (Hitter); Ben Criscuolo, Southern New Hampshire (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 8: Matt Piatt, Tampa (Hitter); Mark Delas, Findlay (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 15: Troy Sieber, St. Leo University (Hitter); Robbie Gordon, Maryville (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 22: Dylan Cook, Georgia College (Hitter); Logan Johnson, Fairmont State (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 29: Chance Bowden, Catawba (Hitter); Greg Stagani, West Liberty (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 5: Zach Hoffmann, St. Cloud State (Hitter); Placido Torres, Tusculum (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 12: Reese Gregory, St. Cloud State (Hitter); Tanner Herdt, Colorado Mesa (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 19: J.P Sorma, Ashland (Hitter); Mason Mayberry, Findlay (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 26: Alex Wojciechowski, Minnesota-Duluth (Hitter); Alex Kelley, Francis Marion (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 3: Aaron Krier, Wayne State (Hitter); Nikko Pablo, Northwest Missouri State (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 10: Cale Giddings, Lake Erie (Hitter); Colin Gossard, Findlay (Pitcher)