DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association has its third-ever two-time NCAA Div. III Rookie of the Week, while a nine-inning no-hitter and a four-homer week took home the week seven hitter and pitcher prizes, respectively. This week's honorees were recognized for performances spanning April 5-11.
Hitter of the Week: St. John Fisher College junior catcher Adam Zebrowski was a hitting machine for the Cardinals again last week, as the Albany native batted .667 over five games. Zebrowski finished the week with 12 hits in 18 at-bats and slugged 1.556. The catcher had four home runs and four doubles to pair with 12 runs scored and 11 RBI. He also drew five walks and had an on-base percentage of .750. Zebrowski currently has a four-game homer streak, and he's now a two-time Empire 8 Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week in 2021.
Honorable Mention Hitter: Kyle Lauria, Sr., INF, State University of New York at Oswego Lauria helped the baseball team to a 6-0 week, including a 4-0 mark in conference play. The senior infielder went 12-for-20 (.600) with 13 RBI, 10 runs scored, and five stolen bases. He reached base another six times by walk or hit-by-pitch for a staggering .667 on-base percentage.
Pitcher of the Week: Freshman Nolan Rowan collected his first collegiate win in a big way. The Kean University rookie became just the third player in program history to throw a nine-inning no-hitter during the Cougars' 4-0 win against Stockton University on Saturday. Rowan struck out five in the win. He leads all New Jersey Athletic Conference pitchers by limiting opponents to just a .103 batting average, and he ranks third in the conference with a 1.06 ERA. Of note, Rowan is the fourth Kean pitcher to earn the NCBWA Div. III Pitcher of the Week honor. The Cougars have the second-most all-time winners (6) and the second-most NCBWA Div. III Pitcher of the Week (4) recipients since the organization started sponsoring Div. III awards in 2003. Rowan is Kean's second winner of the 2021 season. Philip Mahlik was the organization's Div. III Hitter of the Week for games played March 8-14.
Honorable Mention Pitcher: Sayers Collins, So., East Texas Baptist University Was nearly perfect in three relief appearances over 9 2/3 innings, earning a win and a save. He notched 18 strikeouts without allowing a hit or walk. Collins started the week with two-innings of relief against No. 14 Centenary College of Louisiana, striking out three batters. In the Tigers' 5-3 win over Louisiana College, he earned the victory, coming into the fifth inning with the game tied at 3-3. Collins struck out 11 batters over the final five innings. He then earned the save in the series finale by retiring the final five batters, coming in with two runners on and one out with a 6-3 lead in the eighth.
Rookie of the Week: Stevenson University's Amani Jones earns his second NCBWA Div. III Rookie of the Week honor in 2021. Jones batted .600 (6-for-10) and slugged 1.600 with three home runs, a double, nine RBI, and five runs scored in a doubleheader sweep of Eastern University. The first-year infielder went 3-for-5 in both contests. In game one, he hit two home runs, knocked in six, and scored three times. In the nightcap, Jones had a home run, a double, three RBI, and two runs scored. Jones is the third two-time NCBWA Div. III Rookie of the Week. The NCBWA began sponsoring a Div. III weekly rookie award in 2018.
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 Dick Howser Player of the Year Award, Regional Player of the Year and NCBWA All-America voting. The NCBWA also sponsors preseason All-America awards, publication and writing contests.
2021 NCBWA Division III Players of the Week:
Week ending March 7: Caleb Durbin, Washington U. (Hitter); Patrick O'Rourke, Berry (Pitcher); Amani Jones, Stevenson (Rookie)
· Week ending March 14: Philip Mahlik, Kean (Hitter); Ryan Behling, North Central (Pitcher); Jacob Cyrus, Illinois Wesleyan (Rookie)
· Week ending March 21: Dane Pedersen, Louisiana College (Hitter); Thomas Gallant, Mount Union (Pitcher); Nolan Sparks, Rochester (Rookie)
· Week ending March 28: Jack Hollinshead, Wittenberg (Hitter); Sam Westermeyer, St. Olaf (Pitcher); Cam Seymour, Southern Maine (Rookie)
· Week ending April 4: Catcher Cumming, Penn State Altoona (Hitter); Chris Chiriboga, St. Thomas (Pitcher); Jake Freed, Oberlin (Rookie)
· Week ending April 11: Adam Zebrowski, St. John Fisher (Hitter); Nolan Rowan, Kean (Pitcher); Amani Jones, Stevenson (Rookie)
· Week ending April 18: Dougie DelaCruz, Mitchell (Hitter); Michael Vallone, DePauw (Pitcher); Owen Robbins, Mitchell (Rookie)
· Week ending April 25: Daniel Coleman, SUNY-Cortland (Hitter); Brock Weirather, Grinnell (Pitcher); James Ward Jr., St. John Fisher (Rookie)
· Week ending May 2: Jake Reinhardt, North Park (Hitter); Weston Lombard, Gustavus Adolphus (Pitcher); Jake Hillard, Penn State Altoona (Rookie)
· Week ending May 9: Adam Zebrowski, St. John Fisher (Hitter); James Palmer, Wisconsin-Stout (Pitcher); James Murphy, Adam Zebrowski (Rookie)
2021 NCBWA Division III Players of the Month:
February: Ty Morgan, Louisiana College (Hitter); Brett Sanchez, Belhaven (Pitcher); Levi Cloud, Berry (Rookie)