DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association has its fifth two-time NCAA Div. III Hitter of the Week, and for the second time this season, an institution has won the Hitter and Rookie of the Week honors in the same week. A nine-inning no-hitter rounded out this week's honorees, which were chosen based on performances for games played May 3-9.
Hitter of the Week: St. John Fisher College junior catcher Adam Zebrowski briefly took over the NCAA Div. III home run lead last week, as the Cardinals went 3-0 overall and 2-0 in Empire 8 Athletic Conference play. The catcher was 11-for-14 (.786) with two doubles, four home runs, 14 RBI, and 10 runs scored. He finished the week with an .824 on-base percentage and slugged 1.786 for a remarkable 2.610 OPS. Zebrowski had at least three hits in every game last week and capped the week with a 5-for-5 performance against Keuka College on Saturday. This is Zebrowski's third E8 weekly honor of 2021. Zebrowski, the NCBWA Div. III Hitter of the Week for games played April 5-11, 2021, joins The College of New Jersey's Gerard Haran (week ending March 19, 2006 & week ending May 7, 2006), Wartburg College's Jake Shandri (week ending March 4, 2007 & week ending March 25, 2007), Bridgewater College's (Va.) Jonathan Mason (week ending March 20, 2011 & week ending March 31, 2013) and Lancaster Bible College's Matt Taliercio (week ending April 21, 2013 & week ending May 4, 2014) as two-time NCBWA Div. III Hitters of the Week.
Honorable Mention Hitter: Colin Kelly, Sr., INF, Union College (N.Y.) Had a monster weekend for Union in a four-game sweep of Bard College, going 10-for-16 with five homers, 12 RBI, nine runs scored, a 1.688 slugging percentage, and a .647 on-base percentage. He had at least two hits, one homer, two RBI, and two runs scored in all four games, including going 6-for-7 with three homers, a triple, and seven RBI in Sunday's doubleheader sweep. As a result of his explosive weekend, Kelly now has 10 homers in just 18 games this season.
Pitcher of the Week: The University of Wisconsin-Stout's James Palmer pitched the program's first no-hitter since 2009 and the first complete-game no-hitter since 1997. The left-hander struck out nine during an 8-0 nine-inning win over the University of Wisconsin-Platteville on May 4. Palmer allowed five walks, but consistently worked his way out of trouble throughout the game. He faced three batters in the first, second, fourth, sixth, and eighth innings, allowing only one runner as far as second base. Palmer recorded the first out in the ninth via a strikeout, then forced two consecutive groundouts to shortstop to end the game.
Honorable Mention Pitcher: Thomas Zbezinski, Jr., Pennsylvania State University Behrend Threw his first collegiate no-hitter against the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in game one of Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference quarterfinal series. Zbezinski became the fifth pitcher in Behrend program history to accomplish this feat. He struck out nine in seven innings to improve to 5-1 on the mound.
Rookie of the Week: St. John Fisher freshman James Murphy had six hits go for extra bases last week, as the Cardinals won all three contests, including two Empire 8 tilts. Murphy batted .400 overall with six hits in 15 at bats. The third baseman legged out three doubles and three triples, drove in 11 runs, and scored five of his own. Murphy was perfect in the field as well with six assists and two putouts. This is St. John Fisher's second rookie honor this spring, as James Ward Jr. was the pick for games played April 19-25. With its four selections this spring, St. John Fisher is now tied for third all-time with six honorees.
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)