June 5, 2006
Seven baseball players at Hesston College were named to the All-Region
VI team in Division II, National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA)
According to Coach Art Mullet, the seven are sophomores Drew Ebersole, Sarasota,
Fla.; Charlie Eastlund, Boone, Iowa; Aaron Martin, Harrisonburg, Va.; and Bret
Willems, Hutchinson, Kan.; along with three freshmen--Reggie Lewis, Chicago,
Ill.; Brad Rohaty, Sarasota, Fla.; and A.J. Smith, Boone, Iowa.
Rohaty was the ace of the pitching corps, with a 3.08 ERA. He won 5 games, and
struck out 68 hitters in 91 innings--both numbers just shy of school records.
Smith won 6 games with an ERA of 4.31. Willems pitched mostly in relief with
a 3.38 ERA, but he also batted .269 while playing first base.
Lewis led the team in batting average at .321 with 20 RBIs. Eastlund hit at .314
and 18 RBIs while doing most of the catching. Ebersole hit .284 with 19 RBIs
and 14 stolen bases. Martin hit .277 with 20 RBIs and 22 stolen bases, two shy
of the school record. Martin also set school records in season (14) and career
hit-by-pitch (19), as well as most assists by an infielder for a season (134)
and career (230).
The Larks finished with a 19-25 record, after beating Brown Mackie College 3
games to 2 in the best-of-five Region VI play-off, then dropped two Southwest
District contests, one to Redlands Community College 13-3 (El Reno, Okla.), and
the other to Mesa (Ariz.) Community College 3-0, ranked #1 in Division II of
the NJCAA.
Hesston College Baseball