FHSU Athletics
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Fort Hays State baseball team garnered seven recognitions from the 2024 MIAA Baseball Postseason Awards and All-MIAA Teams, announced Thursday (May 2) by the league office. Six different Tigers were recognized, including one first-team pick, three third-team selections, one honorable mention accolade and two Gold Glove Award recipients.
Ty Riley was a first team selection at starting pitcher, becoming the first Tiger to receive first-team status in 11 years. Third team honors went to Elliott Herrmann at first base and Brady Kreutzer and Isaiah Ural in the outfield. Rafael Espinoza was an honorable mention pick at starting pitcher, while Herrmann (1B) and Trey DeGarmo (3B) both earned Gold Glove Awards at their positions. They are the first two Tigers to earn that distinction that was first awarded in 2017.
Riley earned first-team status after a stellar first season on the mound as a Tiger. The junior right hander led FHSU in ERA (3.28), WHIP (1.31), batting average against (.212) and strikeouts (73). His 73 strikeouts are third-most in the MIAA while he ranks second in the conference in opposing batting average and third in ERA. Riley needs two strikeouts to crack the top 10 list in a single season at FHSU, while his average of 1.21 strikeouts per inning currently ranks third-best in a single season in team history. He tied for second on the team with four victories.
The Bentonville, Ark. native struck out five or more batters seven times in 14 appearances, including four contests with eight or more punchouts. He was named MIAA Pitcher of the Week after striking out 12 batters in 6.0 innings against Pittsburg State in April.
Herrmann collected third-team honors after leading the team and ranking third in the conference with 14 home runs. The Castle Rock, Colo. native drove in a team-high 54 RBI in the regular season, ninth-most in the league. He was hit by a pitch 14 times on the year, tied for sixth-most in a single season in program history. Herrmann needs two home runs to crack the top 10 list in a single season at FHSU. He recorded multiple hits 17 times, including a team-best five base knocks in a win over Newman in March. Herrmann was named MIAA co-Hitter of the Week back in March after batting 8-for-15 with 14 RBI across five games.
The first baseman also played stellar defense at first base, earning the Gold Glove award after posting a fielding percentage of .992 on 387 chances. He compiled 369 putouts, 15 assists and was involved in 24 double plays while committing just three errors on the season.
Kreutzer put together an impressive junior campaign, leading the Tigers in batting average (.335), slugging percentage (.654), OPS (1.069), hits (63), runs scored (53), triples (seven) and total bases (123). The Hays native tied the school record with his seven triples this season, which leads the conference and ranks third in all Division II. He was seventh in the league and in the top 50 nationally in total bases. The left fielder led FHSU with 19 multi-hit games this season and had the longest hitting streak of the year at 17 games. He scored a team-high four runs in a win over Newman in March. Kreutzer also led the team with six sacrifice flies, tied for the most in the conference.
Ural nabbed All-MIAA honors for a second-consecutive season after picking up honorable mention accolades last year. He received third-team honors this year after leading the team in on-base percentage (.417) and doubles (15). The center fielder ranked second on the team in batting average (.322) and stolen bases (12) while totaling 39 runs, 39 RBI and nine home runs. The Albuquerque, N.M. native turned things up a notch over the last month of the season, finishing the regular season on a 14-game hitting streak and a 16-game reached base streak. He is batting .483 (29-for-60) over the hitting streak with 17 RBI. He was named MIAA co-Hitter of the Week in the middle of the hitting streak after clubbing four home runs and slugging 1.158 across four games.
Espinoza had a solid freshman season on the mound for the Tigers, tossing the only two nine-inning complete games for the team. He was second on the team amongst qualified pitchers with a WHIP of 1.45 and a batting average against of .279. The Imperial, Calif. native posted an ERA of 5.40 and was tied for second on the pitching staff with four victories, striking out 38 batters in 55.0 innings of work.
DeGarmo has been a brick wall at third base all season, regularly making spectacular plays look routine. He did not commit an error across the first 47 games of the season, finishing the year with a fielding percentage of .985 thanks to 32 putouts, 100 assists and two errors on 134 chances. He was involved in seven double plays.
Fort Hays State's five All-MIAA selections are the most in a single season for the Tigers since 2016, while this is the first time since 2007 that FHSU has had at least four players on the first, second and third teams.
The Tigers will play in the postseason for the first time in 11 years beginning Friday (May 3, 6 p.m.) when FHSU battles top-seeded Central Missouri in a best-of-three quarterfinal series in Warrensburg, Mo.
2024 MIAA Baseball Postseason Awards and All-MIAA Teams
Player of the Year – Brennan van Breusegen – Central Missouri
Pitcher of the Year – Conner Wolf – Central Missouri
Co-Freshman of the Year – Logan Myers – Emporia State
Co-Freshman of the Year – Jack Scott – Central Missouri
Coach of the Year – Kyle Crookes – Central Missouri
FIRST TEAM
Starting Pitcher: Cole Gayman – Missouri Southern
Starting Pitcher: Ty Riley – Fort Hays State
Starting Pitcher: Conner Wolf – Central Missouri
Relief Pitcher: Valek Cisneros – Central Oklahoma
Catcher: Chase Heath – Central Missouri
First Base: Josh Patrick – Central Missouri
Second Base: Tyson Fourkiller – Northeastern State
Shortstop: Max Holy – Central Missouri^
Shortstop: Henry Kusiak – Missouri Southern^
Third Base: Dylan Kurahahi Choy Foo – Pittsburg State
Outfield: Payton McHarg – Washburn
Outfield: Brennan van Breusegen – Central Missouri
Outfield: Carter Young – Central Missouri
Designated Hitter: Vance Tobol – Central Missouri
Utility: Cash Jay – Washburn ^
Reflects Ties In Voting
SECOND TEAM
Starting Pitcher: Jacob Wilson – Central Missouri
Starting Pitcher: Brett Pense – Central Oklahoma
Starting Pitcher: Tanner Leslie – Pittsburg State
Relief Pitcher: Boston Dowd – Pittsburg State
Catcher: Nixon Brannan – Pittsburg State
First Base: Cale Savage - Washburn
Second Base: Cole Moore – Central Missouri
Shortstop: Jett Buck – Washburn
Third Base: Jacob Steele – Central Missouri
Outfield: Carson Carpenter – Central Oklahoma^
Outfield: Kaleb Glass – Central Oklahoma^
Outfield: Ryan Koval – Missouri Western^
Outfield: Jack Schark – Central Missouri^
Designated Hitter: Caden Robertson – Central Oklahoma
Utility: Drew Townsend – Missouri Southern
^Reflects Ties In Voting
THIRD TEAM
Starting Pitcher: Jack Scott – Central Missouri
Starting Pitcher: Dax Sharp – Central Oklahoma
Starting Pitcher: C.J. Briley – Northeastern State
Starting Pitcher: Casey Stalzer – Northwest Missouri
Starting Pitcher: Brady Gilmore – Central Oklahoma
Relief Pitcher: Jacob Gajic – Northwest Missouri^
Relief Pitcher: Landon Riley – Rogers State^
Catcher: Gage Williams – Northeastern State^
Catcher: Hayden Priest - Washburn^
First Base: Elliott Herrmann – Fort Hays State
Second Base: Deagan Brady – Pittsburg State
Shortstop: Orlando Gonzalez – Central Oklahoma
Third Base: Will Doherty – Missouri Southern
Outfield: Brady Kreutzer – Fort Hays State
Outfield: Isaiah Ural – Fort Hays State
Outfield: Isaiah Keller – Northeastern State
Designated Hitter: Trey Morris – Northwest Missouri
Utility: Ryan Williams – Northwest Missouri
^Reflects Ties In Voting
GOLD GLOVE TEAM
Pitcher: Conner Wolf – Central Missouri
Catcher: Chase Heath – Central Missouri
First Base: Elliott Herrmann – Fort Hays State
Second Base: Cole Moore – Central Missouri*
Shortstop: Orlando Gonzalez – Central Oklahoma^
Shortstop: Henry Kusiak – Missouri Southern^
Third Base: Trey DeGarmo – Fort Hays State
Outfield: Brennan van Breusegen – Central Missouri*
Outfield: Connor Scott - Washburn
Outfield: Carter Young – Central Missouri
^Reflects Ties In Voting
*Unanimous Selection
HONORABLE MENTION
Central Missouri: Harrison Babbitt (Relief Pitcher)
Emporia State: Cade Barton (Starting Pitcher), Graham Brunner (Starting Pitcher), Kadyn Williams (Third Base)
Fort Hays State: Rafael Espinoza (Starting Pitcher)
Missouri Southern: Trent Harris (Starting Pitcher), Kyle Moore (Relief Pitcher), Garrett Rice (First Base), Ethan Clark (Outfield), Treghan Parker (Outfield)
Missouri Western: Robert Farrell (Relief Pitcher)Newman: Blake Mitchell (Outfield)
Northwest Missouri: Cole Slibowski (Second Base), Caden Diel (Outfield)
Pittsburg State: Brady Pacha (Starting Pitcher), Cade Clemens (Shortstop), Josh Holmes (Outfield), Blaze Mozley (Designated Hitter)
Rogers State: Colton Anderson (Starting Pitcher), Matthew Delgado (Catcher), AJ Folds (Outfield)
Washburn: Cooper Carlgren (Starting Pitcher), Griffin Huiatt (Relief Pitcher), Cal Watkins (Second Base), Connor Scott (Outfield)