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Wiczek, Bloom Take
Top Honors as Five Earn First-Team All-WIAC Baseball
UW-Stevens Point senior designated hitter Steve Wiczek was named the
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference co-Position Player of the Year
and coach Pat Bloom earned league Coach of the Year honors to lead five
first-team selections for the Pointer baseball team.
In addition to Wiczek, other All-WIAC selections were senior first
baseman Ryan Jones, junior shortstop Jake Frombach, senior pitcher J.C.
Reinke and junior leftfielder Chuck Brehm. Earning honorable mention honors
were senior rightfielder/pitcher Matt Polomis, senior pitcher Kevin Pankow,
freshman third baseman Tim Schlosser and freshman pitcher Jordan Zimmermann.
The Pointers have achieved the second-highest win total in school
history with a 35-9 record and captured the WIAC tournament title last
weekend. UW-Stevens Point will participate in the NCAA Division III
tournament beginning Thursday in Whitewater.
Wiczek, a former Stevens Point Area Senior High standout, put
together the best offensive season of any player in school history to become
the second Position Player of the Year in the nine-year history of the
award, joining Chris Berndt in 1999. He shared the award with UW-Oshkosh�s
Jeremy Jirschele despite not playing a single inning defensively all year.
UW-Whitewater�s Greg Reinhard was named the league�s Pitcher of the Year.
Wiczek has single-season school records 80 hits, 64 RBI�s and 16 RBI�s,
while ranking seventh nationally with a .468 average and getting hits in 42
of the team�s 44 games. He also is fourth in the country with an .848
slugging percentage.
Jones,
a former Eau Claire North High School standout, was also a first-team
selection in 2002 and 2003. He holds UW-Stevens Point career records with 49
home runs, 203 hits, 185 runs, 165 RBI�s, 583 at-bats and 387 total bases.
This season, Jones leads the team with single-season school records of 16
home runs and 63 runs.
Frombach, a Stratford native, earned his second straight all-WIAC
honor and leads all league shortstops with a .944 fielding percentage. He
has a .364 batting average and ranks second on the team with 67 hits, 14
doubles and eight stolen bases.
Reinke, a Bonduel native, leads the Pointers with a 6-2 record
and a 2.82 ERA in 70 1/3 innings pitched. He has completed five of his last
six starts and had a two-hit shutout of UW-Whitewater earlier this year to
earn National Pitcher of the Week honors.
Brehm, a Spencer native, hit .399 with 13 home runs and 51
RBI�s, while leading the team with 12 stolen bases. He was an honorable
mention selection last year and the National Hitter of the Week earlier this
season. Brehm also was named the league�s co-scholar athlete award winner
with a 3.85 grade point average in Physical Education.
Polomis, a Wausaukee native, joined the pitching rotation in the
15th game of the season and posted a 4-1 record with a 3.49 ERA. He also
batted .333 with 22 RBI�s and five stolen bases.
Pankow, an Oconomowoc native, set a school record with 62 career
appearances. He currently leads the WIAC with seven saves while posting a
3-1 record and 3.42 ERA.
Schlosser, an Oconomowoc native, has a .378 average with seven
home runs and 34 RBI�s. He hit the game-winning home run in the ninth inning
of the WIAC tournament title game to defeat UW-Whitewater.
Zimmermann, an Auburndale native, has made seven starts this
year and has a 4-2 record with a 5.20 ERA. He has 39 strikeouts against 14
walks in 45 innings pitched.
Bloom is in his second year as the Pointers� head coach and is
already fifth in school history for career wins with a 60-25 mark.
UW-Stevens Point finished 25-16 last year and was picked for third in the
preseason conference poll. |
