INDIANAPOLIS – Nationally-ranked Ohio Dominican and Findlay were awarded Great Midwest Athletic Conference Baseball North Division Players of the Week honors as announced on Monday.
The North Division had a dominant run over the weekend against its counterparts from the South Division.
No. 18 Ohio Dominican and Hillsdale are both a perfect 8-0 to co-lead the North standings. Findlay trails by a game at 7-1 while Lake Erie is 5-1 and Malone/Walsh are still in good position with division records over .500 at 5-3.
The South Division is paced by Trevecca while Kentucky Wesleyan and Cedarville are each tied for the second.
The Great Midwest Championship field is an eight-team bracket with the top three teams from North and South and two remaining wild cards.
North Division Player of the Week
Justin Childers
Ohio Dominican
Infield
Senior
Pickerington, OH (Pickerington North HS)
In the midst of an 11-game win streak, Childers and Ohio Dominican have risen from No. 22 to No. 18 in the national rankings. The Panthers bid to keep moving up the ladder was enhanced by a perfect 6-0 week with a record that stands now at 19-4.
ODU hasn’t lost since March 10 against Fairmont State and since that time, the offense has put up 20 or more runs twice and won by scores of 19-1, 15-2 and 18-6.
Enter Childers, who continued to terrorize pitching with a 13-for-22 (.591) week at the plate with seven extra-base hits, including three doubles, three homers and a triple.
Childers is working on a 10-game hit streak and he had at least two hits in five of ODU’s games last week alone. He launched home runs against Cedarville, Davis & Elkins and Alderson Broaddus.
Childers was 3-for-3, a triple away from the cycle in separate games against D&E and AB.
This represents his second divisional player of the week honor of the spring.
Childers is now hitting .413 on the season with 41 runs scored, eight doubles, six home runs and 23 RBI. He has also drawn more walks (23) than strikeouts (17), a sign of impressive plate discipline.
Childers is the league leader in runs scored while tied for the conference lead in triples. He is also second in total bases and third in hits. ODU’s offense is tops in the Great Midwest with a team batting average at .350.
North Division Pitcher of the Week
Alex Harter
Findlay
RHP
Junior
Findlay, OH (Liberty Benton HS)
Harter toed the rubber for a pair of gems as he pitched a combined 12 scoreless innings for the Oilers that included a pair of winning decisions. Like Ohio Dominican, Findlay went unbeaten in the past week at 6-0 in conference play.
Harter logged a perfect 0.00 ERA while giving up just seven hits. He struck out 12 in as many frames as the Oilers provided ample run support in 5-1 and 6-1 scores behind the junior righty.
On Monday, Harter went the distance with seven strong innings and locked down the Senators with a five-hit effort. He yielded an unearned run as part of 100 pitches, for his first career complete-game outing.
Harter delivered an eight-strikeout performance against Trevecca as he tossed five scoreless innings for his second win of the week. He gave up just two hits and worked around three walks issued.
In three appearances this spring, Harter’s ERA now sits at 1.23 in 14.2 innings pitched. He is holding hitters to an average of just .180 and averages almost a strikeout per frame.