INDIANAPOLIS – Walsh and Hillsdale were tabbed for Great Midwest Athletic Conference Baseball Players of the Week for the North Division as announced on Tuesday afternoon.
All five teams in the North Division are currently sporting a winning record and Ohio Dominican, still ranked 15th nationally, leads the divisional race at 13-3. Hillsdale is close behind at 13-5 followed by Findlay (11-5), Malone (12-6), Walsh (11-6) and Lake Erie (10-7).
The North Division could potentially have five of the eight spots represented in the conference tournament at PRASCO Park (top three teams plus two additional wild cards).
North Division Player of the Week
Avery Janning
Walsh
Pitcher/Infield
RS Sophomore
Hilliard, OH (Bishop Watterson HS)
A week ago, Walsh was the team slotted sixth in the North Division, but the Cavaliers won a two-game set against Lake Erie to switch positioning in the standings.
For the second week in a row (following Andrew Czech), another Walsh hitter stood out from the very talented batch of sluggers from the North Division.
A big reason for the surge was the hot hitting from Janning, who went 9-for-16 at the plate in a four-game sample size that included a non-conference doubleheader against Ashland.
Janning parked a home run and legged out a pair of doubles while driving in eight. He hit .563 and scored four runs.
In each game against LEC, Janning had three-hit performances, while starting at the hot corner defensively. In game one against the Storm, Janning was 3-for-5 with four RBI while doubling and homering.
In a 12-5 final, Janning belted a three-run shot in the eighth inning as part of a six-run frame put together by the Cavaliers. In game two of the twinbill, he had four more RBI with three singles.
Janning is third in the productive Walsh batting order in average (.362) as the Cavaliers have completed 32 games with an 18-14 record. He has seven home runs, eight doubles and 31 RBI this spring.
North Division Pitcher of the Week
Andrew Verbrugge
Hillsdale
RHP
Sophomore
Grand Rapids, MI (Byron Center HS)
Verbrugge assembled a complete-game masterpiece against North Division counterpart Findlay as the Chargers maintained their hold on second in a tight divisional battle.
In a 6-1 Hillsdale victory, the sophomore righty went the distance with a nine-inning, three-hit gem against one of the most potent offenses in the league.
He quieted the Oilers bats with five strikeouts and used an economical number of 75 in the pitch count while walking just one. It was his second consecutive complete-game shutout after blanking Malone over nine innings in a two-start week last week.
Verbrugge’s ERA over his last three starts is a sterling 1.04 in 26 innings pitched. He has allowed only 14 hits in that span while compiling a 6:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
In nine starts this spring for the Chargers, Verbrugge has a 4-4 win-loss record with an ERA of 2.64. He is holding opposing hitters to a .222 average and has logged 64.2 innings.
Among qualified starting pitchers in the conference, he is the league leader in complete games (6) and innings pitched, ranks fourth in ERA and is tied for second in games started.