2020-21 OCCAC Baseball News
Bryant & Stratton (OH) Athletics entered the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference with a bang, winning three regular season championships after officially joining the league prior to the 2020-21 seasons. The Bobcats’ success led to earning the ’20-21 OCCAC All-Sports Award.
Jeff Price, former Sinclair athletics director and head men’s basketball coach who recently accepted the associate head coach position for the University of Central Arkansas men’s basketball program, is leaving the conference with a bang – named the Michael Rickard Athletics Director of the Year for 2020-21. Price was voted to this honor for the third time in his career.
Nine student-athletes exhibiting outstanding sportsmanship have been named to the 2020-21 OCCAC All-Sportsmanship Team. These fine representatives of the conference ‘do things the right way’ and exemplify the values expected of OCCAC student-athletes.
Four individuals have earned 2020-21 OCCAC Scholar-Athletes of the Year: Jeff Aime (Hocking College men’s basketball), Cassie Hoover (Terra State volleyball), Jagger Jefferies (Bryant & Stratton baseball) and Keara Wilson (Bryant & Stratton women’s basketball).
While some OCCAC student-athletes came back to the court or field and others remained in a competition hiatus this past semester, academics was clearly still a main concentration for many as well over 100 honorees picked up Academic All-Conference recognition.
OCCAC champion Bryant & Stratton (OH) Baseball swept the conference’s annual awards and paced all teams with five All-OCCAC First Team members. Bobcats Torry Roper, Brad Wolfe and Eric Lahetta were named the Player, Pitcher and Coach of the Year, respectively.
Andrew Flowers batted .500 (6-12) for the week and drove in six runs as Owens Baseball posted a 4-0 showing. The second baseman picked up OCCAC Player of the Week honors while his Express teammate Justin Studenka closed out the week with a hitless 7-inning complete game win to corral Pitcher of the Week laurels.
Kennedy Ryan and Autumn Brososky have both picked up their second OCCAC weekly honor of the season. Brososky earned Pitcher of the Week honors on April 12 and now May 3 while Ryan is this week’s Player of the Week following her Pitcher of the Week performance in mid-April. For baseball, Clark State’s Beldon Glasgow (player) and Zach Cabell (pitcher) were deemed the top performers for April 26-May 2.
Torrey Roper and Brad Wolfe (Bryant & Stratton Baseball), Valerie Swope and Sydni Buhrow (Owens Softball) are the OCCAC Player and Pitcher of the Week honorees for April 19-25.
Mia Cipriano (Lakeland) and Kennedy Ryan (Owens) are the OCCAC Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for April 12-18 while Bryant & Stratton (OH) maintained its stronghold on the conference’s weekly baseball honors with Torrey Roper (player) and Dustyn Lucas (pitcher) rising as the latest Bobcats to earn the distinction.
John Costella and Koby Zupko of Bryant & Stratton (OH), Hayley Kanzig and Autumn Rose Brososky of Owens are the OCCAC Player and Pitcher of the Week honorees for April 5-11, 2021.
The Ohio Community College Athletic Conference have recognized four student-athletes for their efforts on the diamond from March 29-April 4. Christian Boyles (Bryant & Stratton) was named the Baseball Player of the Week while CJ Hartley (Clark State) and Avalon Gollin (Lakeland) shared the softball honor after posting nearly identical stat lines in a split doubleheader against each other. Lakeland’s Bailey Cravens rounds of this week’s honorees, tabbed as the Softball Pitcher of the Week for the third consecutive week.
Five student-athletes received recognition from the OCCAC for their efforts on the ball field. Logan Wunderle (Bryant & Stratton) and Louis Lipthratt (Clark State) were tabbed as Baseball Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively, while Casey McHugh (Lakeland) and Hannah Owens (Owens) split the Softball Player of Week nod, and Bailey Cravens (Lakeland) reeled in her second straight Pitcher of the Week accolade.
Lakeland Softball burst out of the gates at 4-0 during their opening week while Bryant & Stratton Baseball snared four wins as well in six games played. Ava Scott and Bailey Cravens of Lakeland earned the weekly softball accolades. Riley Day and Jagger Jefferis of Bryant & Stratton did the same for baseball.
Clark State got the ball rolling for softball season, splitting a two-game series with UC Clermont and picking up both OCCAC Player (Alexis Harville) and Pitcher (Mariah Crawford) of the Week honors. The baseball awards were divided between Owens (Steve Haugh; Player) and Clark State (Brad Vargas; Pitcher).
