Zapata First Team All-American by ABCA, Zapata and Schimpf Honored by D3Baseball.com
Zapata First Team All-American by ABCA, Zapata and Schimpf Honored by D3Baseball.com
SHREVEPORT, La. - Junior catcher Chris Zapata and senior outfielder Michael Schimpf, two days after receiving First Team All-Region recognition, were named All-American by D3Baseball.com on Thursday, May 25. Zapata earned First Team Accolades, while Schimpf appeared on the Second Team.
Zapata became the first Gent to be named a First Team All-American by D3Baseball.com. The 2017 SCAC Player of the Year and two-time First Team All-Region catcher leads the nation with 71 RBI's and sits second in RBI's per game (1.58). He also led the conference and ranks third in the nation with 131 total bases. He easily led the conference in both home runs (12) and slugging percentage (.732), and finished second on the team and third in the conference with a .391 batting average. Zapata broke the single-season Centenary record for RBI's while finishing fourth in slugging percentage and fifth in total bases in the season annals.
On SCAC Tournament Championship Day against Trinity on April 30, he fittingly broke the single-season RBI record with a two-run home run in the first game, while belting a grand slam in the first inning of game two to break the career record. The Gents went on to win its first ever SCAC Tournament Title and advance to the NCAA Tournament with a 13-3 win over the Tigers in seven innings.
Schimpf garnered Second Team honors after finishing with a .405 batting average in 2017 - becoming only the second player to lead the conference in batting average for a season twice in his career. He was the only player in the SCAC with an on-base percentage above .500, finishing sixth in the nation at .547. Schimpf finished second in the SCAC to other Gents in runs scored (54), RBI's (47), and slugging percentage (.622).
Schimpf completed his four years in a Gents uniform ranking in the top-10 in numerous categories in the Centenary career annals, including first with 53 hit-by-pitches, second with 166 runs and eight triples, third with 223 hits and 300 total bases, sixth with a .366 batting average and with 34 doubles, and 10th with 37 stolen bases.
The Diamond Gents honorees were the only two players from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference who were named to the First, Second, or Third Team. Zapata and Schimpf represent only the second and third All-Americans for head coach Mike Diaz, joining Taylor Henry, who received D3Baseball.com Second Team All-American honors in 2015.
First team
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | Avg. | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | Fld.% |
| C | Chris Zapata, Centenary (La.) | Jr. | .391 | 37 | 70 | 17 | 4 | 12 | 71 | 8 | .991 |
| 1B | Nick Sotiros, North Central (Ill.) | Sr. | .347 | 40 | 66 | 18 | 4 | 7 | 60 | 3 | .986 |
| 2B | Tanner Nishioka, Pomona-Pitzer | Sr. | .441 | 48 | 67 | 12 | 1 | 18 | 53 | 8 | .966 |
| 3B | Michael Mateja, North Central (Ill.) | So. | .414 | 59 | 77 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 35 | 21 | .931 |
| SS | Bryan VanDuser, Concordia-Chicago | So. | .413 | 56 | 74 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 19 | .929 |
| OF | Trey Mears, Wesley | Sr. | .500 | 56 | 68 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 54 | 41 | .984 |
| OF | Ian Mikowski, Adrian | Sr. | .472 | 68 | 83 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 42 | .990 |
| OF | Alex Zachary, Eastern Connecticut | Sr. | .404 | 42 | 61 | 14 | 2 | 9 | 42 | 25 | .980 |
| DH | Casey Bell, LaGrange | Sr. | .374 | 49 | 73 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 49 | 6 | - |
| UTL | Pete Grasso, Salisbury | Sr. | .381 | 53 | 72 | 13 | 3 | 8 | 47 | 8 | .966 |
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | ERA | W-L | Sv. | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | Opp. avg. |
| SP | Billy Dimlow, Emory | So. | 1.09 | 6-2 | 0 | 74 | 62 | 9 | 14 | 83 | .209 |
| SP | Josh Fleming, Webster | Jr. | 0.68 | 8-1 | 0 | 92.2 | 54 | 7 | 12 | 115 | .165 |
| SP | Phil Mary, Mount Union | So. | 0.78 | 10-0 | 2 | 81 | 58 | 7 | 16 | 62 | .199 |
| SP | Heath Renz, UW-Whitewater | Jr. | 1.96 | 9-0 | 1 | 69 | 54 | 15 | 13 | 55 | .215 |
| RP | Matt Curry, TCNJ | Jr. | 0.84 | 9-0 | 7 | 32 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 27 | .148 |
| UTL | Pete Grasso, Salisbury | Sr. | 2.17 | 9-1 | 4 | 91.1 | 77 | 22 | 36 | 89 | .227 |
Second team
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | Avg. | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | Fld.% |
| C | Ryan Orgielewicz, Johns Hopkins | Sr. | .403 | 40 | 73 | 16 | 2 | 13 | 56 | 8 | .996 |
| 1B | Jamie Lackner, Wooster | Sr. | .408 | 49 | 69 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 58 | 5 | .998 |
| 2B | Kyle Fackler, Elizabethtown | Sr. | .443 | 45 | 77 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 28 | 8 | .948 |
| 3B | Eric Hamilton, Oswego State | Sr. | .434 | 40 | 69 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 36 | 16 | .966 |
| SS | Conor Reynolds, Johns Hopkins | Jr. | .366 | 58 | 56 | 17 | 2 | 9 | 33 | 13 | .917 |
| OF | Rob DeAngelis, Ramapo | Sr. | .429 | 45 | 73 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 29 | 6 | .988 |
| OF | Cole Migliorini, Randolph-Macon | Jr. | .399 | 47 | 61 | 13 | 4 | 9 | 45 | 9 | .975 |
| OF | Michael Schimpf, Centenary (La.) | Sr. | .405 | 54 | 60 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 48 | 10 | .976 |
| DH | Daniel Williams, Texas-Tyler | Sr. | .395 | 36 | 79 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 53 | 7 | .929 |
| UTL | Ryan Orr, Kalamazoo | Jr. | .331 | 31 | 47 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 10 | .957 |
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | ERA | W-L | Sv. | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | Opp. avg. |
| SP | Caleb Boushley, UW-La Crosse | Sr. | 1.75 | 9-3 | 1 | 103 | 75 | 20 | 19 | 106 | .202 |
| SP | Joe Cirillo, TCNJ | Jr. | 1.48 | 5-1 | 0 | 85.1 | 63 | 14 | 20 | 73 | .209 |
| SP | Riley Groves, Washington & Jefferson | Sr. | 2.03 | 10-2 | 0 | 79.2 | 67 | 18 | 16 | 61 | .223 |
| SP | Felix Minjarez, Redlands | Jr. | 2.30 | 12-2 | 0 | 94 | 89 | 24 | 25 | 105 | .253 |
| RP | T.J. Storer, Ohio Northern | Sr. | 1.69 | 1-0 | 14 | 21.1 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 12 | .224 |
| UTL | Ryan Orr, Kalamazoo | Jr. | 3.05 | 7-2 | 3 | 73.2 | 67 | 25 | 11 | 77 | .233 |
Third team
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | Avg. | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | Fld.% |
| C | Derek Helbing, Washington & Jefferson | Sr. | .325 | 51 | 53 | 12 | 0 | 11 | 53 | 9 | .972 |
| 1B | Conner Combs, East Texas Baptist | Sr. | .400 | 54 | 70 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 45 | 18 | .981 |
| 2B | Mitch Wilson, Concordia-Chicago | Jr. | .366 | 48 | 63 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 38 | 18 | .980 |
| 3B | Tyler Cook, Chapman | Sr. | .431 | 42 | 72 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 39 | 3 | .919 |
| SS | Ryan Dorow, Adrian | Sr. | .422 | 50 | 75 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 54 | 3 | .956 |
| OF | Dylan Hapworth, Southern Maine | Fr. | .394 | 45 | 63 | 14 | 4 | 9 | 41 | 3 | .963 |
| OF | Ian Kobernick, Kalamazoo | Sr. | .428 | 48 | 74 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 52 | 9 | .972 |
| OF | Jacob Thumann, Wartburg | Sr. | .343 | 44 | 61 | 11 | 1 | 13 | 48 | 9 | .980 |
| DH | Jake Loew, Shenandoah | Sr. | .365 | 47 | 70 | 14 | 4 | 10 | 59 | 1 | .920 |
| UTL | Kyle Uhrich, Webster | Sr. | .288 | 30 | 46 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 30 | 2 | .983 |
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | ERA | W-L | Sv. | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | Opp. avg. |
| SP | Stephen Himic, Birmingham-Southern | Jr. | 2.28 | 10-0 | 0 | 83 | 75 | 21 | 16 | 56 | .245 |
| SP | Jimi Keating, Spalding | Jr. | 1.62 | 11-2 | 0 | 100 | 67 | 18 | 10 | 124 | .186 |
| SP | Tommy Parsons, Adrian | Jr. | 2.23 | 12-1 | 0 | 93 | 92 | 23 | 7 | 101 | .256 |
| SP | Speros Varinos, Tufts | Sr. | 1.98 | 8-1 | 1 | 77.1 | 67 | 17 | 11 | 86 | .233 |
| RP | Aaron Barteau, Mary Hardin-Baylor | Sr. | 2.05 | 2-1 | 13 | 26.1 | 18 | 6 | 9 | 44 | .191 |
| UTL | Kyle Uhrich, Webster | Sr. | 2.29 | 7-3 | 4 | 59 | 26 | 15 | 25 | 90 | .131 |
Honorable mention
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | Avg. | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | Fld.% |
| C | Rainier Aguilar, Redlands | So. | .424 | 25 | 59 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 39 | 0 | 1.000 |
| 1B | Chris Fowler, Mass-Boston | Jr. | .366 | 36 | 63 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 46 | 4 | .988 |
| 2B | Kyle Hartenstein, Mitchell | Jr. | .422 | 51 | 70 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 43 | 6 | .954 |
| 3B | Ian Velez, La Roche | Sr. | .435 | 41 | 73 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 7 | .864 |
| SS | Kyle Bonicki, Clark | Jr. | .391 | 50 | 61 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 31 | 12 | .975 |
| OF | Brady Chant, Suffolk | Jr. | .361 | 47 | 69 | 13 | 12 | 4 | 35 | 17 | .978 |
| OF | Billy Goodall, Mount Union | Jr. | .451 | 40 | 69 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 34 | 25 | .965 |
| OF | Nick Vento, Washington & Jefferson | Sr. | .433 | 47 | 81 | 17 | 1 | 8 | 57 | 13 | .976 |
| DH | Scott Walters, Trinity (Texas) | Sr. | .400 | 45 | 64 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 30 | 19 | .930 |
| UTL | Ben Havel, Elmhurst | Sr. | .433 | 38 | 68 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 48 | 1 | .985 |
| Pos. | Name, School | Yr. | ERA | W-L | Sv. | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | Opp. avg. |
| SP | Cason Cunningham, Linfield | So. | 2.13 | 5-1 | 0 | 84.1 | 43 | 20 | 39 | 104 | .154 |
| SP | Ryan Gaines, Birmingham-Southern | Sr. | 2.93 | 11-0 | 0 | 101.1 | 103 | 33 | 13 | 82 | .261 |
| SP | Austin Jones, UW-Whitewater | Jr. | 1.91 | 8-3 | 1 | 85 | 62 | 18 | 20 | 83 | .202 |
| SP | Brad Margolin, Washington U. | Sr. | 1.98 | 9-2 | 0 | 82 | 56 | 18 | 7 | 69 | .190 |
| RP | Nathan Schneidermann, Dubuque | So. | 0.47 | 6-1 | 5 | 38 | 18 | 2 | 8 | 42 | .145 |