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Brehm, Zimmermann
Sweep WIAC Baseball Honors
The stars from Saturday�s NCAA Division III regional championship game
were also honored as the best in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference regular season as UW-Stevens Point�s Chuck Brehm and Jordan
Zimmermann swept the league�s highest individual awards to lead five
Pointers on the conference�s first team.
Brehm, who hit the game-winning home run in Saturday�s 6-4 win over
Ripon, was the league�s Position Player of the Year, while Zimmermann, who
struck out a school record 15 batters in the win, earned Pitcher of the Year
laurels. The pair led the Pointers to a 34-16 record and a berth in this
weekend�s Division III World Series, which opens Friday in Appleton.
UW-Stevens Point plays
Marietta
(Ohio) in the first round at 7:45 p.m.
Other first-team selections for the Pointers were senior pitcher Josh
Perkins, senior shortstop Jake Frombach and junior first baseman Adam
Evanoff. Junior catcher Doug Coe and junior pitcher Ryan Hopkins were
honorable mention choices.
Brehm, a Spencer native, was also a first-team performer last year and
honorable mention in 2004. Brehm, who hit .337 with 15 home runs and 46
RBI�s, ranks second in school history with 35 career homers and 50 stolen
bases, including a single-season school record 26 steals this year. He is
just the second player in WIAC history to reach those career
marks
in both categories, joining UW-Oshkosh�s Kevin Reichardt. It
marks the second straight year that UW-Stevens Point has had the Player of
the Year after Steve Wiczek earned the honor last season.
Zimmermann, an Auburndale native, posted a 2.42 ERA with 92 strikeouts
and 19 walks in 78 innings pitched. He held opponents to a .176 batting
average and pitched seven complete games. Zimmermann had a 5-4 record as the
team scored a total of six runs in his four losses. He also hit .340 with
six home runs and 18 RBI�s. Zimmermann was an honorable mention pick last
year and joins Bill Verbrick in 2002 as the only Pointers to earn the
league�s top pitcher award.
Perkins, a Two Rivers native, completed an amazing comeback year with
his second career first-team honor. A first-team selection in 2003, Perkins
missed the past two seasons while serving military duty in Iraq, but
returned this year to post a 6-2 record with a .343 ERA. He also ranks
second in the WIAC with 78 strikeouts and held opponents to just a .208
batting average.
Frombach, a Stratford native, collected his third straight first-team
award after also earning honorable mention accolades as a freshman. He tied
the WIAC record with 85 hits this year while hitting for a .385 average with
31 RBI�s. Frombach is UW-Stevens Point�s all-time leader with 240 hits,
while playing in a school record 168 games.
Evanoff, a Plover native who attended Stevens Point Area Senior High,
played in 48 games at first base and hit .341 with 38 RBI�s. He homered in
Saturday�s regional title game and has hits in 23 of his last 27 games.
Evanoff is hitting .600 with runners in scoring position during the
postseason.
Coe, who attended Appleton North High School,
ranks third on the team in batting with a .349 average. He has a team-high
14 doubles with 13 home runs and 44 RBI�s. Coe has thrown out 10 of 18
potential base stealers, allowing just one stolen base since April 19.
Hopkins, a
Libertyville,
Ill. native, has a 4-1 record with one save and a 2.96 ERA. He ranks fourth
in the WIAC with 46 strikeouts and 16 walks in 51 and two-thirds innings
pitched.
UW-La Crosse coach Chris Schwarz was named the league�s Coach of the
Year. |
