CLEVELAND, OH -- Denison sophomore Eric Colaco (Richfield, OH/Revere) and Denison senior Charlie Fleming (Upper Arlington, OH/Upper Arlington) have been named the Player of the Year and the Pitcher of the Year to highlight the 2023 All-North Coast Athletic Conference Baseball Team following balloting by the league coaches.
Colaco, who earns his first All-NCAC first-team distinction after elevating from the second team a season ago, earned Denison its fifth NCAC Player of the Year award and first since Brian McAuliffe claimed the honor in 2021. Over the course of the Big Red’s 39-game regular season schedule, the sophomore hit .393 (66-for-168) with 16 doubles, nine home runs, two triples and 53 RBI, to go along with a league-leading 63 scored runs. The 2022 NCAC Newcomer of the Year also swiped 34 bags and drew 23 walks in the regular season. He posted 21 multi-hit games, highlighted by three 2-for-3 performances, one 4-for-5 effort and one perfect 4-for-4 game. Colaco hit safely in each of Denison’s first 28 games of the season (Feb. 24-Apr. 19), tying the program’s single-season and career records for the longest hitting streak set by Will Krushena (Feb. 24-April 16, 2019). Along with two steals in the NCAC postseason, he currently sits with 36 stolen bases this season, which broke the Denison single-season stolen bases record for the second-straight year. The sophomore currently ranks in the top 25 in all of Division III in hits (72), runs (68; 1.62/game), RBI (57), stolen bases (36; 0.86/game) and total bases (125).
Fleming collects his second overall NCAC Pitcher of the Year award this season after earning the honor in 2021. He brings home the Big Red’s fourth overall major pitching accolade and claims his second All-NCAC first-team certificate this season after earning the top-team nod during the 2021 season. The senior closed out the regular season with a 9-1 record, which included a perfect 5-0 mark against conference foes. He posted a league-low 1.85 ERA after allowing 14 earned runs and 49 hits, while pitching the most innings, 68.0, in the regular season. In 10 total appearances in the regular season, he struck out an NCAC-best 77 batters and limited opposing hitters to a .197 batting average. In a non-conference win over Waynesburg on May 6, Fleming recorded 15 straight outs and struck out 10 batters en route to his first-career no-hitter, the Big Red’s third in program history. Including Denison’s three NCAC postseason games, Fleming currently ranks in the top 30 in all of Division III in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.14), strikeouts (86), victories (10) and WHIP (0.97).
Joining Fleming on the first team as repeat selections are Denison seniors, catcher Charlie Glennon (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) and utility Ari Fierer (Denver, CO/Colorado Academy), who both collect their second-straight first-team honors, while Wabash junior third baseman AJ Reid (Highland, IN/Highland) previously got the nod to the top team in 2021.
Two players join Colaco after making the jump to first team from the second team a season ago, including Wittenberg senior shortstop Chase Whisner (Newark, OH/Licking Valley) and Wooster junior second baseman Eli Westrick (Ashland, OR/Ashland). Wittenberg senior pitcher Nick Cunningham (Fredericktown, OH/Fredericktown) was elevated to the first team after earning honorable mention laurels in 2022.
The remaining first-team selections are making their All-NCAC debuts this season, including Denison sophomore pitcher Nick Falter (Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty) and junior first baseman Noah Leib (Evanston, IL/Evanston Township), Kenyon sophomore designated hitter Edwin Groff (Los Angeles, CA/Campbell Hall), Wabash junior outfielder Kamden Earley (Pendleton, IN/Pendleton Heights) and senior catcher Liam Patton (Warsaw, IN/Warsaw) and Wittenberg junior outfielder Conor O'Malley (Avon, OH/St. Edward's) and senior pitcher Michael Osmond (Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty).
After being named to the second team in his rookie season, Ohio Wesleyan freshman designated hitter Zane Vitense (Maple Grove, MN/Maple Grove) was selected as the 2023 NCAC Newcomer of the Year as the league's top player in his first year of collegiate competition. Vitense earned Ohio Wesleyan its seventh NCAC Newcomer of the Year award and first since Kevin Zullo claimed the honor in 2015. In 37 regular-season games, the designated hitter went 59-for-141 for an impressive .418 average, ranking him among the top three in the NCAC. The rookie produced five doubles, one home run and 28 RBI while scoring 32 runs. He also swiped eight bags and collected 67 total bases. Vitense tallied 19 multi-hit games, which included six games with three or more hits, highlighted by three 3-for-5 performances and two 4-for-5 efforts.
Finally, the leadership at Wittenberg collected the NCAC Coaching Staff of the Year honors after the Tigers posted a historic 30-8 regular season record, which set a new single-season wins mark (32-10 including NCAC postseason). Led by head coach Brian McGee, Wittenberg put together a new program win-streak mark at 15 wins, beginning on April 2 with a sweep of Hiram going all the way through April 26 with an exciting walk-off win over nationally ranked Baldwin Wallace. The Tigers posted a league-best .358 batting average across 38 regular season contests. McGee’s staff, including Mitchell Griffiths, Zach Ullom, Chris McKee, Trey Richardson, and Nick Wagner, guided the Tigers to record a conference-high 104 doubles, 344 RBI and 386 scored runs in the regular season, to go along with four triples and 28 home runs. On the basepaths, Wittenberg was productive, stealing 60 bases on 77 attempts. The Tigers' pitching squad totaled the second-most strikeouts with 258 and had the second-best ERA of 5.06 through 315.0 innings. Including Wittenberg’s four NCAC postseason games, the Tigers currently rank in the top 20 in all of Division III in batting average (.353), on base percentage (.452), hits (533), doubles (115), runs (413) and double plays (37).