CLEVELAND, OH -- Denison junior outfielder Jack Lutte (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) and senior pitcher Will Rettig (Perrysburg, OH/Perrysburg) along with DePauw junior shortstop Max Bond (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville) earned Player of the Year honors to headline the 2026 All-North Coast Athletic Conference baseball team following balloting by the league coaches.
Lutte becomes the fourth-consecutive and eighth overall Big Red player to be named NCAC Player of the Year. He collects his third career All-NCAC certificate, earning back-to-back selections to the first team after a second-team selection in 2024. Over the course of 35 games, Lutte hit a league-best .484 (61-for-126) with 15 doubles, 12 home runs and one triple. He drove in 58 RBI, scored 50 runs and compiled 114 total bases, while also drawing 26 walks and posting a conference-leading .562 on-base percentage, .905 slugging percentage and 1.467 OPS. Lutte also leads the NCAC in sacrifice flies (9) and is sixth in runs scored, tied for fourth in doubles, tied for third in home runs, ranks second in RBI and fourth in total bases. In addition, he struck out just 10 times in 126 at bats during the regular season while adding four stolen bases in four attempts.
Rettig becomes the second-consecutive and sixth overall Big Red pitcher to be named NCAC Pitcher of the Year. He collects his third career All-NCAC certificate, elevating to the first team after back-to-back second-team selections in 2024 and 2025. Over the course of 12 appearances, the right-hander has posted a league-best 2.33 ERA and an 11-0 record across a conference-high 69.2 innings pitched and 12 starts. He surrendered just 18 earned runs on 65 hits while issuing only 13 walks, the second-fewest in the NCAC, and striking out 60 batters, the fifth-highest total in the conference. Opponents hit just .245 against the senior, who also allowed only 13 extra-base hits.
Bond collects the 2026 NCAC Gold Glove Award for his contributions in the field. This marks just the third year the conference has presented a Gold Glove honor, as Bond joins previous winners from Wabash, senior infielder Ben Henke (Jasper, IN/Jasper) and AJ Reid, who earned the award in 2025 and 2024, respectively. Bond also collects his second career All-NCAC certificate, earning his first selection to the top team after a third-team nod in 2025. The junior led the NCAC with 130 assists on 192 total chances while adding 56 putouts from his shortstop position. Bond is part of a defense that has turned 40 double plays, ranking sixth in all of Division III, while his 25 double plays turned are the third-highest total in the conference. Through 41 games, he has committed just six errors and owns a .969 fielding percentage.
The 2026 All-NCAC baseball first team featured Wooster senior Colin Leslie (Chicago, IL/U. of Chicago Laboratory Schools) behind the plate at catcher, while Wittenberg junior Xander Rodriguez (Salinas, PR/Franklin County) earned first-team honors at first base. At second base, Wittenberg senior Tommy Chilicki (Lewis Center, OH/Olentangy) and Denison sophomore Eron Vega (Evanston, IL/Evanston Township) were selected to the first team, while DePauw’s Bond earned recognition at shortstop. The hot corner was represented by DePauw junior Grady Johnson (Lexington, KY/Sayre) and Wittenberg senior Alex Nemunaitis (Perrysburg, OH/Ottawa Hills). In the outfield, DePauw senior Aidan Howard (Portland, OR/Tualatin) and senior Erik Sundgren (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) join Lutte as first-team selections, while Wooster senior Ryan Kramer (Chicago, IL/Latin School of Chicago) earned honors as the designated hitter. On the mound, Denison senior Robbie Lee (Washington, DC/Landon School) and first-year Andrew Montero (Upper Arlington, OH/Upper Arlington) join Rettig with first-team recognition, while Ohio Wesleyan senior Zane Vitense (Maple Grove, MN/Maple Grove) was selected as the top utility player.
Along with earning first-team recognition, Denison’s Montero was selected as the 2026 NCAC Newcomer of the Year as the league's top player in his first year of collegiate competition. He captures the Big Red’s fifth NCAC Newcomer of the Year award and first since Lutte earned the honor in 2024. The rookie southpaw recorded a perfect 4-0 record and a 2.60 ERA, the second-lowest mark in the conference behind only teammate and Pitcher of the Year Rettig. In 45.0 innings of work, Montero allowed just 22 hits, 15 runs and 13 earned runs while striking out a conference-best 77 batters. Opponents hit just .139 against the first year, the lowest batting average allowed in the NCAC, while he surrendered only five extra-base hits so far this season and did not allow a triple in 158 at bats faced.
Finally, the leadership at DePauw collected the 2026 NCAC Coaching Staff of the Year honors. Led by head coach Jordan Niespodziany and assistant coach Ryne Foster, the Tigers earned the program its second NCAC coaching honor. This season, DePauw delivered a dramatic turnaround, improving from a 12-26 overall record (.316) and 3-12 conference mark (.200) in 2025 to currently sitting at 28-13 overall (.683) with an 11-5 NCAC finish (.688) in 2026. After placing eighth in the league standings a season ago, the Tigers surged into third place this spring, more than doubling their overall win total and establishing themselves as one of the conference’s top contenders. At the plate, DePauw ranks among the league leaders in nearly every major category, sitting third in runs scored (332), doubles (88), RBI (305) and on-base percentage (.411), while ranking fourth in batting average (.304), hits (420), home runs (40), total bases (648), slugging percentage (.469) and walks (197). The Tigers also sit second in sacrifice flies (30) and have struck out the second-fewest times in the league (234), underscoring a disciplined offensive approach across 41 games so far this season. On the mound, DePauw has posted a 5.76 ERA, which ranks third-lowest in the NCAC, while also ranking third-fewest in walks (149) and triples allowed (9), along with the fourth-lowest opponent batting average (.288) and second-fewest sacrifice flies allowed (18). Defensively, the Tigers stand among the conference’s top units, ranking second in both putouts (1,040) and assists (387), while turning the most double plays in the NCAC (40) and holding a .957 fielding percentage across 1,491 total chances.