BEREA, Ohio -- Four Baldwin Wallace University baseball student-athletes have been named to the 2014 D3Baseball.com All-Mideast Region team. The quartet was instrumental in BW (29-18) winning its school-record 29th game, first-ever Regional Championship and advancing to its first-ever Division III College World Series appearance.  The Yellow Jackets open play at the World Series in Appleton, Wis. on Friday, May 23 versus Emory (Ga.) at 2:15 p.m.

 

Junior All-Ohio Athletic Conference first baseman Kyle Chontos (Pickerington/ North)  and sophomore All-OAC second baseman Mark Zimmerman (Akron/ Green) were both named to the second-team and sophomore All-OAC designated hitter Hunter Handel (Akron/ Green) and junior pitcher Cory Waite (Willoughby/ South) were both selected to the third-team.

 

Chontos, who was a first-team All-OAC selection, garners his second All-Mideast Region accolade as he was a first-team pick by the ABCA/ Rawlings group.   He was selected to the all-tournament team at the Mid-Atlantic Regional where he batted .368 (7-for-19) with one double, six RBI and four runs scored.  For the season, Chontos leads the team with a .380 batting average (71-for-187) with 45 runs scored, 18 doubles (ties a school-record), one triple, team-leading totals of five homers and 49 RBI and 11 steals.

 

Zimmerman, who was a first-team All-OAC pick for the second consecutive season, is both a second-team All-Mideast Region pick by both the ABCA/ Rawlings and D3Baseball.com.  He was selected as the Most Valuable Player at last weekend's Mid-Atlantic Regional where he batted a team-high .474 (9-for-19) with a triple, thee RBI and five runs scored.  Zimmerman also made one relief appearance on the mound where he allowed one run (unearned) on three hits with a career-best six strikeouts and three walks in four and one-third innings pitched as he picked up the win. This season, he is tied for second in hitting on the team as he batted .379 (77-for-203) with 49 runs scored, 14 doubles, three triples, three homers, 44 RBI and eight steals.

 

Handel, who was tabbed as a first-team All-OAC pick, garners was a second-team All-Mideast Region pick by the ABCA/ Rawlings and a third-team choice by D3Baseball.com.  At the Mid-Atlantic Regional, he batted .333 (4-for-12) with one double, four RBI and two runs scored. This season, Handel is fourth on the squad with a .377 batting average (57-for-151) with 26 runs scored, eight doubles, three triples, four homers, 45 RBI and one stolen base.

 

Waite is the ace of the Yellow Jacket pitching staff. The All-OAC hurler has 18 total appearances, including 10 starts, with a team-best seven wins and 7-2 record with a team-leading 3.09 earned run average, two complete games and one shutout. He has struck out 39 batters in a team-leading 72 and two-third innings pitched. He was 1-0 at last week's Mid-Atlantic Region tourney.

 

FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.