Complete All-Ohio Athletic Conference Baseball Team (.pdf)
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University baseball team, under the direction of this year's Don Schaly OAC Coach of the Year Brian Harrison, has named eight players to the All-Ohio Athletic Conference Team including sophomore right-hander Tyler Walker (Fairlawn/Copley) who was tabbed the 2024 Kent Tekulve OAC Pitcher of the Year.
Harrison earns his second straight Coach of the Year award and the third of his career. This season, he led the Yellow Jackets to their third OAC Regular Season Title and their second OAC Tournament Championship under his guidance. Harrison recorded his 500th career win earlier this season with a doubleheader sweep of Wilmington and now has a career record of 518-327-1 and a record of 376-198-1 as the skipper of the Yellow Jackets. BW has posted a 36-8 overall record so far this season and has set a program record of 33 regular season wins including a 15-3 mark in conference play.
Walker along with junior outfielder Joey Marousek (North Royalton) and junior designated hitter Mally Kilbane (Olmsted Township/Olmsted Falls) all earn first-team honors. Senior first baseman Max Anastasio (Chesterbrook, Pa./Conestoga), sophomore outfielder Dennis Ritlinger-Nirider (Grove City), junior right-hander Vince Dolcemaschio (Los Angeles, Calif./Windward School), and freshman Jake Heatherington (Bellaire) were second-team selections while senior third baseman Nick Clark (Willowick/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) earned honorable mention.
Walker, who earns his first all-conference selection, is the second player in program history to win Pitcher of the Year and is the first since 2019 to take home the award. This season, he has made 14 appearances and 11 starts where he pitched 66.2 innings including his first career complete game against Capital earlier this season. Walker leads the OAC with a 9-1 record and has also recorded two saves. He has allowed 27 runs on 59 hits and 18 walks all while striking out 52 batters. Walker currently has an earned run average of 3.24 and has limited opponents to a .234 batting average. He was also selected to the OAC All-Tournament Team where he pitched six innings and tallied five strikeouts in BW's Game 1 victory over Ohio Northern.
In his career, Walker has made 25 appearances and 15 starts and has a career record of 10-2 with three saves. He has struck out 74 batters through 93.2 innings where he has allowed only 47 runs on 85 hits and 32 walks. Walker has a lifetime ERA of 4.62 and has held opponents to a .239 batting average in his career.
Marousek also makes the all-conference team for the first time in his career after appearing in all 44 games where he is currently hitting a team-leading .363 with 65 hits and 35 RBI from the leadoff spot. He has also tallied nine doubles, two triples, and a homer on his way to a .447 on-base percentage and a .453 slugging percentage. Marousek also leads the team and is third in the OAC in stolen bases with 23. He was also selected to the OAC All-Tournament Team where he tallied five hits, three RBI, a double, and a stolen base throughout the weekend.
In his career, Marousek has appeared in 68 games and has collected 80 hits and 48 RBI. He has a lifetime batting average of .305, an on-base percentage of .404 and has tallied 10 doubles, two triples, and a home run for a slugging percentage of .358. Marousek has also swiped 27 bags in his career.
Kilbane, who is in his first year with BW, is a first-team selection after appearing in all 44 games where he has tallied 56 hits, including 21 extra-base hits, and a batting average of .350. He leads the team in runs scored with 42 and has driven in 34 RBI. Kilbane's hits include 15 doubles, three triples, and three home runs: all of his round-trippers coming in back-to-back-to-back games. He has an on-base percentage of .481 and a slugging percentage of .537. Kilbane was named the OAC Hitter of the Week on April 8 earlier this season.
Anastasio is the first second-team honoree for the Yellow Jackets after appearing in 43 games in his first year in the Brown and Gold. He is hitting .314 this season after recording 48 hits including eight doubles, six triples, and three home runs. Anastasio also contributed 37 RBI and currently has an on-base percentage and slugging percentage of .414 and .503, respectively. The first baseman also leads the OAC with 375 putouts on the defensive side of the ball.
Ritlinger-Nirider also garners his first all-conference selection. The speedster has appeared in 39 games this season where he is hitting .347 with 42 hits and 14 RBI. Ritlinger-Nirider has hit 12 doubles and a triple on his way to an on-base percentage of .412 and a slugging percentage of .463. He has stolen seven bases, which is tied for second most on the team, and a fielding percentage of .950.
In his career, Ritlinger-Nirider has appeared in 59 games and has talllied 45 hits and 14 RBI with 12 doubles and a triple. He has an average of .268, an on-base percentage of .381, and a slugging percentage of .326 over the course of his career.
Also in his first season as a Yellow Jacket, Dolcemaschio was named to the second team after appearing in 15 games and making 11 starts. He leads the team with 72 innings pitched and is fourth in the conference with a 7-2 record with two saves. Dolcemaschio has an earned run average of 3.88 and holds the team-lead in strikeouts with 59. He has allowed 40 runs on 75 hits and only 14 walks and has limited opponents to a .260 batting average.
Heatherington earns second-team honors in his first collegiate season after appearing in 17 games and making one start where he has registered a perfect 5-0 record and leads the OAC in saves with eight: one short of tying the school record for saves in a season. He has has an ERA of 2.25 and has allowed only 11 runs on 23 hits and 17 walks through 40 innings pitched. Heatherington has struck out 43 batters and holds the opposition to a measly .162 batting average. He was also named to the OAC All-Tournament Team where he pitched 4.2 innings, tallied four strikeouts, and allowed no runs in BW's 5-4 victory over Otterbein to send the Yellow Jackets to the Championship Series.
Clark was the final All-OAC selection of the 2024 season as he bares the honor for the first time in his career. He has appeared in 43 games where he has talllied 44 hits and 35 RBI with a .286 average. Clark has also collected nine doubles and is second on the team in homers with five. He has an on-base percentage of .438 and a slugging percentage of .442 with seven stolen bases. Clark was also selected to the OAC All-Tournament Team after delivering the go-ahead homer in the final game of the Championship Series.
In his career, Clark has appeared in 94 games for the Brown and Gold and has collected 105 hits and 83 RBI on his way to a .293 lifetime average. He has hit 24 doubles, one triple, and nine home runs and has recorded an on-base percentage of .435 and a slugging percentage of .442. Clark has also added 13 steals in his outstanding career at BW.
BW waits to see who and where they will play this weekend in the NCAA Tournament Regionals when the NCAA baseball committee releases the bracket during a selection show today May 13 at 12:00 p.m.
