Complete D3baseball.com All-Region Teams
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University baseball team closed out its 2012 season with a third-place performance in its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament in 10 years.
But while the action on the field is officially in the books, the awards season is just heating up.
Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.) and
Paul LaNasa (Mahtomedi, Minn.) — both named First-Team All-MIAC on Monday — were back on the awards podium on Friday, as the Cardinals' dynamic duo earned D3baseball.com Third Team All-Midwest Region honors.
Schlemmer, who hit a career-best .349, belted 17 extra-base hits among his 38 hits this season — including team-highs of five triples and four home runs. He also boasted a team-leading .624 slugging percentage and collected eight multiple-RBI games. Schlemmer's four home runs came in two games — the sophomore recorded two-home run, five-RBI performances against both Viterbo and St. Olaf. The sophomore first baseman/designated hitter induced 16 walks and owned a .458 on-base percentage, while compiling a .974 fielding percentage.
LaNasa, meanwhile, proved to be Mr. Steady for the Cardinals — both at the plate and in the field. The sophomore started 41 of the team's 42 games at second base, compiling a .319 batting average (37-for-126) with seven doubles, one triple and 18 RBIs. He owned both of the Cardinals' four-hit games — going 4-for-5 against Lewis & Clark on March 10 and adding a 4-for-5 effort against UW-Oshkosh on March 25. In the field, La Nasa was near perfect, committing just five errors in 185 chances (.974 fielding percentage) — including just one error in 82 chances (.988 fielding percentage) in the Cardinals' 20 conference games.
The 2012 season is the inaugural year for the D3baseball.com All-Region awards. Nominees had to have been selected to their respective all-conference teams to be eligible for consideration. Schlemmer and LaNasa were two of 15 MIAC players named to one of the three D3baseball.com All-Region teams.
Along with the first-, second- and third-team all-region winners, D3baseball.com also announced a regional player of the year (a batter), a pitcher of the year, a rookie of the year (must be a freshman) and a coach of the year for each of the eight regions.
UW-La Crosse's Jay Fanta was named the Midwest Region Player of the Year, while St. Thomas pitcher Steve Maher and UW-Whitewater's Marty Herum were tabbed the region's Pitcher of the Year and Rookie of the Year, respectively. UW-La Crosse's Chris Schwarz was tabbed the Midwest Region Coach of the Year.
