All-MIAC Baseball Team
 
WINONA, Minn. — Ask any member of the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team, and to a player, they will say the Cardinals' success this season — including a third straight trip to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament — has been a team effort.
 
So it should come as no surprise that the Cardinals' "team" theme continued Wednesday, when the MIAC handed out its conference post-season awards, as seven Cardinals — and coach Nick Winecke — were honored when the conference office announced its post-season awards.
 
Saint Mary's landed four players — Jon Schlemmer (De Pere, Wis.), Taylor Thelemann (Bloomington, Minn.), Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.) and Ben Johnson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) — on the All-MIAC First-Team, while Doll, Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.) and David Barry (Apple Valley, Minn.) were selected to the MIAC All-Defensive Team.
 
But wait, there's more.
 
Freshman Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.) was named the MIAC's Rookie of the Year, while Nick Winecke was selected MIAC's Jim Dimick Coach of the Year.
 
"To have seven players earn conference honors says a lot about this team," said Winecke, whose team rattled off six straight wins in their final three conference doubleheaders to lock up the No. 3 seed in the conference's four-team post-season tournament. "Individual honors speak volumes about the whole group — those seven individuals would not be winning awards like this were it not for the efforts of the entire team."
 
Along with Buerkle and Winecke, the MIAC also announced that St. Thomas' Tyler Peterson was named the Max Molock Most Valuable Player, while Justin Thompson of Saint John's earned the Mike Augustin Pitcher of the Year honor.
 
The First-Team All-MIAC selection is the second for Schlemmer, who led the Cardinals with a .379 batting average in 20 conference games this season. The junior catcher went 22-for-58 with six doubles, six RBIs and eight runs scored, while also boasting a .483 slugging percentage and a .478 on-base percentage.
 
An All-MIAC Defensive Team performance a year ago as a freshman, Doll is seeing double post-season duty this year, repeating as a All-Defensive member, while also earning First-Team All-MIAC honors. The sophomore outfielder — flawless in the field with a 1.000 fielding percentage in 49 chances — hit .337 (28-for-83) in conference play, while leading the team in at-bats (83), doubles (7), triples (2), total bases (39) and stolen bases (10).
 
The all-conference honor is the icing on a memorable season for both Thelemann and Johnson. Thelemann, who started all 20 conference games at shortstop, hit .302 (19-for-63) with nine runs scored and four RBIs, while Johnson boasted a 4-1 record and a 2.61 ERA — with one complete game, one save and 12 strikeouts — in five starts on the mound for the Cardinals.
 
Buerkle took the league by storm en route to his MIAC Rookie of the Year honor this season, as the freshman outfielder hit .377 — including at least one hit in 16 of the team's 20 MIAC games. Buerkle collected a team-high 29 hits — including three doubles and a home run — in 77 at-bats, while also scoring a team-best 19 runs and driving in 13. Buerkle owned a .494 slugging percentage and a .435 on-base percentage, and stole five bases on seven attempts.
 
Scatassa and Barry joined Doll on the All-Defensive Team. Scatassa, who posted a perfect 4-0 record with a 3.78 ERA in six conference starts, was perfect fielding his position, posting two putouts and 15 assists as a pitcher, while Barry — who hit .347 (17-for-49) with two doubles, 12 runs scored and 14 RBIs — committed just one error in 82 chances (38 putouts, 43 assists, .988 fielding percentage) at second base.
 
As part of the conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC also announced the seventh annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for baseball, which included Saint Mary's Tommy Merkelis (Calumet City, Ill.).