MIAC Baseball Post-Season Awards
WINONA, Minn. — It's been a storybook career for Saint Mary's University of Minnesota senior
Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.).
In his first three seasons as a member of the Cardinal baseball team, Doll helped guide Saint Mary's to a pair of Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Playoff appearances.
And twice he was honored for his efforts with First-Team All-MIAC honors.
Yet, as good as he was in those first three years, they paled in comparison to the final chapter Doll wrote in 2016.
A final chapter that included career-high offensive numbers, a fourth MIAC All-Defensive Team honor, a third straight First-Team All-MIAC selection, and the conference's highest individual honor—the Max Molock Most Valuable Player Award.
"When I found out I received MIAC MVP I was speechless," said Doll, who played a big role in helping the Cardinals return to the MIAC post-season tournament after a one-year hiatus. "It is such an amazing honor to receive this award my last year here at Saint Mary's—and especially with so many amazing athletes in this conference.
"I have had teammates and coaches over the past four years doing all they can to make me better—and this award is just as much theirs as it is mine. The award is great, but it is nothing without the amazing team I am on."
Doll was a one-man offensive wrecking crew during the conference season, leading the MIAC with a .514 batting average in 20 games—not to mention boasting conference highs in runs (28), hits (37), total bases (59), slugging percentage (.819), on-base percentage (.600), and stolen bases (11). Doll also boasted a .954 fielding percentage in conference play, committing just two errors in 54 changes, while also throwing out a pair of base runners.
And when you throw in the Cardinals' 19 nonconference games, the numbers are equally as impressive.
Doll, who has played in all 153 games during his four-year collegiate career—including 152 starts—entered post-season playo boasting a team-leading .441 batting average over Saint Mary's 39-game schedule, while also leading the Cardinals in at-bats (143), runs (42), hits (63), and on-base percentage (.529).
Doll, who has had three four-hit games this season, missed hitting for the cycle in Game 1 against Macalester on April 23 by a home run—the senior had a single, double, and triple, while also walking once, scoring four times and stealing a pair of bases.
The Cardinals' all-time career leader in at-bats (574), runs (144), hits (213), doubles (42), total bases (307), and stolen bases (80), Doll has hit a career-best four home runs this season—including a walk-off round-tripper against Augsburg on April 21. It was the second time in a five-day span that Doll belted a game-winning home run in their last at-bat—he hit a three-run, game-winner against St. Olaf on April 16.
"Willie has arguably been a leader on this team—on and off the field—from the day he stepped onto campus," said Saint Mary's coach
Nick Winecke. "There isn't a more deserving person to receive this award.
"I am very happy that all the hard work that Willie has put in over the years has paid off the way it has—and it's extra-special to see him enjoying a beyond wonderful senior season."
St. Thomas pitcher Eric Veglahn was named the conference's Mike Augustin Pitcher of the Year, while Augsburg's Mike Brookshaw was the league's Rookie of the Year, and Hamline's Jim Weyandt was tabbed the Jim Dimick Coach of the Year.
