D3baseball.com All-America Teams
WINONA, Minn. — When it comes to post-season awards, the stage has been crowded with Cardinals this off-season.
At the conference level, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota baseball team boasted five players—
Willie Doll (Amherst, Wis.),
Ben Buerkle (Roseville, Minn.),
Bob Kinne (St. Paul, Minn.),
Steph Scatassa (Westchester, Ill.), and
Nathan Mathwig—who garnered a combined eight Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference accolades, including Doll earning the league's prestigious Max Molock Most Valuable Player award.
At the regional level, Saint Mary's once again filled the podium, as those same five Cardinals collected a combined 10 All-Midwest Region honors from both the ABCA and D3baseball.com.
When it came to the national level, however, one Cardinal stood out among the rest—earning the spotlight all to himself.
Doll, who enjoyed a season to remember—not to mention one for the record books—added yet another feather in his cap Thursday morning, as the senior outfielder was named D3baseball.com Third-Team All-American.
UW-La Crosse's Taylor Kohlwey was named D3baseball.com's Player of the Year, while Seth Lamando of Cortland was the Pitcher of the Year, and Texas Lutheran pitcher Nathan Malinovsky earned Rookie of the Year honors.
A First-Team All-MIAC selection for the third time in four years, and First-Team ABCA and D3baseball.com All-Midwest Region pick this season, Doll saved his best season as a Cardinal for last—boasting a team-leading .438 batting average, while also leading the Cardinals in at-bats (160), runs (49), hits (70), on-base percentage (.523), and stolen bases (22).
And the gaudy numbers don't stop there.
Doll put together three, four-hit games this season, induced a season-high four walks against Concordia on May 4, and scored four or more runs three times—including a career-high five runs in Saint Mary's 19-2 win over Hamline in the MIAC Playoffs on May 13. The senior, who put together the team's longest hitting streak at 15 games, also belted a pair of game-winning, ninth-inning home runs—launching a three-run game-winner at St. Olaf on April 16, while delivering a two-run, walk-off home run against Augsburg five days later.
An unprecedented four-time MIAC All-Defensive Team selection and a CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 honoree, Doll, who played in all 156 games during his four-year collegiate career—including 155 starts—closed out his illustrious four-year playing career as the Cardinals' all-time leader in games played (156), at-bats (591), runs (151), hits (220), doubles (44), total bases (316), and stolen bases (80).
The Cardinals finished the year with a 27-15-1 overall record—the most wins under coach
Nick Winecke and the most since 1992, when they finished 28-7. Saint Mary's made its third MIAC Playoff appearance in the last four years, falling to Saint John's 11-4 in the championship game.
