DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its NCAA Division II National Players of the Week awards for the week ending on April 4, 2021. Central Missouri redshirt senior infielder Dusty Stroup is the National Hitter of the Week and Mercy College sophomore hurler Austin DeRosa is the National Pitcher of the Week.
Stroup (Lee's Summit, Mo./Missouri Western) took over the MIAA lead in home runs and RBI with a huge weekend, helping the Mules sweep Missouri Southern. He hit .615 with eight hits in 13 at-bats as seven of the eight hits were for extra bases with a double and six home runs. Stroup also drove in 11 and scored seven, while he hit three home runs in both games of Saturday's doubleheader.
DeRosa (Seymour, Conn./Seymour HS) tossed a no-hitter with seven strikeouts in Mercy's game two win over D'Youville on Saturday. The no-hitter was the first in the ECC since 2017 and the first for the Mavericks in over 20 years.
Division II Regional Players of the Week:
Atlantic: Mitchell Peers, Kutztown (Hitter); Logan Campbell, Charleston (W.Va.) (Pitcher)
· Central: Dusty Stroup, Central Missouri (Hitter); Nic Swanson, Northeastern State (Pitcher)
· East: Kendon Strachen, Bloomfield (Hitter); Austin DeRosa, Mercy College (Pitcher)
· Midwest: Lance Logsdon, Quincy (Hitter); Scott Rouse, Ohio Dominican (Pitcher)
· South: Dylan Duplechain, Mississippi College (Hitter); Jonathan Pintaro, Shorter (Pitcher)
· South Central: Josh Elvir, Angelo State (Hitter); Logan Garza, Texas A&M-Kingsville (Pitcher)
· Southeast: Reilly Hall, Coker (Hitter); Brody Meeks, Young Harris (Pitcher)
· West: RobertAnthony Cruz, Biola (Hitter); Mike Peterson, Western Oregon (Pitcher)
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. Members receive a membership card, directory, newsletter updates and official votes in the Howser Award Player of the Year, Regional Player of the Year and NCBWA All-America voting. The NCBWA also sponsors preseason All-America awards, publication and writing contests.
2021 NCBWA Division II Players of the Week:
Week ending Feb. 14: Brady Eeles, North Georgia (Hitter); Parker Morrison, North Georgia (Pitcher)
· Week ending Feb. 21: Tucker Greer, Young Harris (Hitter); Andrew Patrick, Lenoir-Rhyne (Pitcher)
· Week ending Feb. 28: Ethan Baucom, UNC Pembroke (Hitter); Taylor Boisclair, Shorter (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 7: Haydn McGeary, Colorado Mesa (Hitter); Dylan Heid, Pitt-Johnstown (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 14: Connor Hamilton, Slippery Rock (Hitter); Tucker Smith, Georgia Southwestern (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 21: Ben Werkheiser, Shippensburg (Hitter); Logan Workman, Lee (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 28: Jonathan Martin, Georgia Southwestern (Hitter); Cade Crader, MSU Denver (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 4: Dusty Stroup, Central Missouri (Hitter); Austin DeRosa, Mercy (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 11: Kory Carter, Truman State (Hitter); Jonathan Draheim, Mary (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 18: Chris Iazzetta, Wheeling (Hitter); Joe Vail, Le Moyne (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 25: Nikko Calabro, Drury (Hitter); Chad Saner, Illinois-Springfield (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 2: Blayze Arcano, Western Oregon (Hitter); Ryan Jares, Augustana, S.D. (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 9: Tommy Pellis, Seton Hill (Hitter); Riley Martin, Quincy (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 16: Aaron Walters, Angelo State (Hitter); Andrew Morris, Colorado Mesa (Pitcher)