INDIANAPOLIS - University of Illinois Springfield senior Zion Pettigrew was named the 2022 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Player of the Year for baseball on Wednesday, while University of Indianapolis sophomore Xavier Rivas was named Pitcher of the Year, and Rockhurst University’s Michael Laudando was voted Freshman of the Year. Drury University mentor Scott Nasby was also voted by his peers as the league's Coach of the Year.
In addition, 40 student-athletes were honored as All-GLVC performers, while 15 garnered James R. Spalding Sportsmanship distinction, and Truman State University was named the sportsmanship team recipient.
Per GLVC policy, the All-Conference teams are determined by the league's 15 head coaches, who are not permitted to cast votes for their own players.
Pettigrew was one of two unanimous All-GLVC selections this spring, as the senior repeated as the league’s top player. The Chicago, Ill., product produced video-game numbers this spring, slashing .408/.529/1.391 with 22 homers, 78 runs batted in (RBI), and 66 runs scored this season. In all, the senior tallied 71 hits and totaled 150 bases in 47 games for the Prairie Stars. For the spring, Pettigrew led the GLVC in the following categories: runs batted in (78), home runs (22), total bases (150), and walks (47) while ranking in the top five of batting average (.408), slugging percentage (.862), on-base percentage (.529), and runs scored (66). Pettigrew is the only GLVC Player of the Year in UIS history and the first in league annals to win this accolade more than once.
Rivas became an ace for the Greyhounds this season after throwing just 25.1 innings last year, logging 73.1 innings this year to also garner All-GLVC First Team honors. The Portage, Ind. native punched out a GLVC-high 117 opponents – 61 strikeouts in 39.1 league frames – on his way to finishing the regular season with the second-best earned run average (2.45) in the league, the lowest league opponent batting average (.178), and three complete games. Rivas recorded double-digit strikeouts in all but two starts this spring, piling up 12 or more on five occasions to become the first UIndy hurler to be named GLVC Pitcher of the Year since Matt Kaplanis in 2015 and just the third Greyhound to win the award overall.
Rockhurst's Laudando was voted the league's top rookie, finishing the regular season with a 3.73 ERA in seven GLVC starts. Laudando went 7-5 in 13 games in his first season on campus, registering the second-most strikeouts (100) in the loop in a league-high 82.2 innings of work. Laudando threw his first-career complete game shutout back in late February in the Hawks win over Upper Iowa when the Westchester, Ill., product struck out 10 batters and only giving up six hits. Laudando is the first Rockhurst player to win the league’s Freshman of the Year honor since Brandon Tangney in 2010.
Nasby was recognized by his peers as Coach of the Year for the first time in his career and the first Drury mentor to be chosen in league history. He guided the Panthers to a 36-14 overall record this spring, including a 21-7 mark within Conference play to earn the top seed in the Green Division in this weekend's GLVC Championship Tournament. In addition to the Panthers’ record this season, Nasby had four players named to the All-GLVC Second Team.
In addition to Pettigrew, Rivas, and Laudando, 17 others were named All-GLVC First Team honorees, including Illinois Springfield's Kal Youngquist, Brandon Bannon, Asher Bradd, Austin Alderman, Colton Hale, and Cameron Zunkel; William Jewell College’s Alex Epp and Anthony Hansen; Truman State University’s Holden Missey and Zach Schneider; Maryville University’s Joey Polak – the only other unanimous pick – Alex Hoff, and Ben Prywitch; Quincy University’s Luke Napleton and Spencer Walker; and McKendree University’s Corey Price.
The league also recognized Truman as its GLVC Baseball James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award team recipient, as well as 15 GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award Individual nominees. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school's two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners.
Below are the complete 2022 All-GLVC baseball teams and major award winners.
GLVC Player of the Year: Zion Pettigrew, Sr., 3B, Illinois Springfield
GLVC Pitcher of the Year: Xavier Rivas, So., SP, Indianapolis
GLVC Freshman of the Year: Michael Laudando, SP, Rockhurst
GLVC Coach of the Year: Scott Nasby, Drury
FIRST TEAM
Kal Youngquist, Sr., 1B, UIS
Brandon Bannon, Jr., 2B, UIS
Zion Pettigrew, Sr., 3B, UIS #
Alex Epp, Jr., SS, WJC
Holden Missey, Jr., UT, TSU
Michael Laudando, Fr., UT, RU
Joey Polak, Gr., DH, MU #
Luke Napleton, So., C, QU
Anthony Hansen, R-Sr., OF, WJC
Alex Hoff, R-Sr., OF, MU
Corey Price, Sr., OF, MCK
Asher Bradd, So., OF, UIS
Austin Alderman, Jr., OF, UIS
Xavier Rivas, So., SP, UINDY
Spencer Walker, Sr., SP, QU
Ryan O'Connell, Gr., SP, LWU
Colton Hale, Jr., SP, UIS
Zach Schneider, So., SP, TSU
Ben Prywitch, R-So., RP, MU
Cameron Zunkel, Sr., RP, UIS
# Unanimous Selection
SECOND TEAM
Cameron Fliege, R-Sr., 1B, WJC
Dayson Croes, R-Sr., 2B, QU
Aaron Mann, Sr., 3B, DU
Alex Vela, Sr., SS, UINDY
DJ McNew, R-Sr., UT, DU
Andrew Branson, So., UT, S&T
Joseph Copeland, So., DH, MCK
Elias Stevens, R-So., C, MU
Brant Vanaman, Fr., OF, UIS
Stephen Randazzo, Sr., OF, DU
Brandon Olion, R-Jr., OF, UMSL
Brant Schaffitzel, Gr., OF, DU
Brandon Dewitt, Jr., OF, UINDY
Jacob Kroeger, R-So., SP, MU
Quinn Gudaitis, Jr., SP, UIS
Michael Laudando, Fr., SP, RU
Jay Hammel, Sr., SP, QU
Seth Masters, So., SP, UIS
Jacob Thompson, R-Jr., RP, LWU
Alex Pribyl, R-Sr., RP, QU
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP HONOREES
Bryce Boswell, DU
Austin Alderman, UIS
Alex Vela, UINDY
Tyler MacDougall, LEWIS
Kolby Schulte, LWU
Ben Hopkins, MU
Joseph Costanzo, MCK
Braden Mahurin, S&T
Kameron Laskowski, UMSL
Spencer Walker, QU
Tommy Kraus, RU
Sammy Barnett, USI
Colby Sneed, SBU
Jake Schneider, TSU
Alex Epp, WJC
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD
Truman State