Frank Finishes Fourth in National P-O-Y Voting

Jake Frank

College of Wooster third baseman Jake Frank (Wooster, Ohio / Northwestern) finished fourth in the voting for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association NCAA Division III Player-of-the-Year award, the organization announced on Thursday. He was the youngest of the eight finalists (lone sophomore) for the top national honor after the NCBWA had voted him the Mideast Regional Player of the Year.

It marked another honor in Frank’s large haul this spring, as he was also a first-team All-American according to the American Baseball Coaches Association, and the North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year, as well as a first-team all-region and all-league selection.

Trinity (Conn.) College’s Kurt Piantek was picked as the NCBWA’s Division III Player of the Year.
On Wednesday, he was selected in the 44th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, while the national Pitcher of the Year Matt DeSalvo of Marietta College is now a teammate of former Fighting Scot Jared Treadway with the Staten Island Yankees.

Frank, a 6-2, 180-pound powerful right-hander, hit at a .434 clip (62-for-143) with 14 doubles, 11 homers, and 62 runs batted in. His RBI total was the seventh-highest in school history, despite not having the benefit of a longer postseason, and it rates him 17th overall in the national statistics (1.44 per game). Additionally, Frank garnered a team-high 33 walks, and compiled .532 on-base and .790 slugging percentages, which rank No. 3 and No. 9, respectively, for a single-season in Wooster history.

For his career, Frank owns a .416 batting average (123-for-296), which includes 51 extra base-hits – 27 doubles, eight triples, and 16 home runs. His average is currently second-best all-time by a Scot, while his 112 RBI are on pace to break Rick Sforzo’s long-standing record of 198 in that category. Also, Frank is on pace to finish in the top-five in career hits, runs scored (101), doubles, triples, and walks (53), as well as on-base percentage (.497) and slugging percentage (.723).

The Frank-led Scots concluded the 2003 campaign with a 30-13 overall record – their 10th consecutive 30-win season. Wooster won the North Coast Athletic Conference East Division title with a 15-1 mark during the regular season, but then was upset by Denison University in the NCAC Tournament semifinal round (6-8, 10-0, 8-16), and did not receive a bid to the NCAA Regional Championships.