Scots Take Up Six of 15 Spots on All-Region First Team

Brandon Boesiger

Pat Christensen

The College of Wooster's Brandon Boesiger (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio / Cuyahoga Falls), Pat Christensen (Cincinnati, Ohio / Sycamore), Jake Frank (Wooster, Ohio / Northwestern), Kurt Kapferer (Jefferson, Ohio / Jefferson Area), Jon Oliver (West Chester, Ohio / Lakota West), and Luke Ullman (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Kenston) were all named to the 2005 All-Mideast Region First Team on Tuesday, as announced by the American Baseball Coaches« Association.

The six total honorees tied for the most Wooster has ever had in a single-season (1998) and the Fighting Scots have never placed more than four on the 15-member first team previously (1998). All six will be on the national ballot for All-American consideration.

Boesiger, a sophomore catcher, enters this week«s eight-team NCAA Div. III Baseball Championship as Wooster«s leader in on-base percentage (.545). He«s hitting .404 (44-for-109) while also having reached base safely via a conference- and school-record 22 hit by pitches and 13 walks. Boesiger earned all-tourney honors at both the North Coast Athletic Conference and Div. III Regional Tournaments, combining to go 14-for-29 (.483) with three walks and five hit by pitches as well as 11 runs and six RBI. Defensively, he has thrown out 32.0 percent of base stealers (8-of-25) this spring.

Christensen was the only freshman to be recognized as first-team all-region in the Mideast. He is tied for first in Div. III in total home runs with 16 and also ranks among the national leaders in RBI (62) and slugging percentage (.803). Overall, Christensen«s batting just a shade under .400 (.395) with 51 runs and 12 doubles, and he«s gunned down six runners trying for an extra base from right field. In the postseason, Christensen is 12-for-34 (.353) from the plate with eight runs, three doubles, one home run, and nine RBI, while being selected for all-tournament teams at both the NCAC«s and regionals.

Jake Frank

Kurt Kapferer

Frank becomes just the second player in team history to be a four-time all-region performer, joining pitcher John Werner (1999-2002). He could be on his way to a batting average above .400 for the third-straight year, currently at a clip of.405 (64-for-158) with 10 doubles and 10 home runs. Frank’s also walked a Scot-leading 31 times as part of a .500 on-base percentage, while his 60 runs scored, 64 hits, and 52 RBI this spring give him career numbers of 216, 260, and 218, respectively, which all rank among the top-20 in NCAA Div. III history.

Kapferer, who holds down the clean-up spot in Wooster’s lineup as the designated hitter, was also a first-team all-region pick last year. He goes into the national championship series hitting .390 (53-for-136) with 10 doubles, nine homers, and 51 RBI. Kapferer, who has had a hit in 25 of 29 games since starting the year 5-for-28 (.179), is another Scot with a .500 on-base percentage, as he’s also walked 24 times and been plunked by six pitches.

Jon Oliver

Luke Ullman

Oliver, the pitcher when Wooster takes the field against the State University of New York at Cortland Friday night in the teams’ first game of the 2005 Div. III Baseball Championship, was tabbed with his initial regional award. The junior right-hander’s gone a perfect 7-0 this season with a 1.88 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 71.2 innings, while limiting opponents to a .189 batting average. Oliver will likely be the freshest among the national championship series team’s aces, as he only threw 54 pitches at the regional tourney.

Ullman garnered his third consecutive All-Mideast honor, and first first-team mention, at shortstop. He’s the Scots’ leader in batting average (.423), runs scored (63), doubles (21), and slugging percentage (.833), while also having hit 13 home runs and driven in 58. Ullman, who ranks among the top-10 nationally in runs (1.43 per game) and slugging percentage this season and among the top-20 in Div. III history in runs scored (211) and doubles (61) for a career, is coming off a regional tournament MVP performance. The senior captain is 16-for-43 (.372) with 13 runs, six doubles, one triple, three homers, and 20 RBI over his last 10 games.