Program-Best Six Earn Mideast Region Honors

The nationally-ranked Heidelberg University baseball team placed six players on the 2009 Mideast Region team which is selected by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). It is the eighth-straight year that the Berg has been represented. Its six honorees are the most selections in one year for the Berg, topping its previous best of five which was accomplished in 2000 and 2008.
 
Earning a spot on the first team was senior pitcher David Paddock (Westerville, Ohio / North), sophomore pitcher Andy Lowe (Fort Wayne, Ind. / Carroll) and sophomore second baseman Gar Keen (Sparta, Ohio / Highland). Senior center fielder Jeremy Wentworth (Johnstown, Ohio / St. Charles) and senior first baseman Biagio Boytim (Brunswick, Ohio / Brunswick) were second team honorees, while sophomore short stop Jason Lash (Strongsville, Ohio / Strongsville) garnered third team accolades. Wentworth was also one of nine that was selected as a golden glove award winner.
 
Following their first team selections, Paddock, Lowe and Keen are now on the ballot for All-American honors. Heidelberg has had four All-Americans in its history with its latest being Wentworth’s third team honors a year ago.
 
Paddock is receiving his second all-region honor of his four-year career. He was named to the second team as a sophomore. In 2009, he led the team, and the Ohio Athletic Conference, with an overall record of 9-3. He also led the Heidelberg pitching staff with 73 strike outs and 73.1 innings pitched, while standing third with a 2.87 earned run average and a .261 opponent’s batting average. Paddock picked up his fourth Ohio Athletic Conference honor this year and will graduate atop the career record book for innings pitched (271.0) and is tied for career shutouts with three.
 
In just two seasons, Lowe has been the go-to arm out of the bullpen. His first team all-region honor joins his third team selection from a season ago. In 2009 Lowe was voted the Kent Tekulve Pitcher of the Year in the OAC, while picking up his second-straight all-league nod. Lowe led the team, and the OAC, while standing among the nation’s leaders with a 1.34 ERA. His earned run average also set a new single-season mark. He posted a 3-1 record and tied his own single-season record of nine saves. He also led the team with a .191 opponent’s batting average and was second with 61 strike outs. Lowe not only tied the single season record for saves for the second-straight year, but set a new career mark at 18 and counting.
 
Keen continued to add to his solid career at the Berg in 2009. He is picking up his first all-region selection, but is a two-time All-OAC First Team recipient. Keen is a solid hitter that knocked in a team-leading, and a school record, 61 runs this season. He also led the team with 17 doubles and eight home runs. At the plate his 72 hits were second on the team, while his .377 batting average and 48 runs scored were third. In the field, Keen had a .977 field percentage and helped to turn 31 double plays.
 
Wentworth has graduated from the Berg as a two-time all-region selection, as well as a 2008 ABCA All-American. He has been voted to the All-OAC First Team for three consecutive seasons. This season he led the team and set new single season records for runs scored at 65 and tied the record for stolen bases at 24. His team-leading five triples stands second in the record book, along with his 196 at bats and his 78 hits. Wentworth also led the team in batting average (.398) and fielding percentage (1.000). Not only did he ink his name in the single-season record book in his final campaign, Wentworth overtook the career list for at bats (702), runs scored (211), hits (286), triples (16) and stolen bases (79). Over the course of the last four years Wentworth has started all 182 games for Heidelberg.
 
Saving his best season for last was Boytim. He is picking up his first All-Mideast Region accolade, which joins his first All-OAC honor. Boytim was second on the team at the plate, hitting .378, while standing third in hits (62) and doubles (12). He was also in the top-five on the team with his 40 runs batted in and his 47 runs scored.  Boytim led the team and set a new single-season record for hit by pitches at 18. In the field, Boytim’s 341 putouts ranks second behind his own single-season mark of 375 he set a season ago.
 
Rounding out the 2009 all-region honorees is Lash. Just a sophomore, Lash is a two-time all-region honoree, as well as a two-time All-OAC First Team selection. His 47 runs batted in, six home runs and his 56 runs scored ranked second on the team, while his 11 doubles and 62 hits were third. At the plate Lash hit .341. On April 8 Lash hit for the cycle in game two against Capital University to help lead to a sweep. In the field, Lash had a .947 field percentage on the left side and assisted with 31 double plays.
 
Heidelberg, under the guidance of four-time OAC Coach of the Matt Palm (2000, 2004, 2008, 2009), finished the year at 37-9 overall and 15-3 in the OAC. The program claimed its fourth OAC Regular Season title (2003, 2007, 2008, 2009) and its third OAC Tournament trophy (2003, 2008, 2009). Along the way the team set and or tied 25 single-season, career or team records. It was the second-straight year, and fifth time overall, that the Berg has eclipsed the 30-win plateau.