Middlebury baseball head coach Mike Leonard was honored as the 2022 NESCAC Coach of the Year, Alec Ritch (Kentfield, Calif.) was named the NESCAC Player of the Year and George Goldstein (Westport, Conn.) was tabbed the NESCAC Pitcher of the Year. The Panthers had three others selected to the All-NESCAC First Team.

COMPLETE NESCAC RELEASE

Leonard, along with assistant coaches Mike Phelps, Nick Andriole and Alex Harter, guided the Panthers to the 2022 NESCAC Championship with a thrilling 12-8 come-from-behind victory over Hamilton in the winner-take-all game. Middlebury scored seven runs in the top of the ninth to cap the triumph in the seventh game of the weekend. The staff has helped guide Middlebury to program records for wins (29) and games played (41) entering NCAA play. Leonard and the Panthers earned the NESCAC West's top seed of the conference tournament with a 10-2 record, winning two of three games while hosting the NESCAC Quarterfinal round against Tufts to advance to championship weekend. Leonard is the second Panther to collect the award, earning it for the first time in his career.

Ritch earned the league's player of the year honor and a spot on the All-NESCAC First Team for his record-breaking performances this season. He leads the league in runs batted in (50) and stolen bases (40), while his 47 runs scored are second among conference peers. Each of those totals are also Panther single-season program records. Ritch has 40 stolen bases this spring, a Middlebury single-season mark, and that total ranks second in Division III. With his steal in Sunday's first game against Hamilton, Ritch became the Panthers' career leader with 58. He ranks second in the conference with 29 walks, while his 50 hits are seventh. He has a .360 batting average to go along with 12 doubles, a program single-season tying five triples, nine homers and ranks second in the league with a .712 slugging percentage. Ritch had 15 mutli-hit games this season and collected at least one hit in 29 games. This marks the first time that Ritch has earned all-conference honors. He becomes the second Panther to earn player of the year laurels.

Goldstein was selected as the conference's pitcher of the year and landed a spot on the first team. Earlier this season, he became the program's all-time career leader in saves and currently has 11. He also logged his 49th career appearance in the conference championship, tying the Middlebury career mark. Goldstein etched his name in the Panther record book with a single-season record 23 appearances. That total is tied for 12th in Division III. He is 4-1 this season, including being the winning pitcher in the NESCAC Championships' deciding game, with a 2.61 earned run average (ERA) and 45 strikeouts and just eight walks in 31 innings pitched. The postseason league honor is the first for Goldstein, as he is the second Panther to be named pitcher of the year.

Mitchell Schroeder (Brookline, Mass.), John Collins (New York, N.Y.) and Alex Price (Ridgefield, Conn.) each pick up their initial All-NESCAC nod, as the trio joins Ritch and Goldstein on the All-NESCAC First Team.

Schroeder leads the conference with a .483 batting average, going 42-87 with a NESCAC-best 14 doubles. He also paces the conference in on-base percentage (.552), on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) at 1.230 and is third among league peers in slugging percentage (.678). Schroeder has a homer and 25 RBI in 27 games this season. He went 5-5 at the plate on April 29 against Wesleyan, smacking a pair of doubles and scoring four runs while driving in a pair.   

Collins has broken one Middlebury single-season record this year on his way to earning all-conference honors. He broke the mark for homers in a season, leading the NESCAC with 13 roundtrippers. Collins has a team-best 53 hits (fourth in the league), while his .746 slugging percentage also leads the conference. He tied the team's single-game mark with three homers in a contest against Amherst, collecting a career-high six RBI in the victory. He is hitting .384 with 43 RBI, 37 runs and 15 steals. His 103 total bases are also tops in the NESCAC.

Price has been a constant on the mound this spring, tossing a team-best 56.1 innings and setting a program single-season mark with a NESCAC-high 75 strikeouts. He has a 4-2 record with 10 starts and 11 appearances, sporting a 3.67 earned run average (ERA). Price's innings pitched total is third among conference pitchers, while his ERA and .236 opponents' batting average against are both fourth. The lefthander has recorded double-digit strikeout totals twice in a game this season, with a career-best 11 in 6.1 innings against Hamilton.