D3baseball.com Release
ABCA/Rawlings Release
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Otterbein University junior shortstop
Ben Beachy (Springboro/Springboro) continued his roll of postseason awards this week, earning spots on both the ABCA/Rawlings and D3baseball.com All-American teams.
Almost 900 total players were nominated for the national recognition, with 50 standouts ultimately receiving a nod to the final American Baseball Coaches Association list and 64 getting selected by the D3baseball.com committee. Beachy garnered third-team from the coaches and honorable mention from D3baseball.
He was one of two players from the Ohio Athletic Conference and one of six players from Ohio selected to either team, joining shortstop Michael Wielansky (Wooster), second baseman Rocco Maue (Case Western Reserve), outfielder Dudley Taw (Baldwin Wallace), outfielder Tanner Johnson (Denison) and designated hitter Dan Harwood (Wooster).
"I never really thought about receiving this honor, but it's incredibly meaningful to represent Otterbein on a larger scale," Beachy said. "It's bigger than myself and more so to do with the entire group of guys I'm around every day in the dugout. This probably doesn't happen without the group success."
Beachy, the 2018 OAC Player of the Year, delivered a standout season from the leadoff spot and helped Otterbein post a 30-16 overall record. He batted .385 at the plate with 69 hits, 49 runs scored, 47 RBI, nine home runs, a .687 slugging percentage and 23 doubles, which was good enough to rank top-five nationally. Beachy also carried an impressive glove out to shortstop, holding a .951 fielding percentage and compiling 127 assists.
"I tried to take each at-bat, each ground ball and each game as its own opportunity," Beachy reflected. "The coaching staff always preaches for us to be accountable and own our actions, so I didn't want to ever let myself off the hook as it related to the team. I think I continued to mature and just tried to do the best I could every time out."
Beachy started 44 games, missing just two during spring break to regroup from a slight injury, and nearly achieved Cardinal single-season record in hits, runs and total bases (123). He hit safely in all but seven games and had 20 multi-hit performances.
Otterbein played the seventh-toughest schedule in the country and defeated 13 regionally-ranked team along the way, eventually winning the OAC regular-season title outright for the second time in three years. The Cards then received an at-large bid to the NCAA Mideast Regional where they unfortunately lost a pair of tight games despite leading late.
"We will no doubt be good enough to make it back to the NCAA's again, and now it's time to start advancing and competing for a spot in the World Series," Beachy added. "I understand this All-American title now comes with certain expectations and responsibilities, so I'm ready to keep embracing the grind and maintain a championship mindset. I want us to keep progressing as individuals and as a program."
This is the 12th-annual D3baseball.com All-American squad while the ABCA All-America team was first recognized in 1949 and now includes nine divisions: NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA Divisions I, II and III, Pacific Association Division, and high school. ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove teams were first recognized in 2007.
Gold Glove winners will be announced on Wednesday, June 20. Beachy and teammate
Tim Snyder are currently up for the honor.
