Jake Reinhardt has been All-BCR and All-Conference in the Three Rivers.
Now’s he’s an All-American.
The North Park University senior was tagged Wednesday as the best short stop in the country in all of Div. 3 baseball, named as a First Team All-American this week.
He was named as the 2021 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Hitter of the Year, and Position Player of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and d3baseball.com on Tuesday.
Reinhardt was thankful to get another season with the 2020 campaign wiped out by the pandemic and these honors have been icing on the cake.
“It’s always been a goal of mine, and having the opportunity to come back for one last season, I definitely had it penciled in as a milestone I wished to reach,” he said. “However, hearing it as official now, it is just very surreal to have that recognition, but just an honor knowing what company I am blessed to be in and very rewarding of where hard work and dedication can lead to.”
Reinhardt was the King of Swing for the Vikings this spring, breaking the school’s 34-year-old single-season home run with 15 round-trippers. He had an incredible eight homers in a two-day stretch of back to back doubleheaders.
The former Princeton Tiger was the CCIW’s Triple Crown winner and set new league records with 60 hits and 52 RBIs in league play. Reinhardt held a 40-game on-base streak, accumulated 16 multi-hit games, including four multi-home run games, and struck out just 11 times in 172 at-bats.
Reinhardt had a slash line this season of .424/.477/.831, 61 RBI, 73 hits, 11 doubles, seven triples, 15 homers, 16 walks and 12 stolen bases.
Reinhardt is playing for the West Virginia Black Bears in the MLB Draft League this summer, managed by former big leaguer Jed Gyrko. He had a walk-off hit Monday.
Josh Reinhardt honored too
It’s been an impressive spring all around for the Reinhardt family. Josh Reinhardt, a sophomore utility (infielder/pitcher) player for Aurora University receiving Second-Team honors from the ABCA after receiving First-Team All-Region recognition accolades from D3baseball.com.
Reinhardt hit .324 with 10 doubles, four triples, four home runs, 33 runs scored and 28 runs batted in. On the mound, he was 5-1 with a 4.19 earned run average and 33 strikeouts in 38-2/3 innings pitched.
Reinhardt teamed up with fellow former Princeton Tiger Jett Wedekind, a senior catcher, to help the Spartans make their third consecutive NCAA Division III Regional appearance. The Spartans finished with a 38-8 record, tying Aurora’s record for wins in a single season.
Wedekind shared team honors with eight homers while hitting .323 with and 40 RBIs.
Olson returns for Spartans
Brett Olson, ace of the 2015 St. Bede state baseball team, made his season debut for Michigan State on Senior Day against Iowa. He allowed one run, but no hits. The senior southpaw hadn’t thrown a game pitch since tearing a UCL in February.
Dannis competes in West Regionals
Former All-BCR Track Athlete of the Year Bret Dannis of St. Bede ran in the University of Illinois’ 4×100 relay that qualified in NCAA West Regionals in College Station, Texas, Saturday, May 29. The Illini finished in 18th place in a time of 39.99, their fastest relay time of the season.
Vanaman rips three homers
A pair of Hall Red Devils are having a good start to the summer season. Brant Vanaman, who plays for Parkland College, blasting three consecutive three homers to go with seven RBIs for the Blue Caps in the Kernels Collegiate League at the Corn Crib in Normal.
Former Red Devil teammate Chance Resetich tripled and scored for the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp in a 2-1 loss to Danville Tuesday in the Wooden Bat League. Resetich earned all-conference honors at Blackhawk College.
The Pistol Shrimp play at Veteran’s Park in Peru.
Another member of Hall’s 2018 state champion, Cam McDonald of the University of Illinois, will be returning to play for the Rockford Rivits in the Northwoods League.
Source: The Daily Chronicle
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