Two CCIW baseball players honored by national collegiate baseball writers association

Kolb	Kulavic

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Wheaton sophomore shortstop Brian Kolb (Carlsbad, Calif./Santa Fe Christian) was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Central Region Player of the Year Tuesday. Additionally, Illinois Wesleyan sophomore pitcher Brent Kulavic (Springfield, Ill./Pleasant Plains) was named the NCBWA Central Region Pitcher of the Year.

Kolb helped lead the Thunder to their first-ever appearance in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Baseball Tournament this season, batting .527 with 45 runs scored, 19 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 52 RBI, an .808 slugging percentage and 25-of-25 stolen bases. Kolb earned CCIW Player of the Year honors in 2008 for his performance. He collected 93 points in the voting on 10-of-13 first place ballots.

Carthage senior first baseman Jason Acevado (Vernon Hills, Ill./H.S.) was second in the voting for NCBWA Player of the Year honors.

Kulavic took home CCIW Pitcher of the Year honors, was named a D3Baseball.com honorable mention All-American and was an American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) first team All-Central Region selection. He was 6-1 this season with a 1.82 ERA, averaging 8.95 strikeouts per nine innings and a .205 opponents batting average. He received 52 points on five-of-13 first-place ballots.

Carthage senior pitcher Jacob Husing (Iron Mountain, Mich./H.S.) was third in the voting for NCBWA Pitcher of the Year honors.