Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

2017 ABCA/Rawlings All-America Teams

May 25, 2017 – Earning his second first team All-America award of the day, North Central College third baseman Michael Mateja was awarded the honor by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings, announced Thursday evening.
 
Earlier this afternoon, Mateja was named a first team All-American by D3baseball.com, while North Central has been represented on the ABCA/Rawlings All-America teams for the third straight season but has not had a first team selection since 1992.
 
Mateja was recently named Central Region Player of the Year by both ABCA/Rawlings and D3baseball.com, as his.414 batting average through regional play leads the team.  Mateja also ranks in the top-10 nationally in multiple categories, as his 59 runs scored and eight triples rank fifth, 77 hits rank sixth and his 118 total bases rank ninth.  Mateja has started all 45 games at third base this season, slugging .634 while reaching base at a .489 clip, including a stretch of 40-straight games dating back to Mar. 20.

Mateja now holds two single-season program records, as his 77 hits broke Nick Robinson's record of 76 set in 2010 and his eight triples broke Kory Witmer's previous single-season high of seven set in 1994. Additionally, his 59 runs scored rank second, 21 steals rank fifth, 118 total bases rank sixth and 11 hit by pitches rank eighth.
 
North Central begins play in the 2017 NCAA Division III College World Series tomorrow against 19^th-ranked University of Massachusetts-Boston at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin with first pitch scheduled for 4:30 p.m.  The link to the tournament website is available HERE.