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

2017 ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Teams

May 23, 2017 – Continuing to add up the postseason awards, North Central College third baseman Michael Mateja earned his second Central Region Player of the Year Award, this one awarded by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings, while teammates Chris Hill, Nick Sotiros and Evan Blunk were also named to the All-Central Region teams.

Earlier today, Mateja was named Central Region Player of the year by D3baseball.com, while Sotiros was named to the first team as well.

Mateja is batting .414 through regional play, while ranking 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.

After going 3-for-5 in the Central Region Championship game, Mateja broke Nick Robinson's '10 previous single-season hit record of 76, while breaking the single-season triples record previously set by Kory Witmer 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.

Mateja is the second player in the last three years under head coach Ed Mathey to earn Player of the Year honors, as Bryan Polowy '16 was named Central Region Pitcher of the Year in 2015.

Sotiros has been named All-Central Region by the ABCA/Rawlings for the second straight season, adding a third team selection to his first team honor in 2016.

Sotiros was recently named Most Valuable Player of the 2017 NCAA Division III Central Region Championship, batting at a .347 clip so far this season while his 60 runs batted in currently rank second nationally while his 18 doubles rank 23^rd.  Sotiros also leads the team with seven homeruns, including two over the Central Regional last week.

Like Mateja, Sotiros also sits in the program's single-season top-10 in multiple categories, holding two of the top three spots on the single-season doubles list as his 22 last season rank atop the list and his 18 from this season currently rank third.  His 68 hits from 2016 rank fourth, while his 65 this season rank ninth, along with ranking sixth with 60 RBI this season, eighth with 11 hit by pitches and 10^th with 113 total bases.

Hill has been named to the second team for the second straight season, batting .330 this season with 13 doubles, four homeruns, 37 RBI and a team-leading 24 walks.  His 44 career doubles are currently tied for the program's all-time lead, needing just one more for sole possession of the record.

Starting pitcher Evan Blunk was selected to the third team, posting a 6-2 record with a 3.17 ERA over 11 appearances this season, including nine starts.  Blunk has allowed just four runs and three walks over his last six starts totaling 41 innings with a 0.88 ERA over that span.  His 15 career victories currently land him a three-way tie for eighth on the program's career wins list.

North Central qualified for the 2017 NCAA Division III College World Series after going 4-0 in the Central Regional, just the second CWS appearance in school history, as the Cardinals will take on 19^th-ranked University of Massachusetts-Boston in the opening round on Friday, May 29 at 4:30 p.m. at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin.