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

2021 ABCA All-Region Teams

June 1, 2021 – After earning five all-region awards from D3baseball.com earlier in the day, all five North Central College baseball players were also named to the All-Central Region teams by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA).

The five All-Region selections are a program high for both the ABCA and D3baseball.com, while Rob Marinec becomes the first player in history to earn First Team All-Central Region honors on three occasions.

Named First Team All-Central Region for the third-straight season, Marinec led the Cardinals batting .363 on the season, to go along with a team-leading seven homeruns, 13 doubles, 52 RBI, 109 total bases, 32 walks, a .469 on-base percentage and .609 slugging percentage, while picking 12 runners off base.

Luke Lamm also earned First Team All-Region honors, one of just four starting pitchers on the first team for his first career all-region nod from the ABCA.  Lamm was named College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Pitcher of the Year and currently ranks second in all of NCAA Division III in wins with 11, while his 11-0 record give him the most wins without receiving a loss among all pitchers nationally.  Lamm's 11 wins broke North Central's single-season record, while also setting new single-season marks with 92 strikeouts and 87.2 innings pitched. 

Two of the Cardinals' three starting outfielders were recognized by the ABCA, as Luke Lehnen was named to the Second Team and Dom Listi to the Third Team.  Each earned their first career awards after tying for the NCAA Division III lead with 10 triples each this season.  The pair became the first players in program history to record double-digit triples in a single season, breaking Michael Mateja's '19 previous high of eight set in 2017.

In his first season in a Cardinal uniform, Lehnen led the team with 71 hits, 58 runs scored and 18 stolen bases, while ranking second on the team batting .350.  Lehnen's 71 hits rank seventh on the program's single-season record book, while his 58 runs rank third.

Listi hit .324 on the season, ranking second on the team with 28 walks, 18 hit by pitches and a .460 on-base percentage.  Listi was also 11-for-12 on stole base attempts this season and ranked second on the team in extra-base hits with 20.

Also earning Third Team honors was Ryan Behling after leading the team with a 1.67 earned run average this season, good for sixth on the program's single-season list. Behling posted an unblemished 6-0 record with two complete games and one save on the season, striking out 69 batters over his 81 innings pitched, allowing just 12 walks all season while opposing batters hit a miniscule .181.  Behling threw the first nine-inning no-hitter in program history on Mar. 14 in a 4-0 win over Spalding University, allowing just a pair of walks and hit by pitches while striking out six on the afternoon. 

North Central set a school record for wins in 2021, finishing the season with an overall record of 38-9 while capturing its record sixth-straight CCIW Regular Season Championship.  The Cardinals also set new program records in triples (31), hit by pitch (91), saves (13), shutouts (seven), strikeouts (397) and fielding percentage (.968).