2021 D3baseball.com All-Central Region Teams
June 1, 2021 – The North Central College baseball team landed a program record five players on the 2021 D3baseball.com All- Central Region Teams, released by the organization on Tuesday.
Earning All-Central Region honors for the third-straight season,
Rob Marinec adds his second First Team All-Region nod to his resume and is the first player in program history to earn D3baseball.com All-Region honors in three different seasons. 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.
2021 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Pitcher of the Year,
Luke Lamm, also earned First Team All-Region honors, his first career all-region nod. Lamm 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 three starting outfielders were named Second Team All-Region, as
Dom Listi and
Luke Lehnen 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. Additionally, Lehnen was named CCIW Newcomer of the Year this season.
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 his first all-region recognition,
Ryan Behling was named Third Team All-Region 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).
