Delta Baseball Collects Awards

Most successful season in school history yields results

Delta Baseball Collects Awards
July 5, 2017

University Center, MI – Coming off their most successful season in the six year history of the baseball program, Delta College recently announced post-season award winners. The Pioneers went 35-23 on the season while making its first trip to the College World Series after winning its first regional and super-regional tournaments.

Freshman Hunter David capped off a stellar first season with the Pioneers by being selected the Offensive Player of the Year after hitting .421 with 41 RBI's and scoring 48 runs.  He was also selected 1st team All-MCCAA and was named to the MCCAA All-Freshmen team.  He topped those honors off by being named to the All-Region XII team as an infielder as well as collecting the Super Regional tournament MVP.  He capped his season off by being one of 12 players named to the World Series team after going 7-10 in three games at the plate including a 4-for-5 performance against Century in an elimination contest.

Tyler Kirkwood, a sophomore, was named the Pitcher of the Year for the Pioneers after going 6-2 with 82 strikeouts, a new single season record at Delta.  He collected wins over MCCAA East Champion Lansing (3rd place finish College World Series – Division II) and post-season qualifier Macomb but saved his best effort for Delta's tournament run as he beat Elgin in the Super Regional (3 ER, 5 IP, 9 K's) and Prince George in the World Series (1 ER, 6 IP, 7 K's).  Kirkwood was also selected Honorable Mention All-League, All-Region XII team and the SIUTA Award for pitching excellence.

Catcher Z Westley, another sophomore, was named Delta's Defensive Player of the Year after playing in 57 of 58 contests on the season including 41 games behind the dish.  He threw out 13 of 24 baserunners on the year while making just 4 errors in 332 total chances.  Z was also named 2nd Team All-League and collected All-Region XII honors as a catcher.

Justin Jurek, a sophomore pitcher, was also named to the All-Region XII team as a pitcher and collected the Region IV/XII Gold Glove Award for pitchers.  The righty was a bulldog on the mound for Delta, going 7-4 on the year with a 2.90 ERA over 65.1 innings.  He struck out 53 including 11 over seven innings while giving up one earned run in the series clinching win over Elgin in the Super Regional that sent the Pioneers to the World Series.    

Sophomore Dean Marais was selected as an Honorable Mention All-League pick after being named to the 2nd team in 2016.  On the season, Marais hit .314 in the conference while collecting a team record 47 RBI overall.  Marais appeared in every game for Delta in 2017, becoming the first player in program history to do so.  He was also selected to the Region XII team as an outfielder.

Lew Finch, a sophomore pitcher, was selected as the Joe Award winner for 2017.  The lefty from Cadillac spent the spring season on the disabled list yet rarely missed practice, games (both home and away) or  team events.  He was also responsible for the team's Twitter feed and increased traffic to the Delta site by 900 percent.  Finch also collected MCCAA All-Academic Honors and leaves DC after two seasons sporting a 3.91 GPA.

Other academic award winners for Delta include sophomore Zack Booth who was named to the NJCAA 2nd Team as well as collecting MCCAA All-Conference academic standing.  Three freshmen, Aaron Esparza, Mitch Morley and Tyler Snover, were selected as 3rd Team NJCAA All-Academic as well as to the MCCAA All-Conference team for their outstanding academic efforts.

Rounding out the team awards, head coach Danny Smith was selected as the NJCAA District B Coach of the Year after leading Delta to Regional and Super-Regional championships.  Smith finished his sixth season at the helm in 2017 while serving as the only coach in Delta's baseball history.  His teams have qualified for the post-season in each of the last five seasons while also surpassing the 30-win mark in each year, one of just two teams in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association to have done so.  Delta finished 2017 by playing in the NJCAA World Series where they finished fifth in the country.

University Center, MI – Coming off their most successful season in the six year history of the baseball of the baseball program, Delta College recently announced post-season award winners.  The Pioneers went 35-23 on the season while making its first trip to the College World Series after winning its first regional and super-regional tournaments.
Freshman Hunter David capped off a stellar first season with the Pioneers by being selected the Offensive Player of the Year after hitting .421 with 41 RBI's and scoring 48 runs.  He was also selected 1st team All-MCCAA and was named to the MCCAA All-Freshmen team.  He topped those honors off by being named to the All-Region XII team as an infielder as well as collecting the Super Regional tournament MVP.  He capped his season off by being one of 12 players named to the World Series team after going 7-10 in three games at the plate including a 4-for-5 performance against Century in an elimination contest.
Tyler Kirkwood, a sophomore, was named the Pitcher of the Year for the Pioneers after going 6-2 with 82 strikeouts, a new single season record at Delta.  He collected wins over MCCAA East Champion Lansing (3rd place finish College World Series – Division II) and post-season qualifier Macomb but saved his best effort for Delta's tournament run as he beat Elgin in the Super Regional (3 ER, 5 IP, 9 K's) and Prince George in the World Series (1 ER, 6 IP, 7 K's).  Kirkwood was also selected Honorable Mention All-League, All-Region XII team and the SIUTA Award for pitching excellence.
Catcher Z Westley, another sophomore, was named Delta's Defensive Player of the Year after playing in 57 of 58 contests on the season including 41 games behind the dish.  He threw out 13 of 24 baserunners on the year while making just 4 errors in 332 total chances.  Z was also named 2nd Team All-League and collected All-Region XII honors as a catcher.
Justin Jurek, a sophomore pitcher, was also named to the All-Region XII team as a pitcher and collected the Region IV/XII Gold Glove Award for pitchers.  The righty was a bulldog on the mound for Delta, going 7-4 on the year with a 2.90 ERA over 65.1 innings.  He struck out 53 including 11 over seven innings while giving up one earned run in the series clinching win over Elgin in the Super Regional that sent the Pioneers to the World Series.    
Sophomore Dean Marais was selected as an Honorable Mention All-League pick after being named to the 2nd team in 2016.  On the season, Marais hit .314 in the conference while collecting a team record 47 RBI overall.  Marais appeared in every game for Delta in 2017, becoming the first player in program history to do so.  He was also selected to the Region XII team as an outfielder.
Lew Finch, a sophomore pitcher, was selected as the Joe Award winner for 2017.  The lefty from Cadillac spent the spring season on the disabled list yet rarely missed practice, games (both home and away) or  team events.  He was also responsible for the team's Twitter feed and increased traffic to the Delta site by 900 percent.  Finch also collected MCCAA All-Academic Honors and leaves DC after two seasons sporting a 3.91 GPA.
Other academic award winners for Delta include sophomore Zack Booth who was named to the NJCAA 2nd Team as well as collecting MCCAA All-Conference academic standing.  Three freshmen, Aaron Esparza, Mitch Morley and Tyler Snover, were selected as 3rd Team NJCCAA All-Academic as well as to the MCCAA All-Conference team for their outstanding academic efforts.
Rounding out the team awards, head coach Danny Smith was selected as the NJCAA District B Coach of the Year after leading Delta to Regional and Super-Regional championships.  Smith finished his sixth season at the helm in 2017 while serving as the only coach in Delta's baseball history.  His teams have qualified for the post-season in each of the last five seasons while also surpassing the 30-win mark in each year, one of just two teams in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association to have done so.  Delta finished 2017 by playing in the NJCAA World Series where they finished fifth in the country.