Bruins haul in slew of Frontier Conference Postseason Awards
HELENA, Mont. -- Carter Claerhout, Oak Held, Duane Monlux, and Mitch Schmidt all took home major awards for the Bellevue University baseball team in the Frontier Conference Postseason Awards Program. Additionally, 10 Bruins earned first-team all-conference honors, three earned second-team accolades, one earned honorable mention all-conference, and seven were named to the Gold Glove Team.
In the midst of one of the most dominating seasons in nationally second-ranked Bellevue's storied history, Carter Claerhout was named Frontier Conference Player of the Year. The senior first baseman has twice already earned NAIA National Player of the Week honors and has been named the Frontier Conference Player of the Year five times. He leads the country in: hits, home runs, total bases, batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS. Additionally, he leads the Frontier Conference in runs, RBI, sacrifice flies, and on-base percentage.
Oak Held has manned the hot corner admirably for the Bruins, producing at a high level on both sides of the ball to earn Frontier Conference Newcomer of the Year. He ranks third on the team in batting average, fielding at a .939 clip, and racked up 83 assists while helping turn 15 double plays. He's blended power and approach at the plate with a .360/.441/.601 slash line featuring 19 extra-base hits, 47 RBI, and 62 runs scored.
Duane Monlux was named Frontier Conference Coach of the Year, the 10th season since he's been at Bellevue that he's earned such a conference accolade, and the 13th time in his coaching career. Monlux has guided the Bruins to their best regular season in program history at 44-3 overall and the first unbeaten conference regular season (24-0) in program history. Bellevue clinched its 23rd regular-season conference crown with eight games to play and is likely to secure its 28th NAIA National Tournament appearance next week when the field is announced.
Mitch Schmidt was named the Frontier Conference Assistant Coach of the Year, his first such award. As one of his primary duties working with hitters, he has helped develop a team that is hitting .359 with 103 home runs, a .631 slugging percentage, 1.085 OPS, and is averaging 10.2 runs per game. Schmidt helped the Bruins and has been instrumental in cultivating the Canada-to-Bellevue pipeline that has fueled much of the Bruin offense. He was previously named the 2019 ABCA/Baseball America NAIA Assistant Coach of the Year.
Bellevue is the top seed in the upcoming Frontier Conference Tournament, which begins tomorrow at Community Bank & Trust Ballpark in Dickinson, N.D. They will be aiming for a fifth consecutive conference tournament crown. Their first game is set for 5 p.m. against the winner of No. 4 Dakota State University vs No. 5 Mayville State University.
First Team All-Frontier Conference
(C) Xavier Lerma: .354 AVG, 1.173 OPS, 16 HR, 58 RBI, 30 Runs
(1B) Carter Claerhout: .500 AVG, 1.508 OPS, 23 HR, 66 RBI, 67 Runs, 11 SB
(2B) Nick Gravel: .412 AVG, 1.036 OPS, 13 XBH, 39 RBI, 61 Runs, 12 SB
(3B) Oak Held: .360 AVG, 1.042 OPS, 11 HR, 47 RBI, 62 Runs, 8 SB
(OF) Ayden Makarus: .346 AVG, 1.144 OPS, 14 HR, 55 RBI, 49 Runs, 9 SB
(OF) Anthony Lind: .327 AVG, 1.039 OPS, 11 HR, 45 RBI, 40 Runs
(DH) Dylan Holmes: .354 AVG, 1.197 OPS, 13 HR, 47 RBI, 36 Runs
(SP) Brayden Andersen: 10-0 W-L, 3.48 ERA, 59 SO, 62.2 IP, .264 OAVG
(SP) Kenji Miller: 9-1 W-L, 4.33 ERA, 87 SO, 72.2 IP, .277 OAVG
(RP) Brody Burnette: 2-0 W-L, 13 Saves, 1.19 ERA, 26 SO, 22.2 IP, .238 OAVG
Second Team All-Frontier Conference
(OF) Jaylan Ruffin: .349 AVG, .960 OPS, 11 XBH, 26 RBI, 50 Runs, 11 SB
(SP) Kody Butt: 6-1 W-L, 3.17 ERA, 2 Saves, 74 SO, 54.0 IP, .224 OAVG
(SP) Reid Madariaga: 5-0 W-L, 4.07 ERA, 54 SO, 42.0 IP, .295 OAVG
Honorable Mention All-Frontier Conference
(RP) Cannon Close: 3-0, 3 Saves, 3.06 ERA, 26 SO, 32.1 IP, .264 OAVG
Frontier Conference Gold Glove Team
(1B) Carter Claerhout: .985 Fielding, 28 DP
(2B) Nick Gravel: 1.000 Fielding, 85 Assists, 146 Chances, 20 DP
(3B) Oak Held: .939 Fielding, 83 Assists, 20 DP
(SS) Mason Spellecy: .931 Fielding, 81 Assists, 15 DP
(LF) Ayden Makarus: .953 Fielding, 3 OF Assists
(CF) Jaylan Ruffin: .990 Fielding, 94 putouts, Robbed Several Home Runs
(RF) Anthony Lind: 1.000 Fielding, 4 OF Assists
Frontier Conference Player of the Year Carter Claerhout
Frontier Conference Newcomer of the Year Oak Held
Frontier Conference Coach of the Year Duane Monlux
Frontier Conference Assistant Coach of the Year Mitch Schmidt