Post, Heines, League Champion Bulldogs Rack Up SCAC Postseason Honors
SEGUIN, Texas -- The 2023 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) postseason honors were announced on Friday afternoon and Texas Lutheran was well-represented with seven players named to the all-conference teams and two Bulldogs earning major awards.
In total, 13 players racked up selections on the All-SCAC First and Second teams or earned Honorable Mention honors.
Two Bulldogs earned major awards, led by junior first baseman Tyler Post (San Antonio/Johnson) was named SCAC Player of the Year. Post leads the SCAC in home runs (14), RBI (70), runs (42), total bases (114), and slugging percentage (.770). He is also second in triples (three) and hits (55), third in doubles (10), fourth in batting average (.372) and fifth in on-base percentage (.456). Post ended the regular season ranked fourth in NCAA Division-III with 62 RBI and 26th in home runs with 12. With 14 home runs this season, Post moved into sole possession of third place on the TLU Baseball all-time home run list with 36 career home runs, trailing former teammate Tyler Cauley (2017-2021, 41) by five for second place. Post was a two-time SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Week during the regular season, including two weeks ago when he batted .545 (6-for-11) with nine RBI, three runs scored, one home run and one double in a three-game sweep of Dallas. The junior has had 18 multi-hit games this season and has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games. A 2021 All-West Region and SCAC First Team selection, Post is the third straight and fourth overall TLU player to earn Offensive Player-of-the-Year accolades. Riley Schaefer won the award in 2018 and former teammates Tyler Cauley and Joe Jimenez earned Offensive POTY honors in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Head Coach Rick Heines was named SCAC Coach of the Year for the first time after leading the Bulldogs to their first outright SCAC regular season title in program history. The regular season title marks the third regular season championship (2016 and 2019) and fifth overall (tournament titles in 2018 and 2021) for TLU in the SCAC era. Texas Lutheran went 27-13 overall and finished 17-4 in the SCAC for the second consecutive season. The 17 conference wins against just four losses matches the best single-season conference winning percentage (.810) in program history, which Heines also produced with his 2022 squad. Texas Lutheran has the conference's highest scoring offense, scoring 198 runs in conference play and 327 runs in total in the regular season. The Bulldogs would outpace the next team by 39 runs in conference and 79 runs for the entire regular season. Texas Lutheran leads the SCAC in home runs (31), on-base percentage (.409), hits (408), triples (15), walks (196), and slugging percentage (.434) and tie with Centenary for first in team batting average (.304).
Holding an overall head coaching record of 85-41 (.675) entering this weekend's tournament, Heines in his 11th season with the Bulldogs after having served under former head coach Greg Burnett for eight seasons as pitching coach and recruiting coordinator and associate head coach from 2018-2020. The COTY award is the third for a TLU head baseball coach as Burnett was honored following the 2016 and 2019 seasons.
Aside from the major postseason awards, Texas Lutheran had seven players named All-SCAC recognition on the first or second teams and six players named All-SCAC honorable mention.
Senior Alec Sanchez (Waxahachie/Waxahachie) joins Post on the first team as a designated hitter. Infielders Aric Vasquez (San Antonio/Brandeis) and Niko Garcia (Houston/Langham Creek), outfielder Blake Cappadona (Mont Belvieu/Barbers Hill), left-handed relief pitcher Zach Longshore (Richmond/Ft. Bend Travis), and right-handed pitcher Blade Strzelczyk (San Antonio/East Central) all landed on the second team. Brendan Beard (Coldspring/Coldspring-Oakhurst), Asher Bonnell (Round Rock/Stony Point), Joe Burch (Geronimo/Navarro), Randy Huerta (New Braunfels/New Braunfels), Holden Philippus (San Antonio/San Antonio Christian), and Diego Vinton (Houston/George Ranch) each picked up Honorable Mention honors.
Sanchez is batting .301 with a double, a homer, 17 RBI and 28 runs scored, while platooning between designated hitter and left field.
Garcia is batting .285 and is second in the SCAC with 41 RBI and third with 26 walks to go with five doubles and three home runs and 51 RBI. Vasquez is batting .327 with five doubles, a triple and 16 RBI. Cappadona is third in the SCAC in runs (35), second in triples (3), and seventh in RBI (29) while batting .292.
Longshore has a 4.00 ERA and a 6-2 record in 36 innings pitched. He has 42 strikeouts to only 14 walks and has held opponents to a .272 batting average and an astounding .188 average in conference play. His six wins rank third in the SCAC and his five conference wins led the SCAC. Strzelczyk has a 4.25 ERA and a 3-2 record along with two saves after moving into the weekend rotation ealy in the season, tossing a team-high 53.0 innings pitched while leading the SCAC in complete games with three. He has a team-high 51 strikeouts to only 15 walks and has held opponents to a .271 batting average.
Beard has a 4.08 ERA with a 3-1 record and led the team with three saves, ranking third in the SCAC in the category. He has 44 strikeouts in 39.2 innings pitched with a .214 batting average against.
After a slow start to the season, Bonnell finished with multi-hit games in six of his final eight games to finish the regular season with a .391 average to earn his first all-conference honor.
Despite missing a chunk of the season due to injury, Joe Burch earns his third all-conference honor, striking out 44 batters in 38.2 innings pitched.
Huerta, the Bulldogs starting shortstop, earns his third All-SCAC honor batting .252 with two triples, three homers, 16 RBI, and 28 runs scored.
Philippus is batting .306 with two homers, 20 RBI, 26 walks - which ranks third in the SCAC - and .459 on-base percentage, which ranks fourth in the SCAC.
Vinton has a 4.47 ERA with a 4-2 record after moving into the weekend rotation in the middle of the season. He has 42 strikeouts in 50.1 innings pitched.
Texas Lutheran will face the winner of Friday's game between Centenary and Trinity at noon on Saturday, May 6, at The Depot at Cleburne Station in Cleburne, Texas. Tickets for the tournament are available for purchase by clicking here. All streaming and live stats links can be found on tlubulldogs.com.
For more information on Texas Lutheran baseball and all TLU athletics, you can find updates on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics and @TLU_Baseball on Twitter, @tlubulldogs on Facebook, and @tlu_athletics on Instagram and TikTok).