Upper Midwest Athletic Conference

ST. PAUL – Winner of the last 14 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) regular season championships, the College of St. Scholastica boasted seven players on the all-conference first team and two players on the all-conference honorable mention team. Of the nine Saints listed, three were pitchers followed by three infielders, two outfielders and a catcher. Bethany Lutheran College, who finished second to St. Scholastica in both the UMAC regular season and postseason tournament, placed five on the first team and two more on the all-conference honorable mention list.

Bethany Lutheran swept the UMAC’s Player and Pitcher of the Year awards as Justin Schwecke and Cody Hallahan were chosen for those accolades. For student-athletes who saw action in 10 or more conference games throughout 2010, Schwecke was sixth in the league with a .444 batting average while leading the UMAC with 36 hits and 12 doubles. His 28 RBI in 21 conference games was second amongst league leaders.

Hallahan was second with a 2.08 ERA for those who pitched 15 innings or more in conference games. In the same span, the junior held opponents to a .175 batting average (2nd) while leading the conference with 49 strikeouts. Hallahan’s five wins in UMAC contests was second only to St. Scholastica’s Jeff Adams, who had six.

UMAC Rookie of the Year honors went to Northwestern College’s Zach Markwith. Markwith was third in the league with 33 hits while tying for third in total bases (50). In 21 conference games, the freshman hit .398 at the plate.

St. Scholastica’s Corey Kemp was chosen by his colleagues as the UMAC Coach of the Year. In his first year at the helm of the Saints squad, Kemp led his team to a 19-1 conference record and the eighth spot in the May 16 version of the D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 national rankings. St. Scholastica reached the NCAA playoffs as an independent for the sixth straight year and the seventh time overall.

Aside from St. Scholastica and Bethany Lutheran, no other UMAC team had more than two representatives on the all-conference first team. Northland College and Presentation College each had two first team selections, while Crown College, Martin Luther College, Northwestern and the University of Minnesota-Morris each had one representative on the list.