CHICAGO — Claiming its second straight regular-season title and this spring’s tournament crown, the University of St. Francis baseball program has repeated as the top award winner following the announcement of the 2024 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball honor roll on Thursday afternoon.  St. Francis totaled 11 accolades in all, one year after netting nine in 2023.

A league-best seven all-conference selections, two of the four top individual prize winners, a Gold Glove recipient and repeating as the CCAC Champions of Character Team made up the 11-award count for USF.

Topped by a conference-high five second-team choices and one of two programs with two Gold Glove performers, Trinity Christian College was next in line with eight honors.  Saint Xavier University followed in third place with seven awards, including boasting the most first team all-league picks with five.

Roosevelt University, the only other team besides St. Francis to disburse its awards across all four individual categories, earned six total plaudits with Olivet Nazarene University at five.  The latter team joined Trinity Christian as the only program with two Gold Glove recipients.

Calumet College of St. Joseph and St. Ambrose University notched four honors each with Indiana University South Bend having three team members on the list of 48 total awards presented.  The two all-conference teams were made up of 18 players each with the Gold Glove squad being represented by the top defensive players at each of the nine positions.

Headlining the list of award winners was Roosevelt’s Kekoa Ogawa (Pahoa, Hi.), who was named the CCAC Player of the Year and rightfully so.  He ranked among the top three players in the league in seven offensive categories and in the Top 10 in three other departments.

Ogawa led the conference in doubles (19) and total bases (125), while earning runner-up distinction in hits (77) and slugging percentage (.676).  He was also third in batting average (.416), runs batted in (55), and home runs with nine.  His 54 runs and 21 stolen bases were the fifth-most in the conference with his .484 on-base percentage sitting sixth.

The junior infielder also saw time as a pitcher, where he went 3-2 with five saves and a 4.66 earned run average in 14 relief appearances.

Speaking of pitching, CCAC Pitcher of the Year honors were secured by St. Francis’ Ryan Daly (Plainfield, Ill.).  He earned the distinction with his league-leading numbers in wins (nine), earned run average (2.82), strikeouts (84), strikeouts per game (11.28) and walks/hits per innings pitched (0.90).

The senior also has the fifth-most innings pitched with 67.  He is 9-1 with two saves heading into the next round of the postseason.

The other top individual player honor went to Saint Xavier’s Troy Stukenberg (La Grange, Ill.), who was named the CCAC Freshman of the Year.  The second baseman had the fourth-most RBIs in the league this spring with 48, while also collecting the tenth-most doubles (13).  He batted .340 with 53 hits in 156 at-bats and also registered a .411 on-base percentage.

Recognized as the conference Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season was USF head coach Brian Michalak after leading the Saints to both titles and a spot in next week’s NAIA National Tournament Opening Round.  St. Francis won the regular season by four games, going 23-9, and is 29-19 overall.

Of the 18 players named to the first team, Saint Xavier’s Evan Orzech (Shorewood, Ill.) and Julian Vargas (Tinley Park, Ill.), St. Ambrose’s Adrian Zietara (Chicago, Ill.) and Olivet Nazarene’s Kai Hudson (Orlando, Fla.) were all on the list one year ago.  Hudson was also on the top squad in 2022.

Zietara, meanwhile, repeated both on the first team and the Gold Glove squad.

2024 BASEBALL POSTSEASON AWARDS
Player of the Year
Kekoa Ogawa – Roosevelt
Pitcher of the Year
Ryan Daly – St. Francis (Ill.)
Freshman of the Year
Troy Stukenberg – Saint Xavier
Coach of the Year
Brian Michalak – St. Francis (Ill.)
Champions of Character Team
University of St. Francis (Ill.)
Gold Glove Team
1B Michael Machnic Gr. Calumet St. Joseph Walkerton, Ind.
2B John McGuire Sr. St. Francis (Ill.) New Lenox, Ill.
SS Kai Hudson Sr. Olivet Nazarene Orlando, Fla.
3B Anthony Cappelletti Jr. Trinity Christian Romeoville, Ill.
LF Joeseph Jimenez Jr. Olivet Nazarene Palm Desert, Calif.
CF Bryce Hayman Sr. Roosevelt Michigan City, Ind.
RF Adrian Zietara Gr. St. Ambrose Chicago, Ill.
P Jacob Hutcherson Sr. Trinity Christian Winona Lake, Ind.
C Evan Orzech Sr. Saint Xavier Shorewood, Ill.

First Team All-Conference
P Ryan Daly Sr. St. Francis (Ill.) Plainfield, Ill.
UT Drew Dant Gr. St. Francis (Ill.) Highland, Ill.
P Andrew Davenport Sr. Calumet St. Joseph Griffith, Ind.
SS Kai Hudson Sr. Olivet Nazarene Orlando, Fla.
P Jacob Hutcherson Sr. Trinity Christian Winona Lake, Ind.
OF Jake Klepacz Jr. St. Francis (Ill.) Woodridge, Ill.
1B Nate Maliska So. St. Francis (Ill.) Chicago, Ill.
OF Justin Massingale Jr. Saint Xavier Carbondale, Ill.
DH Brandon Matias Sr. St. Ambrose Glenview, Ill.
2B Noah McCreary Sr. St. Ambrose Davenport, Iowa
OF Sean Moore Jr. Saint Xavier Chicago, Ill.
3B Kekoa Ogawa Jr. Roosevelt Pahoa, Hi.
C Evan Orzech Sr. Saint Xavier Shorewood, Ill.
C Anthony Pohl Sr. Indiana South Bend Westphalia, Mich.
RP Max Smyth Sr. Saint Xavier Tinley Park, Ill.
P Julian Vargas Sr. Saint Xavier Tinley Park, Ill.
OF Adrian Zietara Gr. St. Ambrose Chicago, Ill.
Second Team All-Conference
P Omar Abuelhija Sr. Roosevelt Burbank, Ill.
OF Tommy Benson Gr. Calumet St. Joseph Crown Point, Ind.
SS Oliver Carmody Sr. Trinity Christian Stevensville, Mich.
2B Sebastian Casillas Fr. Roosevelt Chula Vista, Calif.
3B Jack Dupuis Jr. Olivet Nazarene Wheaton, Ill.
1B Kaleb Farnham Sr. Indiana South Bend Hamilton, Ind.
OF Bryce Hayman Sr. Roosevelt Michigan City, Ind.
C Connor Janik So. Trinity Christian Frankfort, Ill.
DH John McGuire Sr. St. Francis (Ill.) New Lenox, Ill.
C Jake Merda So. St. Francis (Ill.) Chicago, Ill.
OF Max Montgomery So. St. Francis (Ill.) Orland Park, Ill.
UT Preston Moore Jr. Trinity Christian Joliet, Ill.
RP Ulysses Munoz Jr. Trinity Christian Romeoville, Ill.
P Christopher Nielsen Jr. Trinity Christian Melbourne, Australia
P Bobby Nowak Gr. Calumet St. Joseph Cedar Lake, Ind.
P Jordan Rhoden So. Olivet Nazarene Glen Saint Mary, Fla.
OF Logan Smith Sr. Indiana South Bend Greensburg, Ind.