BLUFFTON, Ohio - Adam Duncan (Northwood/Lake) and Parker Reynolds (Avon) were named Honorable Mention All-Heartland Conference when the post-season hardware was handed out on Monday, May 24, 2021. Also collecting Heartland Conference honors were senior Jacob Latkofsky (Temperence, Mich./Ida) and sophomore Jacob Boelkens (Millbury/Lake) who were selected to the HCAC All-Tournament Team after leading Bluffton to its first-ever tourney victories and with that the best tournament finish (3rd) in school history!
Duncan, a Second Team All-Heartland Conference honoree for football in 2018, picked up his first All-HCAC recognition for baseball. The graduate senior was also an integral part in Bluffton's first trip to the HCAC baseball tourney in 2018. He hit .316 with a team-high 10 doubles in 2021. His 31 RBI was just one off the team best and his 34 runs scored were third this season. He led the Beavers with a .454 on-base-percentage thanks to 29 walks which ranks second all-time for a single season. His .456 slugging percentage and three homers both led the team.
Duncan was 6-of-6 on steals and he and Reynolds were two of five Beavers to eclipse the school record of 40 games played. He saw action in 43 contests with 41 starts this year. The right fielder was named Heartland Conference Hitter of the Week after powering the Beavers to a sweep at Rose-Hulman in the opening round of the HCAC Tournament, going 5-of-8 with eight RBI and a 1.125 slugging percentage!
The five-year starter finishes his career tied for 6th all-time with 145 games played and his 123 starts are tied for 11th all-time. He hit .267 with 79 runs scored (17th all-time) and 70 RBI. Duncan's 61 walks are tied for 3rd all-time. He finished his time at Bluffton with 112 hits, four dingers and 19 stolen bases while completing his master's degree during the 2020-21 campaign!
Reynolds, who earned All-HCAC honors as a junior in 2019, has been a mainstay behind the plate, playing in 128 games for the Beavers over the past five years. He hit .313 and was tied for team-high honors with 32 RBI. Reynolds had a .441 on-base percentage thanks to 21 walks and 15 HPB, which is 2nd all-time. He smacked 47 hits and had a .447 slugging percentage, second to Duncan. His 215 putouts this season are 10th all-time. He was named HCAC Hitter of the Week after leading Bluffton to a sweep of rival Defiance.
For his career, Reynolds finished 8th all-time with 517 putouts and he caught 15 runners attempting to steal. He played in 128 games (13th all-time) and his .443 career on-base percentage is 11th all time. The graduate student was hit by a pitch 34 times, one off the school mark of 35 held by Nick Broyles. Reynolds ended his career tied for 13th with 79 RBI.
Bluffton established a new school record with 44 games in 2021. They played 38 out of a maximum 40 regular-season games with the only washouts a series at Defiance on the final Sunday. With the conference stipulating that games needed to be finished on Sunday, May 8, so tournament preparations could be finished, the Beavers were unable to make it a perfect 40-for-40 during this most unique of seasons when every baseball game played was a conference clash.
The Beavers broke the ice when they snapped a 20-game losing streak to Rose-Hulman in the HCAC Tournament opener and they kicked the doors in on Saturday, May 15, when the visitors wrapped up a sweep of Rose-Hulman in the opening round of the Heartland Conference Tournament! All of this came after a 1-10 start to the season. Bluffton would not pack it in, however, as the Beavers went 19-14 over the final 33 games to secure just the 5th 20-win season (20-24) in school history.
-BEAVERS-