BLUFFTON, Ohio - Bluffton skipper James Grandey has been named the Heartland Conference Coach of the Year after guiding the Beavers to a 3rd place finish in the HCAC! Also recognized by the Heartland Conference were seniors Jaden Jaques (New Palestine, Ind.) and Jake Baumgartner (Toledo/Start) who notched first team honors. Fellow senior Jack Towell (Batavia/West Clermont) collected Second Team All-HCAC recognition while sophomore Justin Maurer (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) earned Honorable Mention acclaim.
The Bluffton University baseball team equaled the school record with 22 victories in 2023. Bluffton finished its Heartland Conference slate with a 14-8 mark, giving the Beavers a school-record .636 winning percentage in HCAC contests. The 14-8 mark sent Bluffton into the HCAC Tournament with a Bluffton-best #3 seed after wrapping up the regular season with a 22-16 mark overall. Coach Grandey pushed his team to a 3rd-place finish despite entering the season tabbed 7th in the coaches' poll! He also notched career victory #300 against Alvernia in Florida on March 7.
Bluffton showed out with 27 home runs, 251 RBI's and 173 walks which are all 2nd all-time for a single season. The 12 saves for Bluffton's pitching staff are also 2nd all-time. The Beavers scored 283 runs (4th all-time), were hit by 60 pitches (4th all-time), racked up 576 total bases (6th all-time), fanned 6.99 batters per nine innings (6th all-time), threw out 18 base stealers (6th all-time) and turned 27 double plays (7th all-time).
Baumgartner showed out with his second straight First Team All-Heartland Conference honor for baseball. He is also a two-time All-HCAC selection for his punting and kicking on the football field! Bummy smacked 49 hits and scored 35 runs, both second on the team. He drove in 29 runs and drew 19 walks while batting in the two-hole. Baumgartner started all 38 games he played, hitting .312 with nine doubles and three homers.
The two-sport standout is 7th all-time with 45 double plays. He is also top 25 all-time with 543 chances, 198 assists and 326 putouts. Baumgartner made numerous highlight reel plays at second base, fielding at a .967 clip and saving countless runs for the Bluffton defense.
Checking in with his first All-Heartland Conference award is Jaden Jaques. He started six of his 13 appearances and went 6-4 which moved him into a tie for second on the single-season wins list. His 4.32 ERA was 8th in the Heartland and his six wins are tied for 3rd in the league. Jaques finished the season with 33 strikeouts in 41.2 innings. He has limited the opposition to a .294 batting average through 80.2 career innings on the bump.
Also making his first appearance on an All-Heartland Conference Team is the 2023 A.C Burcky Winner, Jack Towell. The senior shortstop led the Beavers with a pert .390 batting average which placed him 7th in the HCAC. His 54 RBI's led the conference and established a new single-season mark at Bluffton. Towell's nine homers are tied for 4th all-time for a single season at Bluffton and they are 8th in the conference. He also set a school record with seven RBI in a win over Albion that took 37 days and two states to complete. His .646 slugging percentage placed him 5th in the HCAC. He was named to the HCAC All-Tournament Team for his work in Kokomo against Manchester and Anderson.
Towell leads the Beavers with 44 career hit by pitches. He is 5th all-time with 110 RBI's and his 13 homers are tied for 8th. Towell is top 10 in the career record book with 131 games started, 500 at bats, 167 hits and 239 total bases. His 29 career two-baggers are tied for 11th all-time. He has also been a force in the field, getting it done with 295 assists (3rd all-time) and 47 double plays (6th all-time).
Justin Maurer moved into the lineup on day one and never looked back, starting all 40 games for the Beavers in 2023. The standout first baseman hit .320 and smashed seven homers which tied him for 9th on the Bluffton single-season list. He drove in 38 runs which tied him for 6th all-time at Bluffton and slugged .537 with 27 runs scored. Maurer drew 18 walks and was hit by a pitch 10 times, adding up to a .412 on-base percentage.
As good as Maurer was at the plate, he was even better in the field. The sophomore regularly turned lemons into lemonade at first, posting an outstanding .986 fielding percentage with 274 putouts and 21 double plays.
-BEAVERS-