By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---Jake Wichlacz (Eisenhower/Macomb, Mich.) has joined Grant Peters (Eastwood/Pemberville, Ohio) in making history by becoming the first Owens Community College baseball player to be named the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) D-II player of the week today.
Two weeks ago, Peters became the first Owens pitcher to earn national pitcher of the week recognition. Wichlacz is the first Owens offensive player to earn the national honor.
The sophomore third baseman led Owens to a 5-1 week, including three wins over conference foe Lakeland Community College. He opened the week with a 1-for-2 performance, including a triple and two RBI, in a 10-0 win over Lourdes University JV.
Then, this past weekend, Wichlacz went 9-for-14 (.643) in four games against Lakeland, where he scored four runs and picked up one double, one home run and eight RBI.
In 12 conference games this year, Wichlacz is hitting .436 with eight runs, four doubles, two home runs and 17 RBI. He also has a .523 on base percentage and is slugging .692. He is fourth in the conference in batting average, fifth in hits and third in RBI.
Overall, Wichlacz is hitting .360 (41-for-114) this year in 35 games. He has 11 doubles, two triples, four home runs, 47 RBI, 14 walks and five stolen bases.
Notes
Owens is 28-11 overall and 9-3 in Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) play. They will host Cuyahoga Community College (39-10 overall, 12-0 OCCAC) in a four game series starting tomorrow at 1 p.m. Should Owens win all four, they would claim the program's first conference championship since 2009. Cuyahoga needs just one win to claim the crown.
The winner of the conference's regular season championship earns the No. 1 bid from Ohio for the Region XII tournament. The second, third and fourth place finishers, along with Vincennes University, will take part in the double elimination Sub-Region XII tournament for Ohio's No. 2 bid to the Region XII tournament.