By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
Toledo, Ohio---Jake Schmeltz (Eastwood/Perrysburg, Ohio) and Kailey Minarchick (Columbia Station/Columbia Station, Ohio) have been named Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) player of the week and pitcher of the week, respectively, in their sports.
Schmeltz, a sophomore first baseman for the Owens Community College baseball team, batted .609 (14-for-23) last week with a .625 on base percentage. Aside from his averages, he totaled nine runs, three doubles, one triple, 12 RBI, one walk and four stolen bases.
In four conference games against Edison, Schmeltz hit .611 (11-for-18) with eight runs, three doubles, one triple, 11 RBI and three stolen bases.
Schmeltz is now leading Owens in batting average at .387 this year, and he has also produced 30 runs, six doubles, one triple, 25 RBI, 10 walks and 14 stolen bases in 30 games played.
The Owens baseball team (23-10, 6-2 OCCAC) will host Lakeland Community College this weekend before closing out conference play against Cuyahoga Community College next weekend. They are still situated well in the race for the conference championship, which would be their first since 2009.
Minarchick, meanwhile, stayed undefeated in conference play with two complete game victories and a solid relief appearance last week for the Owens Community College softball team.
In her three appearances, the freshman right-handed pitcher went 2-0 and posted a 1.78 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 15.2 innings. She allowed 17 hits and three walks in those innings. She opened the week by striking out seven over seven innings in a 5-3 win over Lakeland Community College. Then, she struck out five in a 3-2 six inning win over Cuyahoga Community College. She closed out the week with a scoreless 2.2 inning relief appearance against Cuyahoga.
Minarchick is 13-6 overall in 26 appearances this year, while adding three saves. In 120.2 innings pitched, she has a 1.57 ERA and 113 strikeouts. In the month of April, she has a 1.15 ERA over 55.0 innings pitched.
Owens is currently 23-12 overall and 8-2 in OCCAC play. They will host Lakeland this weekend to close out conference play.
Notes
While the award is a first for Schmeltz, this is the second straight week an Owens player has picked up the award. Casey Gose won the honor two weeks ago, while Grant Peters was also named pitcher of the week at the OCCAC and NJCAA levels that same week.
Minarchick, meanwhile, claimed the OCCAC softball pitcher of the week award for the second consecutive week and the third time overall this spring. Miranda Benschoter (Elmwood/Bloomdale, Ohio) won the award on April 10, thus giving Owens the award in each of the past three weeks. On the offensive side, Ericca Herzog (Southview/Sylvania, Ohio) won the player of the week award on March 27, while Jacey Gray (Springfield/Holland, Ohio) won on April 10 and 17.
Aside from Schmeltz, Max Lavisky of Cuyahoga Community College was named the OCCAC baseball player of the week. On the other hand, Kaitlyn Laseke of Lakeland Community College was named the OCCAC softball player of the week to accompany Minarchick this week.