Nine selected to All-Independent baseball teams; Luzar, Rauh, Parr take top honors

Luzar, a senior IF earned Player of the Year, while the freshmen pair of Rauh and Parr earned Pitcher of the Year and Rookie of the Year, respectively. The Association of Division III Independents began naming its All-Independent teams in 2005, but never before has a team swept the player, pitcher and rookie of the year awards. Chapman on several occasions however has had two players in the same year earn top honors, most recently in 2008.

In addition, both Luzar and Rauh were selected to the first team while Parr was named to the second team. Luzar led the Panthers in batting average (.390), home runs (12), RBI (56) and slugging percentage (.683) and committed just one error at first base (none during the regular season) while Rauh had a team-high 11 wins to go along with a 2.38 ERA, four saves and 100 strikeouts. Parr becomes the first Panther since Patrick Ohail in 2006 to be chosen as Rookie of the Year. The freshman OF from Irvine led the team in on-base percentage (.509), walks (34) and was third in batting average (.366).

Rounding out Chapman’s All-Independent first team selections are senior C Joe Lehman (.320, 3 HR, 38 RBI), senior OF Ryan Hall (.321, 21 RBI) and senior OF Ryan Prechtl (.369, 5 HR, 34 RBI) along with junior P Jordan Sigman and sophomore IF Tyler Hadzinsky (.326, 6 HR, 38 RBI). Lehman led the Panthers with 14 doubles this season while Hall played the entire year without committing an error and Prechtl had a team-high 65 hits.

For Hall, Hadzinsky and Prechtl, this marks their second All-Independent selections but it is their first time on the first team. This is the second-consecutive season for Sigman as a first-team selection. The righty started 13 games with an 8-5 record and a 3.00 ERA.

Along with Parr on the second team is junior DH Adam Kordich who batted .299 in 41 games and was second on the team with 33 walks.

For the eighth straight season, Chapman (31-11) made an NCAA postseason appearance. The Panthers’ playoff run ended this year during the NCAA West Regionals at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore., ending a streak of five consecutive NCAA Championship appearances.

The Association of Division III Independents consists of 14 Division III independent institutions that have joined together to recognize student-athletes at independent institutions, and to provide exempted postseason championship competition. The Association recognizes outstanding athletic achievements of its student-athletes on a weekly, monthly and annual basis.

For the complete list of the 2010 All-Independent baseball teams, please click here.