TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) announced its All-PAC Baseball teams and annual award winners Tuesday afternoon. The league's 11 head coaches voted to determine the All-PAC teams, along with the PAC's yearly award winners.

The 2023 PAC Champion Washington & Jefferson College Presidents claimed three of the four major awards. Senior outfielder/pitcher Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) earned a rare double-award, as he was chosen as PAC Player of the Year, as well as PAC Pitcher of the Year. In addition, W&J head coach Jeff Mountain, now in his 21st season, was voted the PAC Coach of the Year. 

Earning the PAC Newcomer of the Year award was Grove City freshman outfielder Nick Sampson (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township).

Now a three-time First Team All-PAC selection, Horvat is W&J's 10th player of the year in program history and eighth since the 2005 season. He is also the ninth President to earn Pitcher of the Year and is the first PAC player to be chosen as the Player and Pitcher of the Year in the same season since the conference started giving out separate awards in 2010.

Horvat patrolled center field and was a standout leadoff hitter for W&J, as he tied for the league-lead with 65 hits and stole a PAC-best 27 bases. He also ranked in the top seven in the PAC in batting average (seventh at .392); seventh in OPS (1.041); runs scored (second with 48); triples (tied for second with six); walks (third with 31) and on-base percentage (fifth at .487).

When he took the mound, Horvat was equally dominant. His 11-2 record led the PAC in wins, as did his 90 1/3 innings pitched and four complete games, which all came against league opponents. He ranked third in the conference with a 3.28 ERA and struck out 82 batters, good for second in the league. 

Horvat's efforts in PAC games powered the Presidents' to a 17-3 conference record and the top seed following the regular season. With the bat, he hit .438 (35-80) in 20 games against PAC teams with 13 extra-base hits, 25 runs scored and 16 RBIs. As a pitcher, Horvat posted a 7-0 record with 56 Ks in 57 innings pitched and allowed teams to hit just .203 against him.

Sampson is the second straight Grove City player to earn Newcomer of the year after current sophomore Mally Kilbane (Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Olmsted Falls) was recognized last year. The first-year outfielder started in all 37 games he played in and batted .352 with nine doubles and four triples among his 51 hits. Sampson scored 41 runs and knocked in 27 while also drawing 22 walks and posting a .442 on-base percentage.

Also a Second Team All-PAC selection, Sampson played flawless defense, handling all 47 chances without an error. His top performance during in his freshman campaign was in game one of an April 12th doubleheader at Geneva when he was 4-for-6 with a double, triple, five RBIs and two runs scored in a 20-6 Wolverine victory.

This is Mountain's 11th Coach of the Year award. He guided W&J to the top seed in this year's PAC Championship Tournament and the program's fourth-straight league title. It was the 15th conference championship in program history and 11th claimed by W&J under Mountain. This marked the 12th straight season W&J advanced to the tournament's title round. 

Also announced Tuesday were the members of this year's PAC Sportsmanship Team. The PAC's Sportsmanship Teams were established to recognize student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior and are an ongoing effort to both recognize and encourage positive sportsmanship among all conference teams.

As the PAC Championship Tournament winner, W&J (31-12) earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. W&J is making its 10th appearance in the Division III tournament and will open regional play Friday against host Misericordia (33-12) in Dallas, Pa. Salve Regina (37-8-1) is the top seed in the Regional, while Misericordia is second, W&J is third and Keystone (30-12) is fourth. 

Winners of the sixteen regional tournaments will qualify for eight, best-of-three series at the super regionals, Friday-Saturday, May 26-27. The eight super regional winners will then qualify for the pool play double-elimination championship at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Friday-Thursday, June 2-8, 2023. 

PAC Award Winners
Player of the Year: Washington & Jefferson College senior outfielder/pitcher Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford)
Pitcher of the Year: Washington & Jefferson College senior right-hander Tyler Horvat (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford)
Newcomer of the Year: Grove City College freshman outfielder Nick Sampson (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township)
Coach of the Year: Washington & Jefferson College 21st-year head coach Jeff Mountain
 

All-PAC First Team
Position	Name	Class	School	Hometown | High School
C	C.J. Saylor	Sr.	Grove City	Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield
1B	Billy Perroz	Jr.	Saint Vincent	Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area
1B	Nolan Lutz	Jr.	W&J	McDonald, Pa./South Fayette
2B	David Toruno	Jr.	Geneva	Menifee, Calif./Paloma Valley
SS	Jacob LaDuca	So.	W&J	Clarence, N.Y./Canisius
SS	Benny Dottle	Jr.	Chatham	New Castle, Pa./Shenango
3B	Mally Kilbane	So.	Grove City	Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Olmsted Falls
OF	Tyson Bryant-Dawson	So.	Allegheny	Oakland, Calif./Manvel (Texas)
OF	Jordan Sabol	Sr.	Saint Vincent	Export, Pa./Penn-Trafford
OF	Evan Sante	Sr.	W&J	Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum
DH	Shane Cato	So.	Grove City	New Castle, Pa./Shenango
UTIL	Tyler Horvat	Sr.	W&J	Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford
P	Tate Ostrowski	5th	Grove City	Essex, Mass./Covenant Christian
P	David Leslie	So.	Grove City	Butler, Pa./Butler
P	Michael Klingensmith	Sr.	Saint Vincent	Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional

 

All-PAC Second Team
Position	Name	Class	School	Hometown | High School
C	Chase Morrison	Jr.	Thiel	Monaca, Pa./Central Valley
1B	Carter Chinn	Jr.	Westminster	Grove City, Pa./Grove City
2B	Sullivan Schueltz	Sr.	Allegheny	Ligonier, Pa./Ligonier Valley
2B	Colton Stoneman	Sr.	Bethany	West Farmington, Ohio/Labrae Local
SS	Luke Vittone	So.	Grove City	Seven Fields, Pa./Eden Christian
SS	Logan Murgenovich	Jr.	Westminster	Aliquippa, Pa./Central Valley
3B	Jake Bredl	Jr.	Chatham	Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area
OF	Ryan Dougherty	Jr.	Allegheny	Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny
OF	Nick Roell	Jr.	Bethany	Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton LaSalle
OF	Nick Sampson	Fr.	Grove City	Venetia, Pa./Peters Township
DH	Tyler Cote	So.	Chatham	Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills
UTIL	Brendan Burke	Sr.	Franciscan	Pinckney, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central
UTIL	Bryce Bedilion	So.	Waynesburg	Clarksville, Pa./Jefferson-Morgan
P	Evan Umland	So.	Grove City	Pasadena, Calif./La Canada
P	Kolton Banfi	Jr.	Westminster	Harrisville, Pa./Franklin

 

Honorable Mention All-PAC
Position	Name	Class	School	Hometown | High School
C	CJ Owen	Fr.	Bethany	Austin, Texas/Elgin
C	Caleb Lehman	Grad.	Chatham	Monroeville, Pa./Gateway
1B	Brady Nolin	So.	Allegheny	Cumberland, Maine/Greely
1B	Markus Williams	Jr.	Grove City	Sewickley, Pa./Eden Christian
2B	Lucca Baccari	Jr.	Grove City	Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford
3B	Braeden Campbell	So.	Westminster	Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler
OF	Nico Cuello	Grad.	Chatham	Miami, Fla./Westminster Christian
OF	Josh Minnich	So.	Grove City	Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley
OF	Seth Johnson	Sr.	Thiel	Magnolia, Ohio/Tuscarawas Valley
OF	Brandon Cooper	Sr.	Westminster	Oakdale, Pa./West Allegheny
OF	Seth Schrader	Grad.	Westminster	Fredonia, N.Y./Fredonia
DH	Josh Speaker	So.	Bethany	Steubenville, Ohio/Indian Creek
DH	Nick Guarnieri	Sr.	Thiel	Niles, Ohio/McKinley
UTIL	Alec Berg	Sr.	Bethany	Beaver, Pa./ Beaver
P	Brent Herrmann	Jr.	Allegheny	Canfield, Ohio/Canfield
P	Mark Schweickert	So.	Allegheny	Glen Allen, Va./John Randolph Tucker
P	Jeremy Kreuzwieser	Fr.	Saint Vincent	Canfield, Ohio/Ursuline
P	Mason Kolbe	Sr.	W&J	Bradenton, Fla./Out-of-Door Academy
P	Logan Exler	Jr.	Westminster	Verona, Pa./Serra Catholic
P	Jake Vitale	So.	Westminster	New Castle, Pa./Union