TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) announced its All-Conference Baseball teams and annual award winners, determined through voting by the league's 11 head coaches, Wednesday night. The award winners and teams were first unveiled during an announcement show by the PAC Sports Network.

Grove City College, PAC champions for the first time since 2008, snagged three of the four major awards. Voted the PAC Player of the Year was Wolverine junior first baseman Colin Marinpetro, while Grove City freshman shortstop Sam Meredith was chosen as the conference's Newcomer of the Year. Additionally, Grove City skipper Matt Royer was voted as the PAC Coach of the Year.

Completing the list of award winners was Washington & Jefferson College senior Dante DiMatteo gathering the PAC Pitcher of the Year award.

In earning the PAC Player of the Year award, Marinpetro is the first Grove City player to win it since Brian Moran was chosen after he helped the Wolverines win their last conference crown in 2008. The junior slugger ranked in the top four in the PAC in nine categories, including first in hits (66), walks (32) and On-base+Slugging Percentage (1.127); tied for first in runs (52) and doubles (17); second in batting average (.413) and on-base percentage (.527); third in RBIs (45); and fourth in slugging percentage (.600). 

Among the many highlights to Marinpetro's season included a 27-game hitting streak that began March 7th during spring break, featured 16 multi-hit games and lasted through the month of April. He batted .468 and slugged .747 in 20 PAC games through the regular season with 37 hits, including three home runs, nine doubles and a pair of triples, and 27 RBIs. Also a strong defensive player at first, Marinpetro posted a .992 fielding percentage of the year, good for ninth in the league.

DiMatteo continued a recent run for W&J hurlers, as his Pitcher of the Year honor is the 10th time in the last 13 years a President has been recognized. Like Marinpetro, his name is at or near the top in many different categories. The right-hander logged 65.1 innings pitched, sixth-most in the conference, and tied for first with nine wins, finished second with 68 strikeouts and also ranked second in batting average against (.200). In addition, DiMatteo's 0.83 ERA not only led the PAC, but is also the lowest in all NCAA Divisions, as he is the only pitcher with enough innings to qualify in Division I/II/III to be under a run per game.

His season was so masterful that DiMatteo only allowed earned runs in three of his 11 starts for the season. Eight of his victories came in PAC games, as did 55 of his strikeouts. DiMatteo had seven or more punchouts in six starts, including his last four of the season. His final start was seven shutout frames with six hits allowed and seven Ks in a PAC Tournament victory over Thiel.

Also a Second Team All-PAC selection, Meredith is the fourth consecutive Grove City player to collect the Newcomer of the Year award, joining current teammates Nick Sampson (2023) and Sam Bevin (2024). He played in all 42 games this year with 41 starts and batted. 341. Meredith's 57 hits tied for fifth in the league and he added 13 walks with just 11 strikeouts in 167 at-bats for a .408 on-base percentage. He also finished fifth on the team with 34 RBIs and scored 38 runs.

Additionally, Meredith had a strong year with the glove while holding down the shortstop position, which helped Grove City lead the conference in fielding percentage (.968) and tie for most double plays turned (33) in the PAC. He posted a .969 fielding percentage with just six errors in 195 chances and had a hand in 24 double plays.

In earning his first PAC Coach of the Year recognition, Royer guided Grove City to a 31-11 overall record, the third time in the last five years the team has set a new single-season wins total. It was the sixth straight season the Wolverines won 27 or more games and their PAC crown is the fourth in Grove City history (2008/2002/2001).  An added highlight to the season was Royer winning his 700th career game at four-year colleges with a 15-2 victory over Bethany on April 23rd and the veteran coach now has a career record of 707-502.

Also announced Wednesday 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.

With the PAC Championship Tournament win, Grove City secured the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. The Wolverines' second-ever NCAA appearance begins Friday at 11 am when Grove City takes the diamond against Rowan University. The game will be played at Mount Union, who is hosting the Regional and tte Purple Raiders will take on Catholic University in the other Day One match-up.

PAC Award Winners
Player of the Year: Grove City College junior first baseman Colin Marinpetro
Pitcher of the Year: Washington & Jefferson College senior right-hander Dante DiMatteo
Newcomer of the Year: Grove City College freshman shortstop Sam Meredith
Coach of the Year: Grove City College head coach Matt Royer
 

All-PAC First Team
Position	Name	Class	School	Hometown/High School
C	Calvin Cackowski	Jr.	Thiel	Wickliffe, Ohio/Wickliffe
1B	Colin Marinpetro	Jr.	Grove City	Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny
2B	Luke Vittone	Sr.	Grove City	Seven Fields, Pa./Eden Christian
2B	Jaden Nestor-Fox	Jr.	Bethany	Vermillion, Ohio/Vermillion
SS	Jacob LaDuca	Sr.	W&J	Clarence, N.Y./Canisius
3B	Parker Lyons	So.	Westminster	Rochester, Pa./Rochester
OF	Tyson Bryant-Dawson	Sr.	Allegheny	Oakland, Calif./Manvel (Texas)
OF	Drew Garth	Sr.	W&J	Glenshaw, Pa./North Hills
OF	Josh Minnich	Sr.	Grove City	Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley
DH	Nathen Prunty	Sr.	Thiel	Elyria, Ohio/Keystone
UTIL	Matt Jennings	Sr.	Allegheny	Birmingham, Mich./Brother Rice
UTIL	Sam Bevin	So.	Grove City	Louisville, Ky./Wake County
P	Dante DiMatteo	Sr.	W&J	Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel
P	David Leslie	Sr.	Grove City	Butler, Pa./Butler
P	Kolton Banfi	Grad.	Westminster	Harrisville, Pa./Franklin

 

All-PAC Second Team
Position	Name	Class	School	Hometown/High School
C	Derek Hald	Sr.	Saint Vincent	Apollo, Pa./Kiski Area
1B	William Wolff	Sr.	Allegheny	Naples, Fla./Gulf Coast
2B	Logan Murgenovich	Grad.	Westminster	Aliquippa, Pa./Central Valley
SS	Sam Meredith	Fr.	Grove City	Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan
3B	Wade Stoehr	Sr.	Franciscan	Lewisville, Ohio/Monroe Central
3B	Cooper Baxter	Jr.	Chatham	Butler, Pa./Butler
OF	Aaron Babu	Jr.	Geneva	Purcellville, Va./Loudoun Valley
OF	Knox Meier	Sr.	W&J	Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep
OF	Nick Sampson	Jr.	Grove City	Venetia, Pa./Peters Township
OF	Josiah Bodie	Fr.	Franciscan	Pawleys Island, S.C./Waccamaw
DH	Tommy Landsnes	So.	Allegheny	Richmond, Va./Brunswick Academy
UTIL	Sonny Peluchette	Jr.	Bethany	Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling Central
P	Walker Cunningham	Sr.	Allegheny	Cambridge Springs, Pa./Cambridge Springs
P	Ethan Marszalek	Sr.	W&J	Katy, Texas/Seven Lakes
P	Erik Streussnig	Fr.	W&J	Pittsburgh, Pa./ Plum

 

Honorable Mention All-PAC
Position	Name	Class	School	Hometown/High School
C	Angelo DeLeonardis	Jr.	Chatham	Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch
C	Zack Sackett	Sr.	Geneva	Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park
1B	Nolan Boehm	So.	Chatham	Monroeville, Pa./Gateway
1B	Ethan Bintrim	Sr.	Thiel	New Castle, Pa./Shenango
2B	Eric Gonzalez	Sr.	Geneva	Hillside, NJ/St. Joe's Metuchen
2B	Eddie Rueda	Jr.	Chatham	Miami, Fla./iMater Charter
SS	JD Robinson	Sr.	Allegheny	Round Hill, Va./Woodgrove
SS	Braeden Campbell	Sr.	Westminster	Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler
OF	Nick Jacobs	Sr.	Thiel	New Castle, Pa./Union
OF	Michael Twigg	So.	Geneva	Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley
P	Tyson Djakovich	So.	Westminster	Hermitage, Pa./Hickory
P	Bryce Trischler	So.	Grove City	Mars, Pa./Shady Side Academy
P	Alex Polito	Sr.	Saint Vincent	Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Country Day School
P	Jeremy Kreuzwieser	Grad.	Saint Vincent	Canfield, Ohio/Ursuline
P	Ryan Gibbons	Sr.	Westminster	Ellwood City, Pa./Lincoln