2009 All-Northern Athletics Conference team
MADISON, Wis. - Senior second baseman Alex Berta led a group of four Edgewood College baseball players who earned end of the year honors from the Northern Athletics Conference. Fellow seniors Cory McCullick and Rick Walsh received honorable mention while freshman Glenn Nowell was named to the All-Freshman team.
Berta, from Normal, Ill., earned first team All-NAC honors by hitting .382 and slugging .500 in 30 games before an injury ended his season. He finished seventh in the league in on-base percentage and hit the first home run of his career against Concordia Wisconsin on April 4. Berta will graduate second on Edgewood College’s all-time hits list with 170 and sixth in career batting average at .348. No player in Edgewood College history turned has turned more double plays than Berta who had 70 in his career. Berta was an honorable mention All-NAC choice in 2008 and earned first team honors from the Lake Michigan Conference in 2006.
McCullick is from Hudson, Ill. and was a high school teammate of Berta at Normal Community West High School. The Eagles’ center fielder led the NAC in stolen bases this season with 28 and broke the Edgewood College all-time record for career stolen bases with 71. He had 16 doubles this season and matched Berta with a .348 career batting average. His 10 career triples is the most in Edgewood College history. He was a first team All-NAC selection in both 2008 and 2007.
Walsh capped his eligibility with the best season of his career. The Green Lake, Wis. native went 3-3 on the mound with three complete games. The final game of his career was a 4-0 one-hit shutout of MSOE on the last day of the regular season, marking the only complete game shutout of his career. Against UW-Platteville, Walsh struck out a career-high 13 hitters in eight innings of work. At 108 career strikeouts, Walsh finishes his career seventh on Edgewood College’s all-time strikeout list.
Nowell made an immediate impact with the Eagles’ pitching staff this year. In 13 appearances the native of Boulder, Colo. went 3-3 with a 2.89 earned run average, one complete game and two combined shutouts. Opponents batted a team-low .224 off Nowell. His best game of the year came in a 2-1 complete game victory over NAC Tournament qualifier Aurora University on April 22.
Steve Binder, a junior shortstop from Downers Grove, Ill., was named as the Eagles’ representative on the NAC All-Sportsmanship team.