<rleton College men’s baseball program had five players earn All-MIAC distinction following the 2014 campaign. Sophomore Hayden Tsutsui ‘16 repeated his All-MIAC selection from last year as junior Nolan Baker ‘15 and seniors Jeff Dsida, Kevin Johnson and Ray Yong also earned All-MIAC honors.
Carleton went 22-14 overall, posting the second-highest win total in the program’s 130+ year history. The five All-MIAC selections was the second-highest total in the conference this time around, trailing only regular-season champ, national No. 10 St. Thomas. This marks the first time in 50 seasons that the Knights had five players land on the all-conference list.
Building on his tremendous rookie campaign, Tsutsui ranked third in the MIAC by hitting .428, was fifth with a .671 slugging percentage, and posted a .470 on-base percentage which was 11th in the conference. Tsutsui led the MIAC with 65 hits and 19 doubles, the latter figure ranks 16th in NCAA Division III. He also tied for the MIAC lead with 26 extra-base hits as well as collecting four home runs and 35 RBI, which rank sixth and fourth, respectively, in the MIAC. He hit safely in 33 of 36 games, including 23 multi-hit games. Tsutsui spent majority of the year roaming centerfield but also served as the team’s primary backup catcher.
Baker’s torrid finish to the season at the plate and on the mound helped him solidify his spot on the all-conference squad. He ranked 11th in the MIAC with a .409 batting average, while also finishing fourth in wins (5) and eighth in ERA (3.04) including a 2.71 ERA against MIAC playoff teams. Baker closed his junior campaign on a strong note, allowing only one run over his final 17.0 innings with no walks and 11 strikeouts. He played right field when he was not pitching, and Baker’s 29 RBI ranked 14th in the conference, with 18 of them coming during MIAC games, the sixth-highest total in the conference.
Dsida paced MIAC catchers with a .415 batting average and .661 slugging percentage, which ranked seventh and sixth, respectively, overall in the conference. He was second among MIAC backstops and seventh overall with a .489 on-base percentage. Dsida’s athleticism was further displayed by the fact that despite being a catcher, he batted leadoff for the Knights and ranked 10th in NCAA Division III with seven triples.
He added another 12 doubles, which rank sixth in the MIAC as did his 20 extra-base hits. Dsida threw out a 9 of 16 baserunners (56 percent) attempting to steal, tops among MIAC catchers with 15+ attempts against.
Johnson ranked first among MIAC second basemen in hits (45), RBI (26), and slugging percentage (.416) as well as second in batting average (.360), and on-base percentage (.409). Johnson was also named to the 2013 MIAC All-Defensive Team at pitcher. He closed the pitching portion of his career with consecutive wins over Saint John’s, St. Thomas, and Concordia to keep the Knights in the thick of the playoff race.
Leading the MIAC with five home runs during conference games, Yong also ranked second in the MIAC with 42 RBI during the regular-season. He also ranked in the league top-20 for batting average (.380) and on-base percentage (.455) while finishing eighth with a .628 slugging percentage. Yong only struck out eight times on the year, the fewest among MIAC outfielders with 100+ at bats.