Six members of the Mount Vernon Nazarene College baseball team will be honored prior to the team's final home doubleheader on Saturday against Mount Union College. The first game is slated to start at 1:00 p.m.
Seniors Chris Holly, Eddie Wright, Steve Waers, Nate Overholt, Scott Crawford, and Mark Coulter have led the Cougars to a 28-9 overall record so far this year. Over the past four seasons, MVNC has posted a 132-60 record (.688 winning percentage), won one National Christian College Athletic Association national title (in 1999), and finished as the NAIA Region IX Tournament runner-up twice and the American Mideast Conference Tournament once.
Holly, a right-handed pitcher from Sunbury, Ohio, has posted a 7-3 record this season with a 2.76 earned run average. The former Big Walnut High School standout has struck out 39 batters in 58 2/3 innings of work. Holly, who transferred to MVNC from Ohio Dominican College where he posted a 24-2 record over three years, has compiled 31 victories in his collegiate career. He was a member of the AMC First Team in 1999 and the AMC Honorable Mention squad in 2001. This year, he has already been selected as the AMC and NAIA Region IX Pitcher of the Week once.
Wright, an outfielder from Mount Vernon, Ohio, is currently batting .412 with eight doubles, one triple, three home runs, 25 runs batted in, and 25 runs scored this year. The former Mount Vernon High School star has played in 74 games in two years with the Cougars after transferring to MVNC from Muscatine Community (Iowa) College. Wright has posted a .393 career batting average with 59 runs scored and 52 RBI. An NCCAA Honorable Mention All-American and AMC Honorable Mention pick in 2000, he was named the AMC and NAIA Region IX Player of the Week for his efforts last week.
Waers, an outfielder from Byesville, Ohio, is currently batting .271 with three doubles, one triple, one home run, six RBI, 20 runs scored, and a team-high six stolen bases this season. The Meadowbrook High School product has seen action in 124 games during his four-year career with the Cougars and has posted a .280 career batting average with eight doubles, one triple, two home runs, 23 RBI, and 87 runs scored. He has also stolen 24 bases in his career.
Overholt, an outfielder from Fredericktown, Ohio, has played four seasons for MVNC. This season, the Fredericktown High School graduate has played in 22 games with a .250 batting average that includes one double, one run scored, and two RBI. Overholt, a fifth-year senior, has seen action in 93 career games with a .211 batting average and a 2-1 record on the mound as a pitcher that includes a shutout against Ohio State University-Newark.
Crawford, a shortstop from Waldo, Ohio, has put together an outstanding four-year career for the Cougars. The former River Valley High School star is batting .351 this season with eight doubles, one triple, two home runs, 15 RBI, and a team-high 37 runs scored. Crawford, a two-time NCCAA First Team All-American, has played in 167 career games and posted a .368 batting average, which ranks tenth in school history. The fifth-year senior also ranks third in stolen bases (46), fourth in assists (380), fifth in triples (11), sixth in runs scored (163) and hits (215), seventh in doubles (36) and at bats (584), and tenth in runs batted in (129). He has been a member of the AMC First Team once and the All-Conference Honorable Mention squad twice.
Coulter, a first baseman/pitcher from Lewistown, Pennsylvania, has also registered an impressive career for MVNC both at the plate, on the mound, and in the field. The former Lewistown Area High School standout is batting .420 this season with a team-high 10 doubles, five home runs, 25 runs scored, and 39 RBI. The left-hander has also posted a 4-2 record on the mound with a 3.34 ERA and 29 strikeouts and only three walks in 35 innings of work. For his career, Coulter, another fifth-year senior, has a .365 batting average. He ranks fifth in home runs (22), seventh in putouts (598), and ninth in runs batted in (132). The two-time NCCAA Honorable Mention All-American also has a 24-13 career record on the mound which ranks him fifth on the all-time victory list. In 2001, Coulter was named to the NAIA Honorable Mention All-American Team as well as being selected as both an NAIA and NCCAA Academic All-American. He has also been the AMC and NAIA Region IX Pitcher of the Week once this year.
