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Three members of the Mount Vernon Nazarene College baseball team were recently honored when the 1999 NAIA All-Great Lakes Region Team was announced.
Headlining the All-Region Team was junior pitcher Andy Heimbach, a native of Wheelersburg, Ohio, who was named the Great Lakes Region Player of the Year as well as making the All-Region Team for the second straight season.
The former All-Ohioan at Wheelersburg High School has posted a 12-1 record with a 1.13 earned run average so far this season. Heimbach has also struck out a school-record 125 batters in 79 1/3 innings of work while issuing just 12 walks. Opponents are hitting a meager .138 against him and have scored just 10 earned runs all season off him. Earlier this season, Heimbach tossed the first perfect game in school history, and he has also recorded a school-best six shutouts this year.
Joining Heimbach on the All-Region Team is classmate Dave Byard. Byard, a pitcher from Byesville, Ohio, currently has a 9-1 record this year with a 1.69 ERA. In 80 innings of work, the former Meadowbrook High School star has fanned 86 batters and allowed just 29 walks. Byard has also tossed one no-hitter and three shutouts this season.
The third Cougar to make the All-Region Team is junior catcher Jeff Lavin, a native of Mercer, Pennsylvania. The former West Middlesex High School standout is batting .344 with seven doubles, one home run, three runs scored, and 36 runs batted in. In 383 fielding chances, Lavin has committed just four errors for a .990 fielding percentage. He has also allowed just one passed ball all season while starting all but one of the team’s 49 games.
MVNC is currently 35-14 as the Cougars are set to begin play at the 1999 National Christian College Athletic Association National Tournament in Marion, Indiana, at noon on Wednesday. MVNC is the top seed in the 10-team tournament.
