*Statistics used are from regular season only.
GLIAC -- The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) released its 2024 baseball postseason awards on Thursday following game two of the league tournament and Wayne State University was well spoken for once again.
Karter Fitzpatrick (Monroe, Mich. / Carleton Airport) was crowned Pitcher of the Year for the second season in a row and
Drew Hill (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. / Grosse Pointe North) received Freshman Player of the Year honors.
Fitzpatrick was named to the First Team along with
Kyle Ray (Woodhaven, Mich.),
CJ Maury (Brampton, Ont. / Mayfield SS) and
Bennett Hitzelberger (Richmond, Mich.). Hill was joined on the Second Team by
Griffin Kilander (Livonia, Mich. / Stevenson).
Mason McGuire (Lyon Twp., Mich. / Brighton (Mott CC)) and
Ashton Potts (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Stevenson (Kellogg CC)) represented WSU with Honorable Mention distinction.
Fresh off a seven-inning perfect game in the final regular-season start of his career,
Fitzpatrick is Wayne State's third straight GLIAC Pitcher of the Year (
Ryan Korolden in 2022) and fourth in five seasons (not awarded in 2020, Hunter Brown in 2019). The redshirt-senior right-hander is the program's sixth honoree all time (Justin Mazur in 2010, Anthony Bass in 2008). Only three other pitchers in league history have garnered the distinction twice and Fitzpatrick is just the second back-to-back winner (first since 2018).
This spring, WSU's all-time wins leader (31-8 career record) paced the conference in innings pitched (79), strikeouts (95), punchouts per nine innings (10.8), ERA (3.19) and WHIP (1.00) while tying-for-first in wins (8-2) to go with only 19 walks and four complete games. The Monroe, Mich. native struck out at least seven in all but two outings and 10 or more batters in four outings, all of which came in his first five starts of the season. Fitzpatrick's 95 strikeouts are good for seventh in a single season in school history, just five away from the top five and 15 outside the top three. Career wise, he's up to 263, third in the program's record book.
Hill is Wayne State's second GLIAC Freshman Player of the Year in a row (
Tony Hatzigeorgiou in 2023) and third in the last five times awarded (
Hunter DeLanoy in 2019). All time, Hill, Hatzigeorgiou and DeLanoy represent half of the Warriors' recipients along with Michael Wiseman in 2008, Ryan LaPensee in 2007 and Dan Macauley in 1993.
This season, Hill (43 games played, 40 starts) ranked second among GLIAC freshmen in batting average at .329, behind only Parkside's Jude Allen at .333. With that being said, Hill notched six more games played, 50 more at-bats, 16 more hits and 17 more RBI than Allen. The rookie right fielder totaled that .329 clip (48-for-146), which was second on the team, with 22 runs, 15 doubles, two home runs, 32 driven in, 69 total bases, 23 walks and a .888 OPS (on-base plus slugging). The Grosse Pointe North product recorded 13 multi-hit games, five with three base knocks and a four-hit performance against Grand Valley State on April 19 (4-for-5, 1 R, 2 RBI) while tying for the team lead (McGuire) in multi-RBI outings with nine.
In his three seasons prior to 2024,
Ray played in a total of 54 games with 25 starts before 41 appearances and 36 starts this season alone. The redshirt-senior backstop more than took advantage of the increase in playing time. Ray hit .351 (first on the team, eighth in the GLIAC) with 46 hits in his 131 at-bats, 37 runs, eight doubles, one triple, five home runs, 32 RBI, 71 total bases, 24 walks, six hit-by-pitches and a 1.005 OPS. The Woodhaven, Mich. native accounted for 11 multi-hit contests, four with three base knocks and joined Hatzigeorgiou as the only Warriors with multiple four-hit performances. Not to mention Ray received the first GLIAC Player of the Week accolade of his career on April 8.
A model of consistency,
Maury has started all 103 of Wayne State's games over the past two seasons, all at shortstop, as part of 170 career appearances and 139 starts. This year, no Warrior has more games with two or more hits than Maury's 18 while his season-long hitting streak of 10 contests was second behind only Hitzelberger's streak of 12. The six-foot veteran accomplished those feats while showing some flexibility lineup order wise. Maury made a start in all but two of the nine spots in the batting order (third and fourth) with 24 of them coming at leadoff. The Canadian hit .295 (57-for-193) with 43 runs, 13 doubles (career high), one triple, 23 RBI, 22 walks and 13 stolen bases in 16 attempts. Those 13 swipes give him 54 for his career, first in program history by 11.
If not for a season-ending wrist injury suffered after a hit-by-pitch on April 7 against Saginaw Valley State,
Hitzelberger's Player of the Year debate may have been as good as anyone's in the league. The sophomore first baseman had started all 30 games while hitting .387 (41-for-106), with a 1.035 OPS and .488 on-base percentage, all of which still lead the team. Twice named GLIAC Player of the Week (Feb. 19 and March 25), the 6-1 slugger had tallied 26 runs, 11 doubles, two bombs, 24 RBI, 18 walks and four hit-by-pitches before going down. Defensively, through 254 chances, Hitzelberger had just one error and 11 assists for a .996 fielding percentage.
Improving upon his Honorable Mention nod in 2023,
Kilander stepped into his role nicely as Wayne State's No. 2 starter in 2024. The 6-5 hurler finished his third regular-season campaign with a 3.75 ERA in 74.1 innings pitched and win-loss mark of 6-3 in 11 appearances, all starts. The highlight of his spring came with a shutout on March 14 against Purdue Northwest in Auburndale, Fla. That day, Kilander threw the second nine-inning complete game of his career while surrendering just one hit to go with no walks and 14 strikeouts. The Pride didn't register that lone hit until one out had been recorded in the top of the eighth frame. Because of that effort, Kilander was named GLIAC Pitcher of the Week as well as D2 Baseball Insider and NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week.
McGuire, WSU's Swiss Army Knife, joined Maury as the only Warriors to start all 48 games and made the 48 starting lineups at five different positions. Those five spots included right field (16 games), left field (14), second base (8), third base (5) and center field (5). Starting all over the field defensively, the switch-hitting threat still maintained a .319 batting average, which was good for third among WSU regulars. McGuire is currently on a 21-game reached-base streak (squad best) to go with nine multi-RBI outings (tied-for-first on the team), 16 multi-hit performances (second) and an eight-game hitting streak (tied-for-third) from April 6-16. The junior utility's four-hit day came on March 8 at Eckerd when he was 4-for-5 with two runs, two RBI, a double and solo home run.
If not for Fitzpatrick's perfect game,
Potts would be the team leader in ERA at 3.60, which includes a 3.28 mark in GLIAC play, fourth in the conference. In his second season with the program, Potts went 4-3 in 11 appearances, all starts, with 55 innings of work, one complete game, 44 strikeouts and 24 walks. Like Ray, Potts' first GLIAC weekly honor came on March 11 after a stellar performance against Minnesota Duluth. That day, Potts went the distance (seven innings) with just one earned run allowed on four hits, no walks and nine strikeouts. In his 11 appearances as a Warrior prior to that, he'd never completed more than five frames in a single game. The 6-3 right-hander's nine punchouts were his most since a career-high 13 as a sophomore at Kellogg Community College on May 12, 2022, against Mid Michigan College.
