DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its NCAA Division II National Players of the Week awards for the week ending on April 16, 2023. Eastern New Mexico freshman outfielder Jonatan Clough, is the National Hitter of the Week and Wingate redshirt junior lefty Mitch Farris is the National Pitcher of the Week.
Clough (La Romana, D.R. / Gateway Legacy Christian Academy) went 9-for-15 with four home runs, a triple, a double and 19 RBIs over Eastern New Mexico’s four-game series sweep of Oklahoma Christian. Clough also walked four times (all intentional), scored seven runs and stole three bases. He had a two-homer game and drove in nine runs in the series opener. Clough now has 15 home runs on the season, breaking the school record set in 1994.
Farris (Palm Harbor, Fla. / Palm Harbor) turned in another dominant outing last week, tossing a complete-game two-hit shutout in a 5-0 win at No. 5 Newberry. Farris struck out ten without walking a batter, taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the league’s top offense. He allowed just a pair of singles on the night, picking up his ninth win of the year. Farris retired eight in a row to start the game and then, after an error in the third and hit batter in the fourth, he retired 11-straight until a leadoff single in the ninth broke up the no-hit bid.
Division II Regional Players of the Week:
- Atlantic: Kyle West, Charleston (W.Va.) (Hitter); Nate Baranski, Bloomsburg (Pitcher)
- Central: Trey Wells, Wayne State (Neb.) (Hitter); Keaton Parker, Upper Iowa (Pitcher)
- East: Anderson Moreno, Southern New Hampshire (Hitter); Aaron Dona, St. Thomas Aquinas (Pitcher)
- Midwest: Luke Napleton, Quincy (Hitter); Ryan Korolden, Wayne State (Mich.) (Pitcher)
- South: Sam Kuchinski, Montevallo (Hitter); Alex Canney, Tampa (Pitcher)
- South Central: Jonatan Clough, Eastern New Mexico (Hitter); John Curtis, St. Mary’s (Pitcher)
- Southeast: Jermie Greene, Jr., Emory & Henry (Hitter); Mitch Farris, Wingate (Pitcher)
- West: Cole Anderson, Cal State East Bay (Hitter); Trevor Cassell, Montana State Billings (Pitcher)
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. Members receive a membership card, directory, newsletter updates and official votes in the Howser Award Player of the Year, Regional Player of the Year and NCBWA All-America voting. The NCBWA also sponsors preseason All-America awards, publication and writing contests.