The Team of the Week is D3baseball.com's weekly honor roll, in its fourth season of recognizing the top performers at each of nine positions from the previous week. Players are selected from nominations from their school's sports information directors. This is the first Team of the Week of the 2015 season.
Games of February 1-15, 2015
C Nick Maiolo, Jr., Randolph-Macon
Maiolo reached base in his first nine plate appearances of the season, helping Randolph-Macon to a 5-0 start. He batted 10-for-18 (.556) with 11 RBI and eight runs scored. Maiolo hit four extra base hits, three doubles and a home run.
1B Kyle Sanchez, So., Cal Lutheran
In a 14-5 win over Whitworth, Sanchez had a huge day at the plate going 4-for-4 with seven RBI. In three games he is batting .500 (6-for-12) with a double, triple and two runs scored.
2B Jack Atterberry, So., Carleton
Atterberry hit safely in all four games during Carleton's road trip to Texas, including a trio of multi-hit games. He had two hits and three runs scored against Hardin-Simmons and followed it up with a 4-for-5, two run, two RBI game vs. Texas-Dallas. Another two hits on Sunday actually lowered his batting average to .474 (9-for-19).
SS Jordan Powell, Sr., Greensboro
Powell helped get Greensboro off to their best six game start since 2002 (5-1). He batted .517 (15-for-29) with 13 RBI and five runs scored. Powell slugged .690 with three doubles and a triple.
3B Eric Lawson, Jr., Linfield
Larson opened the season 14-for-33 (.424) for the 7-1 Wildcats. He had six doubles, a triple and an home run. Lawson drove in 12 and scored 14 runs. He was 3-for-3 in stolen bases.
OF KC Caldwell, So., Lynchburg
Caldwell stepped into a starting role over the weekend and went 2-for-4 against No. 3 Emory while driving in one of three Lynchburg's runs. He had a career-high four hits in Sunday's win over Saint Joseph's (Me.) while also driving in three RBI to go along with a stolen base. He is batting .636 (7-for-11) on the season.
OF Tyler Hrycak, Jr., Salisbury
Hrycak has been a key element to Salisbury's 2-0 start. He recorded a .500 batting average (5-for-10). He had three extra base hits, two home runs and a double. Hrycak drove in five and scored three. He was a force in the outfield, notching five putouts and a fielding percentage of 1.000.
OF Trey Smith, Fr., Claremont-Mudd-Scripts
Smith was 15-for-30 (.500) for the Stags over their first eight games. He slugged .933 (two double, a triple and three home runs). He scored eight times and drove in six.
DH Jake Bruml, Sr., Pomona-Pitzer
Bruml helped Pomona-Pitzer start the year with a 5-2 record, including 3-0 in conference play, batting .483 (14-for-29) with two homers and four doubles. His two home runs both came in the same inning of a 19-17 win over Puget Sound (a two-run shot, and a three-run shot).
SP Smokey Ethridge, Sr., Millsaps
Ethridge tossed six shutout innings in his senior debut in the Majors' 8-0 win over Ozarks. Ethridge needed just 77 pitches for the 6 innings as he scattered three hits and two walks while striking out four.
SP Matt Smith, Jr., Chapman
Smith (2-0) led the Panthers to their first SCIAC victory of the season 6-3 over the Occidental Tigers. He allowed three hits and struckout eight in six innings. Smith gained his second win of the season with seven solid innings on the mound, allowing only one run and four hits while striking out eight batters.
SP Blake Stevens, Sr., Birmingham Southern
Stevens got the No. 18 Panthers off to a good start against Schreiner going five scoreless innings to earn his first win of the season. He gave up only two hits with eight strikeouts.
SP Jackson Watt, Jr., Willamette
Watt is 2-0 on the season with a 0.56 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched. He has walked just two batters, one in each game. In the season opener at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps he struck out 10 batters and allowed only one run and three hits in seven innings. Against Lewis & Clark, he pitched a complete-game seven-hitter with nine strikeouts in a 2-1 win.
RP Alec Mitchell, Jr., Covenant
Mitchell has compiled a 1-0 record with two saves while allowing just one hit with four strikeouts in five innings of work this season He collected his first win by throwing 3.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts in Covenant's 2-1, 11-inning win over Methodist.