The Team of the Week is D3baseball.com's weekly honor roll, in its tenth 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 second Team of the Week of the 2021 season.
Games of March 1-7, 2021
C Ethan Roe, Jr., Saint John's (Minn.)
Roe tied a school record with three home runs in the Johnnies' 13-10, season-opening win March 7 vs. Crown. The three homers, the first of his collegiate career, tied Roe with four other Johnnies, the most recent being Matt Ode (April 15, 1997, at Gustavus Adolphus), for SJU's single-game record. His 14 total bases (2.800 slugging), thanks to an eighth-inning double, also set an SJU record. Roe finished 4-for-5 (.800)with four RBI and three runs scored.
1B Peter Cosentino, So., Montclair St.
Cosentino had a monster day as Montclair State swept Cabrini in its season opener. He batted .667 (4-for-6) with a 2.167 slugging while scoring five and driving in six. The right-handed hitting Cosentino cracked three home runs in the opener during a 9-2 victory. He became the first Red Hawk to record a multi-homer game since 2010 and his three homers were one shy of Dave Kennedy's 1991 mark of four during the NCAA Regional Tournament at Ithaca.
2B Amani Jones, Fr., Stevenson
Jones batted .857 (6-7) with two walks for a .889 on-base percentage and 1.714 slugging percentage in a doubleheader sweep of Eastern, scoring five runs and driving in three. He went 3-for-4 with a home run and three runs scored in the 15-0 win in the opener, then was 3-for-3 with a walk in the nightcap, finishing a home run shy of the cycle.
SS Eric Meyer, Sr., Spalding
Meyer got Spalding started in game one Saturday with a two-run homer and set the tone for the weekend. He batted .800 (12-for-15) on the weekend driving his season average up to .643 through seven games. In addition, he drove in 11 runs and scored five. Meyer also had his fair share of extra base hits finishing the weekend with a 1.400 slugging percentage and his four doubles gives him six on the season.
3B Jordan Haworth, Jr., Pacific Lutheran
Haworth had a hit in every game during the Puget Sound series, boasting a .500 batting average (6-for-12), .571 on base, and 1.250 slugging %. Had five RBIs and scored four runs with five of his six hits going for extra bases, including a pair of home runs.
OF Braeden Dobbs, Sr., Fontbonne
Dobbs belted two doubles and two homers on the weekend (1.214 slugging %) to give him a team-high three on the season. Hit a team-high .643 (9-for-14) against No. 21 Aurora. He scored four times and had six RBIs.
OF Avery Neaves, So., Lynchburg
Neaves hit .643 (9-for-14) to open the weekend, cranking out seven RBIs and six runs scored. With three doubles, a triple and a home run, he slugged 1.214. He walked one and stole a base.
OF Michael Speck, So., Spalding
Speck only appeared in two games over the weekend, but made the most of his opportunities going a perfect 6-for-6 at the plate including 2 doubles and 1 triple. He slashed 1.000/1.667/1.000
DH Paul Dobravec, Sr., Aurora
Dobravec got off to a strong start to 2021, hitting .500 (4-for-8) while being hit by three pitches, walking twice in reaching base at a .692 clip. He had a home run, two doubles while scoring five runs and driving in eight as Aurora swept Fontbonne in a three game series.
SP Kevin Champlin, Jr., Wheaton (Ill.)
Champlin was sharp in his season debut as the winning pitcher in Wheaton's 6-0 victory against Ripon last Friday, allowing just one hit in his time on the mound. The Thunder junior tossed four innings of no-hit baseball in his five innings of work, striking out seven of the 20 batters he faced in his five innings of work, including striking out the side in the top of the second inning.
SP Charlie Klemm, Sr., North Central (Ill.)
Klemm tossed five no-hit innings with nine strikeouts against Ripon in the season opener and did not allow a ball to leave the infield. Klemm allowed one base runner on a walk and he picked him off first base.
SP Dylan Kuester, Jr., Ozarks (Ark.)
Kuester threw a gem to lead the Eagles to a 9-0 game two win against Howard Payne on Friday. Kuester was dominate with a two-hit complete game nine-inning shutout. Kuester fanned 11 and walked only one in his outing. Kuester faced 32 batters and allowed just one hit through 8.2 innings.
SP Patrick O'Rourke, So., Berry
O'Rourke pitched a perfect game against Millsaps, pitching all seven innings and striking out seven batters. The perfect game was the first one recorded for O'Rourke and first one since 1972 for Berry and the first in Berry's D3 era.
RP Zack Potts, So., Lynchburg
Potts earned the win in the Hornets game with Ferrum on Friday. He entered in the fourth inning and held to Panthers to two run, both unearned with three hits and nine strikeouts.