CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The 2021 All-American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Baseball Team as voted by the league's head coaches:
The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) announced today its major baseball awards and the 32-member All-Conference team for the 2021 season. Coe College right-handed pitcher TJ Deardorff (Sr., Dubuque, Iowa/Senior) was voted as the American Rivers Conference Pitcher of the Year and Loras College's Luke Fennelly (Sr., Davenport, Iowa/Assumption Catholic) has been tabbed the A-R-C Position Player of the Year. For the second-straight time, and the third time in his career (2011, 2019), Coe College Head Coach Steve Cook was voted as the A-R-C Coach of the Year by his peers. 

Deardorff is the second straight Kohawk to earn A-R-C Pitcher of the Year honors, following in the footsteps on 2019 Pitcher of the Year Zach Kammin. Overall, he marks the third Kohawk to win the honor (Alec Lewis, 2010) since it became a major award in 2008.

The senior started a game in each of Coe's weekend series this season and had the league's third-best ERA in conference contests at 1.81, being only one of three A-R-C pitchers to hold a sub-2.00 ERA. He started eight games for the Kohawks, going the distance four times. Holding a conference record of 9-0 with 54.2 innings pitched and opponents only hitting .179 off him, which sat second-best in the A-R-C. Having an arsenal of pitches, Deardorff led the conference with 54 strike outs, 17 of them being strike outs looking.

For the Duhawks, Fennelly marks only the second Position Player of the Year honoree, joining Nick Olberding (2009). Dating back to the years when the conference awarded a single MVP, Fennelly marks the fourth Duhawk to win a major award, joining the ranks of Justin Pierro (1998) and Cory Schultz (2003).

Fennelly, a shortstop for the Duhawks, carried a bat with a lot of pop this season, hitting a conference second-best eight home runs and tied for fourth in doubles (11), while also picking up two triples. Hitting just under .400 (.393), the senior's bat was a consistent threat for opposing pitchers facing Loras, maintaining a comfortable lead with his .726 slugging percentage. Not only was a Fennelly a threat with a bat in his hands, but he also caused headaches on the base path. The Davenport, Iowa native swiped 11 bases this season, only being caught once.

Cook, in his 25th season at the helm of the Coe College baseball team, is picking up his third-career Coach of the Year accolade (2011, 2019, 2021), winning back-to-back accolades. He is the only coach in Coe baseball program history to be named Coach of the Year. Cook guided the Kohawks to an overall record of 36-7 and a 28-4 mark in league play, making it two full seasons in a row that the Kohawks have had 30+ wins. The Kohawks were ranked as high as No. 13 nationally by D3baseball.com this season. Cook's complete staff is made up of John Heald – Assistant Coach, AJ Reuter – Assistant Coach, Nolan Arp - Assistant Coach, and D'vante Glenn - Assistant Coach.

The All-American Rivers Conference first-team highlighted players from five of the conference's nine schools. The 16-member first-team saw eleven individuals earn All-Conference accolades for more than the first in their careers. This year's team saw a balanced First-Team as six A-R-C teams had at least one individual honored. Buena Vista, Coe, and Luther led the pack with three honorees each.

Joining Deardorff for the Kohawks are three other senior First-Team All-Conference selections, Isaac Evans (Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic), Riley LeGrand (Dyersville, Iowa/Beckman Catholic), and TJ Johnson (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie). Both Evans and LeGrand hit over .400 in league play this season to help guide Coe to their 36-7 overall record and 28-4 mark in the A-R-C. LeGrand led the team with a .421 average, which sat second in the conference. He drove in 24 runs this season with eight doubles and four triples. LeGrand also collected 15 base on balls to sit second on the team. The Dyersville, Iowa native also topped the league with four triples this season.

Evans followed with a .404 average and sat tied for second with 12 doubles, while also hitting four home runs. Evans showed the most patience at the plate, working 16 walks this season, which led the team. With his gap-to-gap pop, combined with his speed, Evans was a hard out. Hitting 10 doubles and carrying an on-base percentage of .486 (5th in the A-R-C), he was a threat every time he found his way on. He blew the league out of the water with 18 successful stolen bases, six more than second place, on his 23 attempts. 

Johnson proved to be the Kohawks largest run producer, driving in a league-best 34 RBIs, along with a slugging percentage of .583. Additionally, he went 9-14 in stolen bases this season. Johnson, along with his fellow First Team All-Conference performers, led the league as a team in runs scored with 228, Johnson scoring 30 of those runs. Helping to get in position to score those runs were his 46 hits in conference play, sitting tied for second on the team and in the league. 

Two Duhawk pitchers have been named First Team All-Conference performers in Matt Jeter (So., Montgomery, Ill./Aurora Central Catholic) and Ethan Peters (Jr., Wisconsin Rapids, Wis./Assumption). Jeter carried a 4.03 ERA with a record of 4-2 in eight starts this spring for the Duhawks. Throwing 44.2 innings on the year, opponents hit .294 off him. He had a stellar 4.3:1 strikeout to walk ratio, striking out 26 guys (eight looking) to only 6 walks. Joining Jeter is junior arm Peters, earning relief pitcher First Team honors, who carried a solid 1.48 ERA out of the pen and the only Duhawk to carry a WHIP under 1.00 (0.62). He threw 24.1 innings and picked up one victory, while making 14 appearances and collecting four saves. Hitters could only muster a .130 batting average off of him.

All three Beavers on this year's First Team are earning their first-career All-Conference accolades, led by fifth-year senior Tyler Tennyson (Grad., Truman, Minn./Fairmont). While an all around utility player for BVU, Tennyson earned First Team honors for his contributions on the mound this season. The Fairmont, Minn. native had a team-leading and the league's fifth-best ERA at 2.21 in conference play this season, in his 53.0 innings pitched. Compiling a record of 5-2, the senior threw five complete games as opponents only hit .222 off him. Outside of conference play, Tennyson tossed a gem against No. 1-ranked Washington University in St. Louis, going 7.1 innings surrounding six hits and two runs. He picked up the win for the Beavers, as BVU downed WashU 8-2 to begin the three-game set against the Bears.

Sophomore brothers Jordan Mathewson (Lavista, Neb./Platteview) and Caden Mathewson (Lavista, Neb./Platteview), in their first full collegiate baseball seasons, are earning First Team All-Conference honors for the Beavers. Both batted above .350 this season, as Jordan tops Caden with a .356 average compared to a .355 average, which sat 10th and 11th best in the A-R-C. Jordan scored 25 runs for the Beavers and drove in 23 himself, on eight doubles, two triples, and two home runs. Carrying a .420 on-base percentage, thanks to 11 walks. Caden was a perfect 5-for-5 in the stolen base category. He collected 17 RBIs on six doubles, two triples, and two home runs. They both carried slugging percentages north of .500, Jordan at .508 and Caden at .505.

This year's automatic qualifying team to the NCAA Tournament, the Luther College Norse had three First-Team All-Conference honorees that helped guide the Norse to the tournament title. Luke Plunkett (Jr., Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) is the only Norse on this year's First Team to pick up his second-career All-Conference accolade. The junior earned his first-career First Team honor in 2019, the last full baseball season to be completed. Plunkett led the conference in multiple offensive categories, as he helped guide the Norse to a second-place regular season finish with a record of 23-9 in A-R-C competition. Leading the conference with a .425 batting average, 25 walks, and with an on-base percentage of .536, Plunkett was a hard out all season. The First Team catcher also went 5-9 in the stolen base categories, while dropping 10 doubles and three home runs for the Norse. 

Luther starting pitcher Tyler Boesel (Sr., Scandia, Minn./Forest Lake) carried the sixth-best ERA in the conference this season (2.70) in 46.2 innings pitched, picking up five wins for the Norse in eight starts. He threw four complete games for Luther with one of them being a shutout. Batters only hit .243 off his arm, as he struck out 39 guys while only walking 14. 

Freshman Charlie Rubendall (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLeSalle) tops off his first collegiate baseball season with First Team All-Conference honors, picking up 35 hits this spring and carrying a .337 batting average. The shortstop also tallied 10 doubles and two triples for the Norse, holding an on-base percentage of .383. The Minneapolis, Minn. native also picked up 19 RBIs, while additionally, he was 6-7 in stolen bases.

Under the direction of John Rypel, his first full season with Nebraska Wesleyan, the Prairie Wolves see two guys named First Team All-Conference. Led by the bat of senior Derek Kolbush (Lincoln, Neb./Pius X). The first baseman All-Conference performer led the A-R-C with nine big flys in conference play this season, helping him to carry the league's second-best slugging percentage of .652. On top of the home runs, the Lincoln, Neb. native also tallied 10 doubles for NWU. Kolbush also led the team in RBIs with 34, which also sat tied for second in the A-R-C. His big bat also led to a high on-base of .432, thanks in part to 17 walks this spring. Riley Ward (Sr., Lincoln, Neb./Pius X) joins Kolbush as a First Team All-Conference performer, as a third baseman for the Prairie Wolves. Ward had a team-leading .366 batting average (7th in the A-R-C), collecting 34 hits in 93 at-bats this season. Of those hits, nine were doubles and he had one home run, picking up 13 RBIs. 

Simpson's Brady Held (Jr., Indianola, Iowa/Indianola) was lights out on the mound for the Storm this season, leading the league in multiple pitching categories, including ERA (1.29) and batting average against (.171). Held surrendered zero long balls in conference play and went the distance four times this season, including two shutout wins. Compiling a 4-2 league record with 42.0 innings thrown, he struck out 37 while only walking 15 batters. The Indianola native is the only Simpson player to be a First Team All-Conference selection.

Rounding out the First Team All-Conference performers this season are two Wartburg Knight juniors in Max Goodhue (Carlisle, Iowa/Carlisle) and Ben DeKruyf (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale). The two guys both paced Wartburg with 18 RBIs each. Goodhue led the conference with 13 doubles this season and sat in a three-way tie for second with three triples to lead the Knights in extra base hits. The First Team outfielder scored 24 runs and had 43 hits, carrying a batting average of .352. DeKruyf, the First Team DH performer, led the Knights with a .394 batting average, which sat fourth in the league this spring. He contributed nine doubles, two triples, and a home run to the Wartburg offense.