Former Great Lake Canadian C Max Wright (Toronto, Ont.) gains Missouri Valley conference first team honors.

May 25, 2021

Pitcher of the Year and Newcomer of the Year Highlight MVC Postseason Awards for Sycamores

By Tim McCaughan

Indiana State

ST. LOUIS -- Headlined by Pitcher of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards, five Indiana State Sycamores were selected for All-Missouri Valley Conference honors Tuesday by the league’s head coaches.

Geremy Guerrero was named Pitcher of the Year -- the first time a Sycamore has earned the award in program history -- while Aaron Beck earned Newcomer of the Year accolades marking consecutive years that an Indiana State student-athlete has earned the honor.

Indiana State placed a league-high five players on the all-conference first team. The Sycamores’ first-team selections included Jordan Schaffer (SS), Max Wright (C), Aaron Beck (OF), Geremy Guerrero (SP) and Connor Fenlong (RP). Guerrero and Wright also earned spots on the MVC all-defensive team.

Guerrero, a product of Metamora, Ill., owns a league-best 1.92 ERA and has registered an 9-1 record in 12 starts. He also leads the MVC in innings pitched (84.1) opposing batting average (.171) and runners picked off (3). He ranks in the top-5 in strikeouts (93-2nd), wins (9-2nd), walks allowed (12,2nd), doubles allowed (4-1st), earned runs allowed (18-3rd). Guerrero ranks first nationally with a 0.75 WHIP. His strikeout-to-walk ratio of 7.25 and hits allowed per nine innings (5.24) rank first in the MVC and top 20 nationally. Only two other ISU pitchers have ever finished a season leading The Valley in ERA. In 1983, Paul Quinzer led the MVC with a 2.04 ERA and in 2013 current Oakland A’s pitcher Sean Manaea paced the league with an ERA of 1.47.

Beck, an Evansville, Ind., native, and an Olney Central Community College transfer, made an immediate impact offensively for the Sycamores this season. The junior outfielder hit .358 with nine doubles and 22 RBI during the regular season, boasting a .519 slugging percentage. Beck is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak and strung together 11 multi-hit games in the regular season. Beck is the seventh Sycamore to earn the Valley’s Newcomer of the Year honor and the second-straight Sycamore to earn the award after Collin Liberatore took home the honor in 2019.

Wright started in all 44 games for the Sycamores in the regular season and was second on the team with a .319 batting average. A Toronto, Ontario native, Wright led the team with 14 home runs, 37 RBIs to go with his .644 slugging percentage. Overall, Wright is one of the most disciplined batters at the plate, walking 34 times on the year for a .461 on-base percentage. He held the longest reached base streak of anyone on the squad at 21 games while stringing together 13 multi-hit games and leading the team with 13 multi-RBI games. Behind the plate, Wright did not commit an error in 194 chances while allowing one passed ball all season.