Kansas City, Mo. - After the best season in program history, the Central Methodist baseball team garnered three NAIA All-Americans, as announced by the national office Tuesday afternoon.
Senior shortstop Sergio Macias was named a First Team All-American, while Nick Merkel earned second-team honors. Mason Schwellenbach was tabbed an Honorable Mention All-American. The trio are the most All-America selections for Central since the 2018 season.
Macias, a senior from Laredo, Texas, is only the second NAIA First Team All-American in the history of the program, joining Randy Perez (2018). Macias landed first-team honors after leading Central in several offensive statistical categories including batting average (.420), hits (84), doubles (18), and RBI (72). He tied for the team lead in home runs (20), which tied the single-season program record with fellow senior Logan Haring. Macias appeared and started in all 57 games at shortstop and also made 11 appearances as a relief pitcher, tossing 13.1 innings and finishing the year with a 2.03 earned run average.
For his performance in the regular season, Macias was tabbed as the Heart Player of the Year and a Heart First Team All-Conference selection. He also had a remarkable postseason run in Central's first-ever Avista NAIA World Series, batting .478 with 11 hits including two doubles, and two home runs, with both home runs coming in the opener against IU Southeast on May 29. Macias tied for the tournament lead in total bases (19) and was named to the All-Tournament team for his efforts.
In addition to NAIA All-America honors, Macias was also recognized as a First Team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), becoming only the second ABCA First Team All-America selection in history of Central Methodist University.
Merkel made an immediate impact in his first full season with the Eagles. The 2021 Heart Pitcher of the Year set several notable single-season records in 2021, including strikeouts (125), wins (14) and innings pitched (96.2). He finished the year with a 2.14 earned run average and recorded double-digit strikeouts on three different occasions. His 14 wins matched Schwellenbach for the most in the nation. He set a career-best with 14 strikeouts against Clarke (4/30) and earned two wins in the Avista NAIA World Series against IU Southeast (5/29) and Lewis Clark State (6/2). He joined Macias as a selection to the all-tournament team. He joins Macias as an ABCA All-American, as he earned second team honors.
Schwellenbach rounds out the trio of All-Americans, as he earned Honorable Mention honors for the second time in his career. The Saginaw, Mich. native posted a 14-1 record in 15 starts. He threw 87.2 total innings, struck out 113 batters, and finished the year with a 2.26 earned run average. As a utility player, Scwellenbach batted .377 with 66 hits including 12 doubles, one triple, and 12 home runs. He drove in 56 runners and tallied 116 total bases. For his performance in the regular season, he earned Heart First Team All-Conference honors as both a pitcher and a utility player. He finishes his career as a two-time NAIA All-American, the first player in program history to be recognized twice.
Central conludes the 2021 season as the regular season and conference tournament champion and a national runner-up finish a the World Series, the best postseason finish of any CMU baseball team in program history. They also set program bests in wins (49), winning percentage (.859), team batting average (.341), home runs (87), team earned run average (3.33), and strikeouts (473) during the 2021 campaign. Central also posts a 3-2 overall record in its first World Series appearance.
To view the complete list of NAIA All-Americans, please click here.
To view the complete list of ABCA/Rawling NAIA All-Americans, please click here.
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