Baseball

HCAC 2026 Baseball Notebook, Week 10

CARMEL, Ind. – The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) baseball teams competed in week 10 of the 2026 season.
 
Around the League:
HCAC Baseball Schedule

Athletes of the Week:
Player of the Week:
Mitchell Roether (Dayton, Ohio) Earlham College | Infield | Senior - Mitchell Roether kept Earlham in first place in the HCAC standings in a 4-1 week, including a split with Transylvania on Monday. Roether hit .550 on the week with five doubles and a home run. The senior drove in 11 runs, while scoring four. Roether was given six free bases, and struck out just once on the week.

Pitcher of the Week:
Cayman Huntsman (Lebanon, Ind.) Earlham College | Pitcher | Junior - Cayman Huntsman pitched a complete game shutout and scored a career-high eight strikeouts this weekend in a weather-affected game against Manchester. Huntsman started on the mound on Friday, and threw three innings, facing the minimum with six strikeouts. He returned to the mound on Saturday after a 15-hour rain delay to finish the game. Huntsman tallied seven innings pitched with one hit, eight strikeouts, and one walk. He faced just 23 batters and threw 78 pitches.

Notable Performances:
  • Daniel Barreca (Galena, Ohio) Anderson University | Outfield | Sophomore - Daniel Barreca went 8-for-22 with a double, eight RBI, and four stolen bases. He recorded a .364 batting average, a .400 on-base percentage, and a .409 slugging percentage.
  • Carter Knoblauch (New Haven, Ind.) Anderson University | Pitcher | Senior - Carter Knoblauch struck out four batters, issued three walks, and allowed two runs on four hits in four innings in a no decision against Berea.
  • Wes Toth (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) Bluffton University | Outfield | Sophomore - Will Toth hit .455 with five hits in 11 at bats as Bluffton went 0-5 on the week. He smacked two home runs, drove in four runs, and scored three times. Toth finished the week with a 1.091 slugging percentage and .571 OBP.
  • Riley Reyna (Wellington, Ohio) Bluffton University | Pitcher | Junior - Riley Reyna allowed just one earned run in 7 1/3 innings against Hanover on Saturday, fanning eight Panther batters. He limited the opposition to a .231 batting average with a 1.23 ERA for the week.
  • Luke Harmon (Columbus, Ind.) Franklin College | Pitcher | Junior - Luke Harmon logged 133 pitches over eight strong innings to help Franklin finish off a weekend sweep at Berea. The junior scattered six hits and allowed just two earned runs, while striking out seven batters.
  • Davis Wagner (McCordsville, Ind.) Franklin College | Outfield/First Base/Pitcher| Freshman - Davis Wagner was all over the place during the Grizzlies' three-game road sweep of Berea. He was 5-for-15 at the plate with five runs scored and six RBI, hitting three doubles and a triple for a .667 slugging percentage. Defensively, he saw action at three positions, including an inning of relief to close out the series finale.
  • John Girard (Richmond, Ky.) Hanover College | Pitcher | Senior - John Girard led Hanover on the mound making two starts. He pitched 14 complete innings with 16 total strikeouts, leaving him just six shy of the Hanover all-time strikeout record. He held Bluffton hitless until the bottom of the ninth where he allowed just three hits.
  • Josh Simpson (Bardstown, Ky.) Hanover College | Pitcher/First Base | Senior - Josh Simpson was dominant in a busy week for Hanover that saw it go 4-2 overall. He tallied five hits, including two home runs for eight RBI. Simpson drew three walks and finished the week with a .524 slugging percentage. The designated player was also clutch on the mound throwing five relief innings posting a 1.80 ERA. He allowed just one run on three hits while striking out four.
  • Donavin Massing (Fort Wayne, Ind.) Manchester University | Outfield | Senior - Donavin Massing was the spark for Manchester this past week. Across five games, Massing went 7-for-18 at the plate with four RBI, three runs scored, and one home run.
  • Michael Hines (Redondo Beach, Calif.) Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | Shortstop | Freshman - Michael Hines helped lead Rose-Hulman to a perfect 4-0 week with a win over Greenville and three wins against Anderson. Across the four games, Hines hit 6-for-16 with four runs, three doubles, one home run, and five RBI. With the game tied against Greenville in the top of the ninth, Hines hit the game-winning home run to secure the 4-3 win. His heroics would continue in game two of the doubleheader against Anderson. With Rose-Hulman down 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Hines recorded a three-RBI double to put Rose-Hulman up by one, where it would go on to win 7-5. He would also make an impact on the defensive end, highlighted by a sensational over-the-shoulder diving catch in game one against Anderson, which prevented the Ravens from scoring a run.
  • Liam Richardson (Blacklick, Ohio) Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | Pitcher | Sophomore - Liam Richardson helped lead Rose-Hulman to a 12-2 run-rule win in game one of their series with Anderson. Richardson struck out a career-high nine batters across seven innings, while giving up just six hits and one earned run for a 1.29 ERA. He struck out four consecutive batters between the fourth and fifth innings, and another four consecutive batters between the sixth and seventh innings.
  • Chris Hedinger (Jasper, Ind.) Transylvania University | Outfield | Junior - Chris Hedinger put together a consistent week at the plate for Transylvania across a five-game stretch. Against Earlham, he went 3-for-5 with a double in game one and reached base twice via walks while scoring a run in game two. He continued to produce against Mount St. Joseph, scoring three runs and drawing a walk in game one, adding a hit, a walk, and a stolen base in game two, and finishing the series with a 2-for-5 performance and a run scored in game three.
  • Luke Patton (Ashland, Ky.) Transylvania University | Pitcher | Senior - Luke Patton turned in a strong week on the mound, earning three wins across multiple appearances. Against Earlham, Patton tossed three scoreless innings, allowing three hits, while striking out three. He followed with a win in game one against Mount St. Joseph, pitching two innings, while allowing three hits, one run, and one walk. Patton capped the week with another win against MSJ on Saturday, adding two innings of work with three hits allowed, one run, one walk, and two strikeouts.
Looking Forward:
HCAC Baseball Standings