Southern's Zach Parish named Central Region Pitcher of the Year

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

Missouri Southern junior pitcher Zach Parish was named the Central Region Pitcher of the Year, while senior third basemen Freddie Landers was a first-team All-Region selection as the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings announced its regional awards today.

Landers and Parish will now go on the ballot for ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors, while Parish will be up for National Pitcher of the Year honors. The ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. II All-Americans will be announced the evening of Friday, May 31 following the Opening Ceremonies at the NCAA Div. II World Series. The ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove teams for all divisions will be announced Wednesday, June 19.

This is the third All-Region team for the pair as they both have been part of the Division II Conference Commisioner's Association (CCA) team, as well as the National College Baseball Writers Association team. Parish and Landers are two of five MIAA players on the first team, while the league saw five members on the second team. Central Missouri's Erik Webb was the Region Player of the Year.

Parish was the MIAA Pitcher of the Year and led the MIAA in strikeouts with 136, games started with 16 and wins with nine. He ranked second in strikeouts per nine innings, third in hits allowed, fourth in WHIP, and fifth in ERA. This year Parish finished 9-2 with a 2.85 ERA and his 136 strikeouts are a school record. He threw 101.0 innings in 16 starts with one complete game and two shutouts, while holding batters to a .199 average. He ranks fourth nationally in strikeouts and third in games started, while helping the Lions set the school record for season strikeouts by the pitching staff with 558 k's of opposing hitters this season, finishing just five away from tying the MIAA single-season record.

Landers led the Lions with a .349 batting average and finished second on the team with 11 home runs and fourth with 36 RBIs. He slugged a team-high .602, while also leading the team with a .494 on-base percentage. He led the MIAA in hit by pitch with a MSSU record 22 times taking one for the team. Landers ranked sixth nationally in hit by pitch, while ranking second in the MIAA in slugging, fourth in total bases, sixth in walks and runs scored, seventh in hits and eighth in average.