After recovery, Hulsizer back to give Morehead St. baseball a hand
Morehead State baseball coach Mike McGuire couldn’t wait to see what junior Niko Hulsizer would do this season after his AllAmerican campaign with the Eagles as a sophomore. But the coach didn’t figure on his hitting star getting injured.
Hulsizer, a 6-foot-2, 225-pounder from Mohnton (Governor Mifflin), started and played in nine games to start the season but it was found out that he was playing with a broken bone in his hand and he missed a month getting it repaired and rehabbed. He returned on April 5 against Tennessee-Martin and hit a home run on the first pitch he saw. Since his return, the Eagles are 7-1 and he has batted .387 with four home runs and nine RBI in that span. The team is 24-14 overall and 11-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference after topping West Virginia Tech 18-1 in a non-league game on April 18 in Morehead, Ky.
“Niko has worked very hard to develop himself into an elite player at the college level as well as a bona fide pro prospect,” McGuire said. “He continues to grow as a hitter. He can change games with one swing of the bat, but he is more than just a power hitter. He can run and defend as well.”
Overall this season, Hulsizer is hitting .339 in 17 games. He has 21 hits in 62 at-bats with four doubles, a triple, five home runs, 22 runs scored and 15 runs batted in.
Last year, the Eagles rode Hulsizer’s big bat to a 36-23 season. He hit .349 and led Division I with 27 home runs, 82 runs batted in and 193 total bases. He was named a Collegiate Baseball, a National College Baseball Writers and a Rawlings Coaches Association first-team All-American and was the OVC CoPlayer of the Year and a first-team selection. ANABELLE DISTEFANO (EXETER) » The 5-foot-5 sophomore midfielder scored the second goal of her career to help the Jefferson women’s lacrosse team get by Felician 10-0 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference victory on April 19 in Philadelphia. DiStefano, who scored her previous goal as a freshman, has played in all 15 games with 11 starts and the defender has seven ground balls and five caused turnovers. The Rams are 8-7 overall and are second in the CACC with a 7-1 record. TANNER DELUCIA (GOVERNOR MIFFLIN) » The senior is a right-handed relief specialist for the Felician baseball team, the Falcons 1919 overall and 17-15 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference after sweeping league foe Goldey Beacom 6-5 and 4-0 in a home doubleheader on April 17 in Lyndhurst, N.J. DeLucia has pitched in 13 games with no decisions and a 3.07 earned run average. In 14.2 innings, he’s given up 12 hits and five runs, all earned, with two walks and nine strikeouts. DeLucia has pitched in 48 games out of the bull pen in his career.
DAN DOWNS (DANIEL BOONE) » The 6-foot-5 senior middle hitter was named to the Allegheny Mountain Athletic Conference first team for his play with the Penn State Altoona men’s volleyball team. He led the Lions in kills (246), total blocks (83 with 43 solos) and points (320.5). He also had 57 digs and 11 service aces to help the team post a 16-13 overall record. The Lions competed primarily in the North Eastern Athletic Conference and lost to Lancaster Bible 3-0 in the league semifinals on April 14 in Lancaster. Downs had eight kills in the match. JOHN CATCHMARK (GOVERNOR MIFFLIN) » The 6-foot1, 205-pound junior righthander pitched his first complete game of the season for the 23-9 Alvernia baseball team in a 7-3 MAC Commonwealth victory over Widener on April 14 in Reading. In seven innings, he gave up seven hits and three runs, all earned, with one walk and a season-high seven strikeouts. Catchmark, who was 8-0 as a freshman and 8-2 as a sophomore mainly as a starter, is 3-1 with a 4.34 earned run average. In 18.2 innings, he’s given up 25 hits and 13 runs, nine earned, with nine walks and six strikeouts.
MARY KATE DUNCAN (BERKS CATHOLIC) » The Moravian senior is off to a good start in her bid to defend her javelin title at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships (May 24-26 in La Crosse, Wisc.). She finished second at the Coach Pollard Invitational on April 13-14 in Bethlehem with a toss of 148 feet, 7 inches. Duncan posted a career best heave of 151 feet, 9 inches to capture the NCAA title last May in Alliance, OH. She also captured the title at the ECAC Division III Championship May 1718 in Westfield, Mass., with a toss of 150 feet, 4 inches. NICK WALIGURSKI (BERKS CATHOLIC) » The 5-foot-10 junior attackman has eight Morehead State junior Niko Hulsizer (Gov. Mifflin).
goals and five assists for the Cabrini men’s lacrosse team, the Cavaliers 12-2 overall and leading the Colonial States Athletic Conference with a 5-0 record after a 16-6 league victory over Gwynedd Mercy on April 18 in Gwynedd Valley. Waligurski had an assist in that game. He had a season-high three goals in a 24-8 triumph over Neumann on March 29 and two goals and an assist in a 21-3 victory over Centenary (N.J.) on April 14.
ALLY SICHLER (BERKS CATHOLIC) » The 5-foot-11 sophomore sat in the No. 5 seat on Worcester Poly’s third Varsity 8 boat, one of four boats that finished second in a field of five schools in their division, at the Donahue Cup Regatta on April 14 on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass. Sichler’s boat was time in 7:36.92 and finished behind Williams which posted a time of 7:23.00. Third-ranked Williams finished ahead of WPI in all four of the races. KALI HEPNER (HAMBURG) » The senior stands all alone
MOREHEAD STATE ATHLETICS
as the top pole vaulter in history with the Shippensburg women’s track team after she finished first at the Raiders’ SU Mid-Week Invitational on April 19 in Shippensburg. She previous shared the record with All-American Megan Breski with a 12 foot, 9 ½ inch effort but bettered that with a leap of 12 feet, 10 inches. Hepner’s record jump stands eighth on the Division II performance list. MORGAN SHIGO (FLEETWOOD) » The Penn State junior broke his own school record when he captured the hammer throw at the Triton Invitational April 13-14 in San Diego, Calif. He actually broke his record (222 feet, 11 inches) twice during the meet. On his first attempt, he posted a distance of 224 feet, 7 inches and then on his final toss of the day, he set the newest standard when he beat out a field of 34 throwers with a 225 foot, 7 inch effort. He currently stands third in the Big Ten and is 12th on the NCAA Division I East qualifying list.