Spartan Baseball Receives Honors following 2017 Season

Southwestern Community College's baseball program has received a number of honors in the post-season following their spring 2017 run—six players were named all-region, 21 players were named academic all-region, seven players earned NJCAA Academic Student-Athlete Awards, and for the second consecutive year the team received Academic All-American recognition.

 The NJCAA named its academic student-athlete award recipients following the end of spring semester. Southwestern Spartan baseball players being named first team, earning a 4.0 grade point average, included Gabriel Leon, sophomore, of Caracas, Venezuela; Stephan Soto, freshman, of Lajas, Puerto Rico; and Kevin Torres, sophomore, of Jacksonville, FL. 

For second team academic honors with the NJCAA, the student must have earned a grade point average between 3.8 and 3.99.  Second team honors went to SWCC Spartans Andre Beltran, sophomore, of Lincoln, NE; Dylan Torres, freshman, of Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico; Kenneth Negron, sophomore, of Florida, Puerto Rico; and Rauvardo Torres, sophomore, of Carolina, Puerto Rico.

In May, the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) named its all-region players and teams. Southwestern players named Second Team All-Region included Ian Torres, sophomore, of Ponce, Puerto Rico; Pedro Nazario, freshman, of Cidra, Puerto Rico; and Victor Perez, sophomore, of Tavernier, FL. Spartans being named Honorable Mention All-Region included Erick Espinosa, sophomore, of Arecibo, Puerto Rico; Stephan Soto, freshman, of Lajas, Puerto Rico; and Gabriel Leon, sophomore, of Caracas, Venezuela. 

The Spartan selections for the ICCAC's Academic All-Region teams follow:

First Team All-Region

Andre Beltran, Dylan Torres, Emilio Candelario, Erick Espinosa, Gabriel Leon, Ian Torres, Jake Duren, Kenneth Negron, Kevin Torres, Rauvardo Torres, Stephan Soto, and Victor Perez

Second Team All-Region

Angel Morales, John Poldberg, Manuel Hazoury, Marcus Chieves, Nathan Torres, Nick Houzenga, Pedro Nazario, Sean Houston, and Waldemar Figueroa.

SWCC's baseball program is led by Head Coach Pedro Hernandez.