Introducing True To The Cru’s 2021 Baseball Players of the Year

BELTON, Texas- Sunday commenced the voting for True To The Cru’s 2021 Baseball Players of the Year, and now it is time to announce our winners, as were voted on by the fans.

Each of the 12 honorees for our four Player of the Year honors was well-deserving, and played a critical role in UMHB’s success this past season.

The Position Player of the Year is shortstop Caimyn Holiday, who was a consistent bat in the lineup, and a flawless infielder. The Selma, Texas native was one of two players to start all 39 of UMHB’s games this past season, hitting .344 with 37 runs and 19 RBI. Holiday made a good case to be considered the ASC’s top base-stealer, reaching safely on all 22 of his stolen base attempts.

Holiday received 63.45% of the vote, with first baseman Malek Bolin in second with 17.23%. Freshman outfielder Hunter Jones rounded out the top three with 10.08% and catcher Hunter McQuary finished fourth with 9.24%.

The Pitcher of the Year is starter Andrew Acierni, a freshman who spent the abbreviated 2020 season at Brookhaven College-Dallas. Acierni was a force to be reckoned with when he toed the rubber on Saturdays, often throwing game two of the Cru’s three-game ASC series. He also tallied the win in UMHB’s first ASC Tournament victory since 2014, throwing a complete game against Concordia (TX). Acierni made 10 starts, going 7-2 with a 1.89 ERA. He struck out 51 batters, and allowed just nine walks.

Acierni received 76.0% of the vote, as Friday night starter Jeb Zolman came in second with 18.4%. Reliever Zack Honey was third, tallying 5.6%.

There was a highly contested race for the Freshman Position Player of the Year, considering the young talent that performed on the diamond this past spring. Hunter Jones is the recipient of the honor, as the outfielder led the Cru in batting average at .371 and also tallied 24 RBI. He played in 31 games, starting 30 of those, and proved to be a player head coach Mike Stawski could rely on to reach base in a key situation. He had an on-base percentage of .441.

Jones had 45.86% of the total vote, with second baseman Blake Harmon close behind at 31.21%. Third baseman Rhett Grosz had 18.47% and outfielder Kaden deBerardinis brought in 4.46%.

The Freshman Pitcher of the Year award was also won by Acierni, who brought in 72.0% of the vote. Honey was second with 12.0% and reliever Zach Carroll picked up 9.6%. Logan Pace, who saw time as both a midweek starter and reliever, had 6.4%.

All players listed as freshmen on UMHB’s roster were eligible to be put on the ballot for our Freshman Player of the Year honors, regardless of if they were a true freshman, a redshirt freshman, or played last season during the abbreviated 2020 campaign and earned an additional year of eligibility due to COVID.