NSU Athletics
Don Vieth
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Northeastern State’s Brock Reller Headlined the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Central Region Honors as its Player of the Year. He was also named First Team in the outfield Wednesday along with teammates Blake Freeman and Matt Kaiser, who were Second Team selections in the outfield.
Reller, the Mid-America Athletics Association (MIAA) Co-Player of the Year, has powered the RiverHawks to the program’s first-ever NCAA Central Region Baseball Tournament. One of the top sluggers in the country, Reller set the MIAA single-season home run record and is second in Division II baseball with 27 home runs on the season while ranking third in the country with 82 RBIs.
He also leads the Central region in runs scored (73) and total bases (171) while ranking second in the region with six triples and fourth in the region with an .822 slugging percentage.
Not just a deep threat, Reller can run, as evidenced by hitting for the cycle along with his six triples, while showing a threat in the running game with 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts. Defensively, the starting right fielder for the RiverHawks committed only one error on the year while adding four outfield assists and turning two double plays.
Freeman was an MIAA First Team Selection and led NSU at the plate, batting .416 on the year with 89 hits, the most in a season as members of the NCAA. He is also the program’s all-time career hits leader and holds the single-season mark for steals.
Kaiser earned MIAA Second Team honors and had 19 home runs for the RiverHawks, and was an Association’s Gold Glove Selection in the outfield. He has also swiped 21 bags and batted .323 from the back half of the NSU lineup.
Reller will move onto All-American voting and is a finalist for National Player of the Year.
Voting was conducted by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) from the region. The Central Region consists of 39 baseball teams from the Northern Sun (15 teams), Mid-America (12 teams), and Great American (12 teams) conferences. In all, 14 teams were represented, with nine teams gaining multiple selections.