Rio's Lindamood named to All-RSC Baseball 3rd Team
Rio Grande/RSC Sports Information
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - University of Rio Grande senior Luke Lindamood was named to the 2024 All-River States Conference Baseball Third Team during last week's RSC Baseball Championship at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.
Voting by the league's 12 head coaches determined the All-RSC First, Second, & Third Teams, along with the RSC Baseball Player, Pitcher, Freshman, and Coach of the Year.
Also recognized were the RSC Gold Glove Team, the RSC Baseball Champions of Character Team, and the RSC Baseball Scholar-Athlete Team.
Lindamood, a native of Minford, Ohio and the club's "Grit and Grind" award winner, hit a team-best .374 for the RedStorm, which finished its season at 20-31 after suffering losses to Indiana University Southeast and West Virginia University-Tech in the RSC Tournament.
Lindamood also led Rio Grande in hits (64), doubles (15) walks (26), on-base percentage (.498) and times hit by pitch (18), while finishing second in both home runs (8) and slugging percentage (.602) and third in runs batted in (35).
Mason White of IU Southeast (Ind.) was named the RSC Player of the Year, WVU Tech's Robert Kelley was named the RSC Pitcher of the Year, and Chris Williams of Point Park (Pa.) was named the RSC Freshman of the Year, while Rob Ehlers of Shawnee State (Ohio) was named the RSC Coach of the Year.
White, a senior from Evansville, Ind., finished the season with a .420 batting average, including 16 home runs, 17 doubles, and 73 total hits. He also drove in 62 and scored 50 runs. He leads the RSC in batting average and home runs and ranks second in runs batted in.
A junior from Vienna, Va., Kelley posted a 9-3 record this year in his 13 starts. He recorded a 3.71 earned run average with 111 strikeouts over his 80 innings pitched. The right-hander leads the RSC and is tied for first in the NAIA in strikeouts, while his nine wins rank second in the RSC.
Williams, a freshman outfielder from Miami, Fla., has carded a .385 batting average with 62 total hits, including nine home runs and 10 doubles. He has also driven in 46 and has scored 45 times in his 47 games.
In his first season at Shawnee State, Ehlers led the Bears to a 25-19 record overall and a 17-7 league mark. Ehlers led the Bears to a runner-up finish in the RSC East Division in their first season within the RSC.
The All-RSC First Team recognized 17 players, while the All-RSC Second & Third Teams honored 18 players each. The RSC Gold Glove Team recognized 10 total players with a tie in the voting at second base.
The RSC Baseball Champions of Character Team featured one member from each team, as nominated by their head coach, for best displaying the NAIA's five-character values of respect, responsibility, integrity, servant leadership, and sportsmanship.
Rio Grande's representative on the list was sophomore Jacob Napier (Alexandria, KY).
The RSC Baseball Scholar-Athlete Team honored those with a 3.25 GPA or higher who have been at their school for at least two semesters.
Midway (Ky.) had the most honorees with 27, while IUPUC (Ind.) recorded the second most with 20.
Rio Grande put a dozen players on the Scholar-Athlete list including fifth-year senior AJ Thomas (Pickerington, OH); seniors Angel Cruz (Santo Domingo, D.R.), Lindamood and Seth Mills (South Shore, KY); juniors Alex Scoular (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) and Beiker Fuentes (Cyrstal Lake, IL); sophomores Daewin Spence (Portsmouth, OH) and Joshua Whent (Oshawa, Ontatio, Canada); and redshirt freshmen Tyler Lanning (Columbus, OH), Ben Spetnagel (Chillicothe, OH), Britten Stephenson (Kuna, ID) and Cade Miner (Frankfort, OH).
A complete list of honorees and award winners can be found at www.riverstatesconference.com.