Held achieves All-American status
INDIANOLA, Iowa – For the first time in 31 years, the Simpson College baseball team had a player earn All-American distinction as Brady Held was elected to the D3baseball.com All-America Second Team on Wednesday morning.
Held is the fourth All-American in Simpson baseball history and first recognized by D3baseball.com since its inception in 2007. The trio of Joel Johnson (P, first team), Joe Blake, Jr. (OF, third team) and Ryan Cooley (INF, third team) were all tabbed All-Americans by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) in 1991.
The 2022 American Rivers Conference Pitcher of the Year was the only player from around the league to be recognized on the prestigious D3baseball.com All-American squad. Held was one of 13 A-R-C athletes to earn regional honors from D3baseball.com and/or ABCA on Tuesday.
Held finished his senior campaign with a 4-0 record, logging 48.1 innings with a 2.23 ERA which ranked first in the A-R-C. Behind a .178 opponent batting average (1st in A-R-C) and 15.64 strikeouts per nine innings (1st in A-R-C, 2nd in NCAA DIII), the Indianola, Iowa native struck out 84 batters (2nd in A-R-C) and allowed just 31 hits (t-1st in A-R-C). He was named A-R-C Pitcher of the Week on two occasions and became Simpson's all-time strikeout leader much thanks to four double-digit strikeout performances highlighted by a school record 18 in a seven inning, complete game win on March 13.
Offensively, Held was just as dominant which led to his selection as a utility player. This season, Held led the Storm with a .398 batting average, .488 on-base percentage and .602 slugging percentage, ranking top-7 in the conference in all three categories. He recorded 41 hits, including 12 doubles and three home runs, drew 20 walks, scored a team-high 35 runs and racked up 21 RBIs. He finished the season with 15 multi-hit games, including five with three hits, and tallied multiple RBIs four times.
Held finished his collegiate pitching career with a 16-5 record and 231 strikeouts in 183.2 innings pitched. His 2.60 career ERA ranks first among all Simpson pitchers, while his 16 wins are tied for 11th all-time and are the most since Chris Dorff amassed 17 between 2009-12. Held recorded eight complete games and two saves throughout his 32 appearances. At the plate, he recorded 119 hits over the course of 105 games to rank 24th all-time. He produced the ninth-highest batting average (.364), eighth-best on-base percentage (.434) and 10th-highest slugging percentage (.532).
