Castile, Held named to All-A-R-C First Team, Roeder earns honorable mention recognition
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The American Rivers Conference announced its 2023 baseball awards on Wednesday and three Simpson College baseball players were recognized. Trey Castile and Brady Held were named first team all-conference, while Mitchell Roeder garnered honorable mention recognition.
Held makes his fourth appearance on the All-A-R-C squad and third on the first team. Castile collects his second consecutive all-conference nod after earning second team recognition as a sophomore. Roeder becomes the first freshman baseball player to land on the all-conference squad since Held and Devin Creger in 2019.
Castile and Roeder paved the way for Simpson's pitching staff, which ranked fifth in the league with an overall ERA of 5.41. The duo combined for 117 of the Storm's league-leading 329 strikeouts and ranked second and third among conference pitchers in hits allowed.
Coming off an All-American season as a utility player, Held was only able to pitch limited innings after undergoing surgery in the offseason but still did plenty of damage on the offensive side of the ball. He split time as a designated hitter and outfielder and ranked top-10 in the conference in overall batting average (.387), on-base percentage (.465) and slugging percentage (.541).
To view the full all-conference team, click HERE.
Trey Castile, first team
-Junior pitcher from Urbandale, Iowa
-Started 10 games and made 11 appearances, throwing a team-high 58.2 total innings
-Struck out 69 batters overall and 42 in conference play to tie for first in the league in both
-Ended the year with an ERA of 2.61, the fifth lowest in the A-R-C
-Led the conference in overall batting average against (.155) and strikeouts looking (22)
-Allowed the fewest hits of any pitcher in conference play (20) and ranked fifth in the nation with under five hits allowed per nine innings
Brady Held, first team
-Senior outfielder from Indianola, Iowa
-Ranked top-10 in the conference in overall batting average (.387), on-base percentage (.465) and slugging percentage (.541)
-Tallied 43 hits including eight doubles and three home runs
-Had 11 multi-hit games, with his longest hitting streak being 13 games during the conference slate
-Drove in 23 runs and scored 19 times
-Recorded nine stolen bases in 11 attempts
-Added nine strikeouts to his program-leading total of 240
Mitchell Roeder, honorable mention
-Freshman pitcher from Maquoketa, Iowa
-Made 13 appearances overall, with eight of those being against conference foes
-Owned a 3.56 ERA in those eight league games
-Ranked second on the team with 48 strikeouts in 46.1 total innings pitched
-Earned his first career save in a combined one-hitter with teammate Easton Dunwoody on March 4
-Tallied two wins including one in league play over Dubuque
-Had a season-high eight strikeouts against Nebraska Wesleyan on April 5
