Chia leads four Simpson players on all-IIAC team

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Michael Chia's first team selection led a group of four Simpson baseball players named to the 2012 All-Iowa Conference Baseball team, as announced by the league office. 

Joining Chia were outfielder Jake Barr, shortstop Tyler Crandell and pitcher Aaron Young, all of whom took home second team all-conference honors. 

A junior third baseman from Indianola, Iowa, Chia hit .269 with 27 RBIs on the year. He hit .316 against conference foes and drove in a team-high 21 RBIs. He tallied 10 extra-base hits on the year (eight doubles, two triples), succeeded on 5 of 6 stolen base attempts and carried a .904 fielding percentage. 

A junior left fielder from Henderson, Nev., Barr hit .297 and tied for the team lead with four home runs. His 28 RBIs ranked second on the team. Hitting leadoff for the Storm, Barr hit .307 with 14 RBIs in conference play and committed only three errors in the outfield. 

A junior from Ames, Iowa, Crandell led the team with a .327 batting average and a .451 slugging percentage on the year. He hit seven doubles and two home runs, went 11-for-13 in stolen bases and boasted a team-high .390 on-base percentage. Crandell was a second team all-conference selection in 2011. 

A sophomore left-hander from Urbandale, Iowa, Young was the team's top starting pitcher in 2012. He went 4-7 despite a 3.52 ERA, going 3-4 with a team-best 2.70 ERA in conference play. Young logged a team-high 92 innings overall, threw five complete games and tossed nine-plus innings four times. He was second on the team with 28 strikeouts and held opponents to a .258 batting average. 

Simpson went 18-24 in 2012, including a 12-12 mark in the Iowa Conference. The Storm advanced to the IIAC Tournament with the No. 6 seed, where they went 0-2.