Bolin named KJCCC West Most Valuable Player; Six Cougars garner post-season honors #GoBarton

Barton Community College baseball sophomore outfielder Robby Bolin earned a trio of postseason honors and led a group of six Cougar Baseball players to garner Jayhawk Conference and/or Region VI awards on the 2024 teams, which were announced this week.

The sophomore from Topeka, Kansas, and University of Nebraska commit, earned first-team All-KJCCC and first-team All-Region VI honors as well as a Region VI Gold Glove award.

Infielder Owen Clyne was named to the All-KJCCC first-team, second-team All-Region VI and All Region VI/Plains District All-Tournament team. 

Starting pitcher Reece Hemmerling was named to the second-team All-KJCCC and was selected onto the Region VI/Plains District All-Tournament team, while shortstop Jaron Cotton, catcher Grant Nottlemann and pitcher Ethan Minaker were named All-Jayhawk West honorable mentions.

ROBBY BOLIN – KJCCC West MVP | 1st Team All-KJCCC West | 1st Team All-Region VI | Region VI Gold Glove: Outfield
Bolin is Barton's second to be named Jayhawk West MVP in the last three seasons joining Alex Rodgers in 2022. He is the second Cougar MVP in head coach Brent Biggs tenure.

Bolin became the second Cougar to win the Jayhawk Conference batting championship since Rodgers .443 best average in 2022.

The centerfielder hit .464 with 104 total hits, 20 doubles, six triples, four home runs and 49 RBIs out of the leadoff spot. Bolin scored 95 runs, walked 36 times, was planked by 18 pitches and had a team-high 43 stolen bases in 47 attempts this season.

Bolin held a team high 24 game hitting streak and pieced together another 16 and eight game streak this season. The sophomore had 35 multi-hit games, including one five-hit and 10 three-hit games.

In addition to Bolin leading the Jayhawk in batting average, he also led the league and was second in the NJCAA in total hits. He finished tops in the KJCCC runs scored and on-base percentage (.566) while 12th in the KJCCC slugging percentage (.661).

Bolin's 104 hits rank atop the Cougar single-season history book while his 95 runs scored rank second most and his 464. batting average sits sixth best. 

Earning the center field Region VI Gold Glove honor, Bolin fielded at a perfect 1.000% with 125 putouts and four outfield assists. Over his two-year Barton career, he held a .987 defensive percentage committing just three errors with 221 putouts and five defensive assists.

The Topeka, Kansas native finished his two-year career with a .408 batting average 176 hits, 34 doubles, 11 triples, eighth home runs and 90 RBIs. 

OWEN CLYNE – 1st Team All-KJCCC West | 2nd Team All-Region VI | Region VI All-Tournament Team
A sophomore transfer, Clyne made an instant impact in the Barton lineup finishing with the second-most hits and second-highest batting average.

The Maize, Kansas native, hit .401 this season with 19 doubles, three triples, three home runs, 57 runs scored and team high 57 runs driven home. He led the team in walks drawing the program's sixth most single season of 47 for sixth most in the KJCCC while finishing third on the club with 11 stolen bases in 12 attempts.

Clyne went a season best 4 of 4 with a pair of home runs and seven RBIs on March 12th against the junior varsity squad of Kansas Wesleyan University. He posted multiple RBI performances in 15 games with six of those games driving in three or more runs.

Clyne had a season high 16 game hitting streak with 22 multi-hit games, including two four-hit performances.

Earning an All-Tournament team honor at the Region VI/Plains District Tournament, the sophomore's biggest moment of the season came against Cowley. Trailing 8-7 and down to their final strike, Clyne delivered an opposite field 0-2 count go-ahead two-RBI single to advance Barton into the winner's semifinal game against top ranked and top seeded Johnson County.

REECE HEMMERLING – 2nd Team All-KJCCC West | Region VI All-Tournament Team
Hemmerling assumed the No. 1 spot in the weekend rotation for the Cougars. The right-hander from Beaumont, Alberta, Canada led the Barton rotation with a team best 9-4 record and 3.65 ERA.

Working a team-high 79.0 innings pitched, Hemmerling went the distance in six of his 13 starts with four complete game shutouts. The sophomore allowed 76 hits, 40 runs and 19 walks with 65 strikeouts this season. Hemmerling posted a record of 5-3 with a 3.89 ERA in eight Jayhawk West starts with three complete games.

Hemmerling's six complete games ranked tops amongst the KJCCC while his 79-innings ranked sixth most in the KJCCC and fifth most in Barton's single-season record book.

Perhaps Hemmerling's best performances came in his final two starts, as the sophomore went the distance in both postseason starts displaying a 2-0 record over 16-innings with a 1.69 ERA, scattering 11 hits, three runs, three walks and eight strikeouts.

Earning All-Region VI/Plains District All-Tournament team honors, Hemmerling saved his best outing for the opening round of the Plains/District Tournament working a career high 9.0-inning complete game to help the Cougars knock off second seeded and 10th ranked Hutchinson 5-3.

JARON COTTON – All-KJCCC Honorable Mention
A sophomore shortstop from Leader, TX, Cotton hit .333 in 61 games played, going 70 for 210 at the plate. Cotton led a pair of offensive categories for the Cougars reaching double-figures in home runs with 10 for the ninth most in the program's single season history while driving in 62 runs to rank 5th in the KJCCC West.

Cotton had a .576 slugging percentage with 28 extra base hits, including 15 doubles and three triples to go along with his 10 home runs. 

The sophomore shortstop hit .393 in 32 KJCCC games with 38 RBIs.

GRANT NOTTLEMANN – All-KJCCC Honorable Mention
The sophomore from Lincoln, Nebraska, got off to a slow start with a .262 batting average over his first 30 games. From that point on, Nottlemann turned it on at the plate slashing .469 down the stretch to lead Barton's offense over the final 25 games.

Nottlemann hit .336 this season (45 for 134) with 11 doubles, four triples and one home run. He finished with 37 runs and 26 RBIs. The sophomore supported the team's fourth best .489 on-base percentage fueled behind a team-second most 37 walks. 

The catcher recorded hits in 15 of his final 17 games with six of those manufacturing multi-hits and piecing together a season long nine-game hitting streak.

ETHAN MINAKER – All-KJCCC Honorable Mention
A freshman left-handed pitcher from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Minaker fell into the weekend rotation spot from the start of the season.

Minaker posted a 5-3 record with a 4.28 earned run average in 12 starts. In league games, he went 3-2 with a 4.06 ERA.

Over 54.2 innings pitched, the Cougar left-hander struck out 38 and walked 20. He allowed 60 hits and 26 earned runs with opponents hitting .279 against.

Minaker's best outing came in the regular season finale working six-shutout innings yielding four hits and striking out six Broncbusters.