UVA Wise's Harness Named NCBWA National Player of the Week
DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its NCAA Division II National Players of the Week awards for the week ending on February 19, 2023. UVA Wise junior first baseman Cole Harness is the National Hitter of the Week and USC Beaufort sophomore lefty Cam Dimidjian is the National Pitcher of the Week.
Harness (Coeburn, Va. / Southwest CC) led the Cavaliers to a 3-2 record last week, hitting .778 with three doubles, three home runs, a triple, eight runs scored, and 12 RBI. He also had an on-base percentage of .826 and a slugging percentage of 1.556 for the week. Additionally, Harness tied a SAC single-game record for RBI in a game with ten against Carolina University.
Dimidjian (Jefferson Hills, Pa. / Jefferson HS) threw the first perfect game in USCB history on Saturday as 21 Claflin batters came to the plate and 21 went straight back to the dugout in a 10-0 Sand Shark win. It is only the second perfect game thrown in Peach Belt history and the first in a conference game. The sophomore lefty allowed the Panthers nothing as he struck out eight. He completed the game with 77 pitches thrown, getting ten fly outs and three ground outs to go with his eight strikeouts.
Division II Regional Players of the Week:
- Atlantic: Bren Taylor, Millersville (Hitter); Gabe Stotler, Shippensburg (Pitcher)
- Central: Conner Allen, Southern Arkansas (Hitter); Mikel Howell, Southern Arkansas (Pitcher)
- East: Stan DeMartinis III, Bentley (Hitter); George Welch, Southern New Hampshire (Pitcher)
- Midwest: Asher Bradd, Illinois Springfield (Hitter); Ryan Carmack, Illinois Springfield (Pitcher)
- South: Anthony Calabro, West Georgia (Hitter); Eli Thurmond, Tampa (Pitcher)
- South Central: Clay Bradford, St. Mary's (Texas) (Hitter); Colton Taylor, Texas A&M-Kingsville (Pitcher)
- Southeast: Cole Harness, UVA Wise (Hitter); Cam Dimidjian, USC Beaufort (Pitcher)
- West: Brady Miguel, Cal State Monterey Bay (Hitter); Brett Finnell, Concordia Irvine (Pitcher)
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. Members receive a membership card, directory, newsletter updates and official votes in the Howser Award Player of the Year, Regional Player of the Year and NCBWA All-America voting. The NCBWA also sponsors preseason All-America awards, publication and writing contests.
2023 NCBWA Division II Players of the Week:
- Feb. 8: Casey O'Laughlin, Azusa Pacific (Hitter, West); Brayden Johnson, Arkansas Fort Smith (Pitcher, South Central)
- Feb. 15: Christian Jayne, UNC Pembroke (Hitter, Southeast); Braxton Pearson, Angelo State (Pitcher, South Central)
- Feb. 22: Nate Mieszkowski, Missouri Southern (Hitter, Central); Branden Kunz, UNC Pembroke (Pitcher, Southeast)
- Mar. 1: Cole Harness, UVA Wise (Hitter, Southeast); Cam Dimidjian, USC Beaufort (Pitcher, Southeast)