ELKVILLE, Ill. – The Prospect League has announced its Postseason All-Star Teams and Awards for the 2017 season. Commissioner Dennis Bastien made the choices public Monday. Postseason
All-Stars are voted on by field managers, a front office representative and a media representative from each team.
The Butler BlueSox paced the East Division teams with five players selected, while four West Virginia Miners were selected. Two players from the Chillicothe Paints and one from the Champion City Kings earned postseason honors.
In the West Division, the 2017 Prospect League Champion Lafayette Aviators and the Danville Dans each had four players selected as postseason all-stars. The Terre Haute REX had two players, while the Quincy Gems and Springfield Sliders each had one on the West Division team.
EAST DIVISION ALL-STARS
POSITION NAME PROSPECT LEAGUE TEAM COLLEGE
1B Justin Mitchell West Virginia Miners Longwood University
2B Ivan Acuna West Virginia Miners Winston Salem State University
3B James Meeker Butler BlueSox University of Delaware
SS Pavin Parks Butler BlueSox Kent State University
OF Austin Norman West Virginia Miners Fairmont State University
OF Tanner Murphy Butler BlueSox University of North Florida
OF Dallas Hall Chillicothe Paints Miami University (OH)
C Brady Gulakowski Butler BlueSox North Carolina State
DH Dan Ward West Virginia Miners Tennessee Wesleyan University
Pitcher Connor Coward Butler BlueSox Virginia Tech
Pitcher Connor Curlis Champion City Kings The Ohio State University
Pitcher Andrew Reisinger Chillicothe Paints Western Michigan University
WEST DIVISION ALL-STARS
POSITION NAME PROSPECT LEAGUE TEAM COLLEGE
1B Michael Rothmund Danville Dans University of Illinois – Springfield
2B James Govern Danville Dans Eastern Illinois University
3B Dougie Parks Lafayette Aviators Eastern Illinois University
SS Dalton Schumer Quincy Gems Maryville University
OF Logan Beaman Lafayette Aviators Eastern Illinois University
OF Jalbert Mélo Terre Haute REX Thomas University
OF Nick Webre Danville Dans Louisiana State University
C Cory Heffron Lafayette Aviators Wright State University
DH Troy Wehde Springfield Sliders Quincy University
Pitcher Brad Depperman Lafayette Aviators University of North Florida
Pitcher Austin Krizan Terre Haute REX University of Southern Indiana
Pitcher Ryan Gowens Danville Dans
Lafayette’s Brad Depperman (University of North Florida) was named Pitcher of the Year. The
right-hander from Palm Harbor, Fla., went 4-2 on the season over 11 appearances (eight starts) and finished with a league-leading ERA of 2.11. Depperman also set a new Prospect League single-season record with 108 strikeouts. He only allowed 38 hits and walked 12 over 59 2/3 innings. For his efforts, Depperman was also selected as the Prospect League’s Roland Hemond Pro Prospect of the Year.
The Galen Woods Fireman of the Year is Terre Haute’s Eddie Miller (University of North Florida). The left-hander from Ocala, Fla., went 2-1 on the season with an ERA of 0.98 over 29 1/3 innings across 23 relief appearances. Miller’s nine saves tied for most in the league. He allowed just 21 hits, walked only four and struck out 45 batters.
The Mike Schmidt Player of the Year for 2017 is Lafayette’s Dougie Parks (Eastern Illinois University). Parks led the league in RBIs (60), hits (73, tied), extra-base hits (31, tied) and on-base percentage (.468). He ranked second in the league in total bases (121), doubles (22), and walks (46). Parks was fourth with a .573 slugging percentage, fourth with a .346 batting average and fifth in runs scored with 51.
The 2017 Manager of the Year is Lafayette’s Brent McNeil, who led the Aviators to their first championship in franchise history. The Aviators finished the regular-season 36-24, the second-best record in the league. Offensively, Lafayette tied a league record with 476 runs scored and also led the league in doubles (126), RBIs (404), total bases (886), walks (362), hit batters (82), sacrifice flies (30), on-base percentage (.399), slugging percentage (.438), OPS (.837), and ranked second in home runs (58).
