Catcher Cumming and Jake Hillard headline AMCC All-Conference team

Baseball players Catcher Cumming, Jake Hillard, Jared Ennis, and Kyle Glass.

Left to right: Catcher Cumming, Jake Hillard, Jared Ennis and Kyle Glass, at Penn State Altoona.

Credit: Penn State

NORTH BOSTON, N.Y. — Four Penn State Altoona baseball players were voted to the All-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference team, as the league released the sport’s postseason awards on Friday, May 21.

Included in the Lions’ selections were a pair of premier individual awards, as senior first baseman Catcher Cumming (Altoona, Pennsylvania/Altoona) was voted the AMCC Player of the Year and freshman third baseman Jake Hillard (State College, Pennsylvania/State College) took AMCC Newcomer of the Year honors.

Cumming and Hillard were also first team All-AMCC selections. Sophomore outfielder Jared Ennis (Richboro, Pennsylvania/Council Rock South) was a second team All-Conference pick, and freshman right-handed pitcher Kyle Glass (Imler, Pennsylvania/Claysburg-Kimmel) received third team All-Conference status.

Cumming enjoyed a stellar senior season with the Lions. He led the AMCC in home runs (9) and slugging percentage (.778) while also ranking fourth in total bases (70), fifth in runs batted in (31), seventh in triples (2), 10th in runs scored (28), 11th in batting average (.378), 14th in on-base percentage (.458), 15th in hits (34), 17th in sacrifice flies (2), 19th in hit by pitch (4), 29th in walks (11), and 33rd in doubles (5). The senior was also impressive in the field, compiling a .994 fielding percentage while ranking fifth among all AMCC fielders in putouts (168) and 12th in double plays (11).

Cumming also etched his name in the team’s single game and single season record books this spring. The first baseman set a new Penn State Altoona baseball record for the most home runs in a game, hitting three on April 3 against Medaille College. Fourteen days later, Cumming matched that record by hitting three more home runs in a game versus Pitt-Bradford, during which he also set a new program single game record for total bases (13). By season’s end, Cumming’s .778 slugging percentage had set a new Penn State Altoona baseball single season record.

During the season, Cumming was named the AMCC Player of the Week on April 5, then took D3baseball.com Team of the Week and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division III National Hitter of the Week honors over the following two days.

This is Cumming’s first career AMCC Player of the Year recognition, as well as the first time that he has been voted first team All-Conference. He was previously a second team pick in 2018 and a third team selection in 2019.

Hillard emerged as one of the top hitters in the AMCC this season in just his freshman year. In the conference, he ranked second in total bases (73), third in slugging percentage (.737) and doubles (13), fourth in RBI (32), 11th in hits (37), 14th in batting average (.374), 17th in sacrifice flies (2), 19th in runs scored (25), 20th in triples (1), 26th in on-base percentage (.418), and 39th in walks (9). In the field, the freshman was 21st in assists (35) and 29th in double plays (4).

Hillard tied a pair of Penn State Altoona baseball single game records this season, collecting five hits in a game against Wilson College on April 8 and hitting three doubles in a game against Medaille on April 3. This spring, he received the AMCC Player of the Week award on May 3 and was named the NCBWA Division III National Rookie of the Week on May 5.

Ennis, in his first full season with the Lions after last spring’s shortened schedule, put together an excellent performance in the middle of Penn State Altoona’s lineup. In the AMCC, the sophomore ranked fifth in sacrifice flies (3), sixth in doubles (11), 10th in batting average (.385), 13th in hits (35), 18th in RBI (22), 19th in slugging percentage (.505), 20th in on-base percentage (.438), 21st in total bases (46), 24th in runs scored (22), 28th in sacrifice hits (1), and 31st in hit by pitch (3). In the outfield, Ennis finished the spring with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage, recording 40 putouts in 40 total chances.

Ennis was recognized for his play during the AMCC postseason tournament when he was named to the conference’s All-Tournament team. His second team selection represents his first career appearance on an AMCC All-Conference team.

Glass had a strong and consistent season on the mound as a freshman with Penn State Altoona, being one of the Lions’ conference starters and also leading the team in total appearances. In the AMCC this spring, the right-hander ranked third in wins (6) and shutouts (1), fourth in earned run average (2.93) and complete games (3), eighth in appearances (10) and innings pitched (43.0), 17th in games started (5), 20th in strikeouts per game (4.81), 22nd in total strikeouts (23), and 29th in opponent batting average (.263).

Penn State Altoona baseball finished its 2021 season with a 12-15 overall record, including going 9-7 in the AMCC to take fifth place in the conference’s regular season standings. The Lions earned a berth into the conference tournament, where the team lost in the quarterfinal round in a best-of-three series with Alfred State College.

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