Five Penn State Altoona baseball student-athletes earn AMCC honors

LATROBE, Pa. — Five Penn State Altoona baseball players were voted to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference’s all-conference team, which was released by the league office on May 12.

Judd Dasso, of Brentwood, Tennessee, took one of the conference’s major awards, winning AMCC Newcomer of the Year to go along with a third-team all-conference nod as a designated hitter. Voted to the All-AMCC first team were first baseman Jonathan Rauch, of Pittsburgh, and outfielder Brian Chelli, of West Hartford, Connecticut, and third baseman Cole Strick, of Windber, and outfielder Zach Ingold, of Pittsburgh, were second-team selections.

Dasso played in 35 games with Penn State Altoona and led the AMCC in doubles (19). He also ranked second in the conference in runs scored (46), fourth in hit by pitch (11), ninth in total bases (80), 11th in hits (50), runs batted in (31), stolen bases (9), and slugging percentage (.556), 17th in triples (1), 18th in home runs (3), 20th in batting average (.347), and 30th in on-base percentage (.414).

Rauch played in 35 games this season and put together an impressive campaign. He led the AMCC in home runs (13), total bases (103), and slugging percentage (.805) while also ranking third in RBI (43) and on-base percentage (.497), fourth in batting average (.414), eighth in hits (53), ninth in runs scored (39), 12th in doubles (11), and 15th in walks (18). Rauch also earned one AMCC Player of the Week award this season, picking up the recognition on March 16.

Chelli also had a standout season with the Lions while playing in 36 games. He ranked within the top 10 in the conference in many offensive statistical categories, leading the league in stolen bases (31) while being fourth in triples (3), fifth in slugging percentage (.650), sixth in total bases (89), seventh in runs scored (40) and home runs (6), eighth in hits (53), doubles (12), RBI (37), and on-base percentage (.468), and ninth in batting average (.387).

Strick appeared in 21 games this season, his second year with the Penn State Altoona baseball team. Against conference opponents, he hit a league-best .512 while having the second-best on-base percentage (.551) and slugging percentage (.860) of any player versus AMCC competition. Overall, Strick hit .467 this spring with a .515 on-base percentage and a .717 slugging percentage while ranking eighth in the conference in triples (2), 24th in doubles (8), 33rd in RBI (20), and 40th in total bases (43).

Ingold played in all 37 games for Penn State Altoona this season and continued to be among the top hitters in the conference. In the league, he ranked fifth in walks (22), ninth in home runs (5), 10th in on-base percentage (.464) and sacrifice flies (3), 12th in RBI (28) and slugging percentage (.550), 16th in total bases (66), 18th in doubles (9), 19th in batting average (.350) and hit by pitch (6), 20th in runs scored (28), and 22nd in hits (42). During the season, Ingold was the AMCC Player of the Week on April 20.

Penn State Altoona baseball went 17-20 overall this season, including 7-10 within the AMCC. The Lions placed seventh in the conference’s regular season standings, narrowly missing a spot in the AMCC postseason tournament.