Four members of Pride baseball receive 2025 Heart season honors
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - As the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament continues on into day two, the Clarke University baseball team received word that four members of the 2025 team were recognized as 2025 honorees from the Heart, conference officials announced on Friday morning.
Seniors Jacob Monday, Dante Maietta, and Alex Reynozo were chosen as All Conference selections with Monday earning a spot on the All-Heart First Team as a relief pitcher, Maietta making the All-Heart Second Team as a starting pitcher, and Reynozo receiving an All-Heart Honorable Mention selection as a third baseman while junior catcher Bryn Vantiger earned the Heart's Gold Glove at his position for his defensive work on the year.
Monday, a Santa Rosa, Calif. native, has been as reliable as a relief pitcher can be for CU as he made 13 appearances on the mound in the regular season, now with 15 after pitching in both of the Pride's Heart Tournament games yesterday. The right-hander struck out 23 batters in 21.1 innings pitched while recording three saves and 3.79 ERA as he had six of his 13 outings result in him recording more than three outs for Clarke.
Maietta, a Berwyn, Ill. native, receives his second-straight All-Heart nod after establishing himself as the ace of the Clarke pitching staff for the last two seasons since joining the team in the 2023-24 school year as he finished up his regular season with 12 starts and a 7-1 record on the mound with five complete games and most recently pitching 7.2 strong innings in their Thursday night Heart Tournament loss to MidAmerica Nazarene University. In the regular season, Maietta allowed 72 hits, 40 earned runs, and struck out 73 batters in 69.2 innings pitched for a 5.17 ERA and a 9.43 strikeouts per nine innings average.
Reynozo, a Whittier, Calif. native, was a dual threat offensive player for Clarke finishing the regular season with a .319 batting average, a .456 on-base percentage, and a .415 slugging percentage with a team-high 43 hits in the regular season and also leading the team with 21 stolen bases as he speed and baserunning ability led lead to Reynozo also leading the team with 43 runs scored. With high quality contact skills and a good eye at the plate, Reynozo struck out nearly three teams less than he walked with 24 free passes to just nine punchouts on the year as he unfortunately suffered a leg injury towards the end of the regular season and has been unable to make an appearance for CU in the Heart Tournament.
Vantiger, a Peosta, Iowa native, has been the Pride's primary backstop in the 2025 season, appearing in 44 of the team's 51 games on the year as he becomes the newest Gold Glove award winner in the Heart for Clarke. Vantiger finished with a .976 fielding percentage on 254 total chances with 226 putouts, mostly on CU's 296 team strikeouts on the mound, and 22 assists, which includes a strong 25 percent runners caught stealing average cutting down 13 of the 39 attempted base stealers against him this year.
Full Heart Release: https://heart.prestosports.com/sports/bsb/2024-25/releases/20250502f4asju
Pride baseball remains in the Heart Tournament with their next game coming this afternoon in Ozark, Mo. when they face Baker University in an elimination game with a rain-altered 2:30 p.m. CT scheduled start time at the Ozark Mountain Sports Complex.