GREENWOOD, IN – Manchester College's Corey Marchant (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) has been named the 2012 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Most Valuable Player in baseball. The junior infielder guided the Spartans to a 25-19 overall record and a HCAC tournament championship.

Marchant hit .431 (44-for-102) in conference play and had 30 runs, 33 RBI, four doubles, one triple, and nine home runs.  He had a .755 slugging percentage and a .503 on-base percentage during league play.

Overall in 2012, Marchant ranked among the conference leaders in on-base percentage (.485) and led the HCAC in batting average (.395), slugging percentage (.692), runs scored (46), RBI (49), home runs (14), total bases (119) and hits (68).

Franklin's Nathan Ellis (Plainfield, Ind./H.S.) has been selected as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year. Ellis, a senior pitcher for the Grizzlies, finished the HCAC season with a 9-2 record on the mound.  The senior posted an ERA of 2.14 and struck out 68 batters in 92.1 innings of work.

Manchester's Kyle Norris (Indianapolis, Ind./Decatur Central) has been selected as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year. Norris, a catcher for the Spartans, hit .330 (32-for-97) in conference play and had 18 runs, 25 RBI, seven doubles, three triples, and six stolen bases.  MC will make their first appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament since 2005 on Wednesday.

The HCAC has also awarded the 2012 Coach of the Year award to Rose-Hulman Head Coach Jeff Jenkins. In his 23rd season as the skipper for the Engineers, Jenkins guided his team to the school's first regular season baseball title since 1996 as a member of the ICAC.  Coach Jenkins also claimed the Coach of the Year award in 1996 and 1992.

Marchant, Ellis, and Norris join 21 other players on the All-HCAC First Team. There are also 14 players on the All-HCAC Second Team. The All-HCAC Honorable Mention list includes 35 athletes.

Most Valuable Player: Corey Marchant, Manchester College

Pitcher of the Year: Nathan Ellis, Franklin College

Freshman of the Year: Kyle Norris, Manchester College

Coach of the Year: Jeff Jenkins, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

All-HCAC First Team

All-HCAC Second Team

Honorable Mention

Anderson: Tyler Watson (So., P); Andrew Enderle (So., P); Kyle Beckman (Sr., 2B); Zach Garcia (Fr., OF); Cole Heberling (Fr., C)

Bluffton: Kelly Barnes (Sr., P); Halen Core (Fr., P); Tyler Wright (So., Util.); Nick Broyles (Sr., IF)

Defiance: Bryn Lehman (Sr., SS); Alex Schomaeker (Jr., P); Brad Kremer (So., 3B)

Earlham: Ryan Hayes (So., 1B); Colton Miller (So., P)

Franklin: Mitch Frey (Fr., IF); Chris Hoopingarner (So., P); Jake Houston (Jr., 1B); Ryan Kendall (Fr., P); Jordon Klinedinst (Sr., IF); Shawn Mattingly (Sr., P); Seth Powers (Fr., P)

Hanover: Zack Shultz (So., IF); Chip Hockenbury (So., P); A.J. Ehrlich (So., P)

Manchester: Kyle Konarski (Jr., P); Brad Murphy (Jr. OF); Cody Schell (Jr., P); Trevor Kimm (Fr., IF)

Mount St. Joseph: Kyle Ottaway (Sr., C); Brandon Polking (Fr., P); Michael Leytze (So., OF)

Rose-Hulman: Ryan Fuller (Sr., P)

Transylvania: Chris Bloch (Sr., P); Shelby Dixon (So., P); Danny Niehaus (Sr., P)

All-HCAC Sportsmanship Team