Baseball Earns Pitcher and Newcomer of the Year, Eight All-Conference Selections in 2026 WHAC Honors

The three-time WHAC Champion UNOH Racers were expectedly well represented in the 2026 Baseball All-Conference Awards that were released on Tuesday. The Racers picked up Pitcher of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Coach of the Year honors along with six first team and two second team mentions. UNOH also earned one Gold Glove and placed a program record twelve players on the All-Academic Team.

After leading his program to its first ever three-peat, head coach Kory Hartman was named the 2026 WHAC Coach of the Year giving him four in the last five years and six in his career. During the three years on top of the WHAC, Hartman's Racers amassed a 92-11 record against conference opponents going 48-1 at home in that stretch.

The 2026 WHAC Pitcher of the Year went to Daniel Healy for a second consecutive season making him the first Racer to ever claim the award more than once and just the second ever back-to-back winner in conference history (Josh Judy - Indiana Tech, 2006-07). The sophomore slinger ended the regular season with a 9-1 record that included five complete game wins and three complete game shutouts improving his overall career record to 16-2. 

Joining him in the player of the year category was Cesar Grau who was named the 2026 WHAC Newcomer of the Year becoming just the second UNOH player to ever earn that honor. The junior transfer finished the regular season third in the conference in batting average and second in RBI while setting a new program record with 21 doubles this season, good for sixth in the NAIA.

Both players also landed All-WHAC First Team honors for their efforts marking the second for Healy and first for Grau. Eliomar Otero joined those two on the first team making the list for a second time along with Zach Grigalis, Zach Cabell and Fabian Romero all picking up their first. Cabell was also selected as the UNOH representative on the Champions of Character team.

Grigalis made history for the program after earning a Gold Glove at first base where his brother, Tyler Grigalis, did the same in 2023. They become the first sibling duo to ever earn that honor.

Two Racers landed Second Team honors with Tyler Huff and Nolan Hull earning their spot as outfielders. It is the second all-conference award for Huff who was named first team as a designated hitter last season and the first for Hull in his senior season.

On top of the athletic awards, UNOH also placed twelve players on the WHAC All-Academic Team setting a new high water mark for the program. Seniors Sinjon Bobolia and Austin Culbertson both picked up their third academic honor while ten others made the list for the time: Jordan Davis, Tyler Filinger, Daniel Healy, Aidan Nugent, Eliomar Otero, Fabian Romero, Jake Watson, Parker Close, Dalton Chiles, and Chase Clardy.