Sam Antonacci of Heartland named DII Player of the Year
Charlotte, NC – Heartland's Sam Antonacci has been named the 2023 NJCAA Division II Baseball Player of the Year after a stellar sophomore season.
Antonacci ended the 2023 campaign batting .515 with 14 home runs and 103 RBI. The sophomore also ranked in the top five in the nation in seven statistical categories: hits (106, 1st); runs (105, 1st); doubles (32, 1st); RBIs (103, 1st), batting average (.515, 1st), on base percentage (.618, 1st), and total bases (186, 2nd).
The ABCA/Rawlings National Player of the Year helped lead Heartland to a Division II Baseball World Series championship, where he continued to shine bright. In four championship games, Parker batted .286 with three runs and one RBI.
"Sam Antonacci is the most talented baseball player I have ever been around and that showed up all year. He is deserving of this award, but I guarantee he only cares about us winning the National Championship.," Heartland's coach Chris Razo said. "Sam was the rock this season and set the tone on winning over everything. He is the most competitive person I have ever met and is going to have a long successful career."
Player Profile
Position: Infielder
Height: 6'0"
Class: Sophomore
Hometown: Springfield, IL
2023 Statistics
62 games played
206 at-bats
105 runs
106 hits
32 doubles
14 home runs
103 RBI
48 walks
.515 batting average
.618 on-base percentage
.903 slugging percentage
2023 Accomplishments
NJCAA DII Baseball ABCA/Rawlings National Player of the Year
NJCAA DII Baseball ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-America
NJCAA First-Team All-American
Region 24 Player of the Year
All-Region 24 Team
