ODAC Athletes of the Week | Baseball, Lacrosse, Softball, Tennis

ODAC Athletes of the Week | Baseball, Lacrosse, Softball, Tennis

FOREST, Va. --- Week 32 of the Division III season means we are just a few weeks away from the start of spring championships and the stretch run of the 2022-23 campaign. ODAC teams and athletes are certain ready for such challenges based on the high caliber of play coming from all corners of the league. Those earning ODAC Athlete of the Week awards for Monday, April 10, include (pictured top-bottom, left-right): Zack Potts from Lynchburg baseball, Naomi Sadler from Randolph-Macon softball, Brody Langlotz from Roanoke baseball, Gracie Ellis from R-MC softball, Thomas Harry from Hampden-Sydney lacrosse, Rachael Robinson from Bridgewater women's lacrosse, Artem Babaiev and Jahveesha Combs from Shenandoah tennis, Jake Rust from LYN men's lacrosse, and Hanna Bishop from Washington and Lee women's lacrosse.

Below are entries for each of the winners from today's release. The schedule below will be used for reporting ODAC Athletes of the Week:

  • Mondays: baseball, lacrosse, softball, tennis
  • Tuesdays: outdoor track & field
  • Wednesdays: m/w golf

For more on ODAC athletics, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.  Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.

BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Zack Potts | Lynchburg | Sr. | Starter
Potts, a senior from Oilville, Pa., picked up his Division III-leading eighth victory of the season -- tied for the most across all three NCAA divisions -- with a 3-0 shutout of Ferrum. It marks the first complete game thrown by a Lynchburg pitcher since April 17, 2021 and is the first shutout tossed by a Hornet since Potts recorded his first against Bridgewater on May 15, 2021. Against Ferrum, Potts allowed seven baserunners on five hits and a pair of walks. He struck out a career-high 10 batters. He retired the first eight batters he faced and 12 of the first 13. He struck out at least one batter in seven of the nine innings. For the season, Potts is 8-0 covering eight appearances, all starts. He owns a 1.99 ERA and has struck out 53 batters in 54.1 innings on the hill. Opponents are hitting .238 against him.

Click to learn more about the past week in ODAC BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Brody Langlotz | Roanoke | Fy. | Outfielder
Langlotz, a first-year from Panama City, Fla., slashed .615/.667/1.000 in Roanoke's 3-1 week that included a split with nationally third-ranked Shenandoah. Langlotz, who went 8-for-13 from the dish with at least one RBI in each game, opened with a 3-for-4 showing in a 17-11 win over Ferrum. He doubled and drove in two runs while scoring three times in that outing. In a 13-5 win over Maryville (Tenn.) in non-conference action, Langlotz went 1-for-2 with a three-run double in the first inning. He also scored a run. In the series against Shenandoah, Langlotz went 2-for-4 in game one, smacking a solo homer and scoring twice in the Maroons 7-6 victory. He went 2-for-3 with a walk in game, driving in his seventh run of the week in a 6-3 loss to the Hornets. For the season, Langlotz is hitting .455 with a .500 OBP and .818 SLG. He has homered three times and driven in 11 runs.

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MEN'S LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Thomas Harry | Hampden-Sydney | Jr. | Defenseman
Harry, a junior from Troy, Va., was a turnover causing machine for Hampden-Sydney last week, helping the Tigers earn two ODAC wins to stay tied atop the league table a 5-0 with Lynchburg. Harry combined to cause nine turnovers in road wins at Bridgewater and Virginia Wesleyan, an effort that aided in keeping both teams at five or fewer goals scored. In the 15-5 victory at BC, Harry forced a half-dozen the Tigers program-record 27 caused turnovers. He also picked up seven ground balls and got forward to register his second assist of the season. In a 17-3 triumph at VWU, Harry jarred the ball loose three times and collected five ground balls. The Marlins were held to 22 shots (10 on-goal) compared to H-SC 71 attempts (35 on-target). For the season, Harry is sixth in the ODAC with 21 caused turnovers to go with 30 ground balls.

Click to learn more about the past week in ODAC MEN'S LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
MEN'S LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jake Rust | Lynchburg | Jr. | Attackman
Rust, a junior from Windham, N.H., helped nationally 10th-ranked Lynchburg to a pair of ODAC victories last week to keep the Hornets unblemished and tied with Hampden-Sydney at 5-0 atop the league table. Rust registered a 10-point week over Lynchburg's 18-7 win at Shenandoah and 14-11 triumph over Roanoke, the latter of which is receiving votes towards the USILA's latest poll. Rust notched four points and two goals and two assists at SU. He added a pair of ground balls while scoring on two of his three shots. On Saturday against the Maroons, Rust posted a career-high six goals. He scored his fourth goal on a man-up opportunity in the fourth quarter, helping Lynchburg to start to pull away late-on. He scored his final two goals in a three-minute span to seal the Hornets victory. For the season, Rust has recorded 33 points on 25 goals and eight assists. He is tied with H-SC's Talmadge Hope atop the ODAC charts with seven man-up goals.

Click to learn more about the past week in ODAC MEN'S LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
MEN'S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Artem Babaiev | Shenandoah | Fy. | #1/2 Singles | #1 Doubles
Babaiev, a first-year from Kharkiv, Ukraine, helped Shenandoah pick up a pair of ODAC wins last week to move to 5-1 in the league standings and tied with Averett for second behind Washington and Lee (9-0). Babaiev played at the #1 and #2 positions in singles matches and at the top rung in doubles action with the Hornets defeating Virginia Wesleyan, 6-3, and Ferrum, 9-0, in two home matches. He teamed with Jovan Cirkovic on both occasions in doubles play. They topped Felix Bevc and Alen Curoic, 8-5, from Virginia Wesleyan and then down Gabriel Alvarez and Kevin Nester, 8-0, from Ferrum. In singles play, Babiev posted a 6-4, 6-2, triumph over the Marlins' #1 player Bevc to mark his first match at the top flight. Babaiev defeated Nester, 6-0, 6-0, at #2 against Ferrum. For the season, Babaiev is 10-0 overall including 9-0 at #2. He and Cirkovic are 7-3 as a doubles tandem, all from the #1 position.

Click to learn more about the past week in ODAC MEN'S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
SOFTBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Gracie Ellis | Randolph-Macon | So. | Pitcher
Ellis, a sophomore from New Kent, Va., posted two big victories for nationally ninth-ranked Randolph-Macon to earn her second ODAC weekly honor of the season. Ellis registered a two-hit shutout over #6 Virginia Wesleyan on Wednesday and then no-hit Mary Washington on Saturday. In the 3-0 game one win (of a sweep) of VWU, Ellis faced two batters over the minimum with a pair of double plays helping her cause. She walked two batters in addition to surrendering two hits and fanned three Marlins. She set down nine batters in a row at one point before issuing a free pass with one down in the seventh inning. Two foul outs clinched game one in national top-10 matchup. Ellis's weekend 4-0 shutout in game one of a sweep at Mary Washington marked her second career seven-inning no-hitter and the third no-no overall. She faced the minimum number of Eagles with a fourth-inning walk wiped away by a pick-off at first from catcher Kayla Davis. Ellis struck out eight batters. She retired the first 10 batters she faced and closed with 11 straight outs. For the season, Ellis is 9-3 in 12 appearances featuring 11 starts. She owns a 1.39 ERA and has struck out an ODAC-high 97 batters in 75.2 innings in the circle. Opponents are hitting .148 against her.

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SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Naomi Sadler | Randolph-Macon | So. | Right Field
Sadler, a sophomore from Emporia, Va., did a little bit of everything in a 4-0 week over nationally ninth-ranked Randolph-Macon featuring a home sweep (3-0, 4-2) of #6 Virginia Wesleyan and road sweep (4-0, 4-3) at Mary Washington. Sadler was a menace on basepaths with eight stolen bases after reaching base in all four outings including one swipe in game two against Virginia Wesleyan. She also threw out a runner at the plate in a key double play in game one from her right field position. At Mary Washington, Sadler reached based in all eight of her plate appearances, including legging out a dropped third strike in her own appearance in the batter's box without a hit. She doubled and walked while scoring two runs in game one. She stole two bases in that contest, but then ran wild in game two with five steals as part of a 2-for-3 effort. She walked again in that game, but it was her last hit that proved the difference with a RBI single to short that plated the would-be game-winning run in the seventh inning. For the season, Sadler is leads the ODAC in stolen bases (26), is second in runs scored (24), fourth in OBP (.489), fifth in batting (.405), and sixth in hits (32) and walks (12).

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WOMEN'S LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Rachael Robinson | Bridgewater | So. | Goalkeeper
Robinson, a sophomore from Middletown, Md., turned in two good shifts guarding Bridgewater's cage in a pair of ODAC wins last week. Robinson combined to stop 21 shots with a 55.3 save percentage. She also pulled in nine ground balls and forced four turnovers. Robinson started with seven stops in a full 60 minutes in an 18-7 victory over Virginia Wesleyan. She allowed just one goal each in the first three quarters, helping the Eagles to a 13-3 advantage during that span with six of her saves. She faced 20 total shots with 14 on-target to post a 50.0 save percentage. On Saturday, Robinson held Averett's offense to six goals below their season per-game average in a 22-10 triumph. The Cougars put 24 of their 28 shots on-target with Robinson turning back 14 efforts for a 58.3 save percentage. Eleven of her stops came in the first half when BC built an 11-5 lead. For the season, Robinson is third in the ODAC with a 9.75 goals against average. She is fifth in saves (93) and seventh in save percentage (44.3).

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WOMEN'S LACROSSE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Hanna Bishop | Washington and Lee | Jr. | Attack
Bishop, a junior from Bronxville, N.Y., helped keep the nationally second-ranked Generals offense humming in a 17-7 victory over on the road at 18th-ranked Roanoke. The Generals offensive signal-caller scored four times during key stretches to help W&L recover from 3-2 deficit early in the second quarter. She converted one of her two free position shots and caused a turnover in helping the Generals post a sixth win over a ranked opponent by the IWLCA in seven tries. Bishop opened the game's scoring and scored twice during W&L's eight-goal run that flipped the game from 3-2 in Roanoke's favor to a 10-3 advantage early in the third quarter. For the season, Bishop is fifth in the ODAC in goals scored (39) and eighth in points (45).

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WOMEN'S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Jahveesha Combs | Shenandoah | Jr. | #1 Singles | #1 Doubles
Combs, a junior from Suffolk, Va., picks up her second weekly award of the year after helping Shenandoah improve to 6-2 in the ODAC standings with two more remaining before conference postseason play. Combs continued her run as the Hornets #1 singles player and doubles tandem with Lily Kimble as they helped SU top Virginia Wesleyan, 8-1, and Ferrum, 9-0, in a pair of home matches. Combs and Kimble downed VWU's duo of Maya Brown and Kristina Abrams, 8-0, with Combs adding a second point with a 6-2, 7-5 triumph over Christine Zalameda. Against Ferrum, Combs had her singles match cut short when her opponent Tennessee Phillips retired with Combs leading, 5-0, in the first set. In doubles play, Combs and Kimble defeated Phillips and Emma Loughrey, 8-0. For the season, Combs is 12-4 in all singles matches including 11-3 at #1. She and Kimble are 8-3 as a doubles team, all from the top flight.

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