NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State second-year freshman Ryan Cermak was named Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, announced early Wednesday morning.
Cermak earned Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-MVC, and All-Defensive Team honors in his first season in the outfield after playing third base in 2020 and the start of 2021.
In addition to numerous highlight-reel plays in center field, Cermak posted a .993 fielding percentage in the outfield, adding six outfield assists.. Cermak recorded a .284 batting average while leading the team in slugging percentage (.553), extra-base hits (25), home runs (11), total bases (105), and RBIs (40).
Cermak joins John Rave (2017) as Redbirds to earn Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Owen Miller (2016) earned Baseball American and Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America honors while Kevin Tokarski (2008), Dave MacDonald (2000), and Kyle Bloom (2000) also earned Freshman All-America accolades from Louisville Slugger.
Cermak, Dallas Baptist's Jace Grady, and Valparaiso's Kaleb Hannahs represented the MVC on the Freshman All-America team.
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