Complete List Of MIAC All-Conference Awards

MOORHEAD, Minn. (5/13/09)-- Concordia senior catcher Kyle Johnson (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti HS) started the 2009 award season by being named the MIAC Player of the Year was announced on Wednesday by the league office. Johnson, along with fellow senior Scott Schumacher (Thompson, N.D.), was also placed on the MIAC All-Conference Team.

Cobber third baseman Erick Sykora (Rapid City, S.D.) was the team's representative to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team.

Johnson becomes the fourth Concordia player since 1985 to earn Player of the Year honors. He is also the first player since 2003 when Derek Dormanen won the award. Current Philadelphia Phillie Chris Coste earned the prestigious honor three straight seasons from 1993-95 and Tim Anderson captured the award back in 1985. Jeremy Hinderks was named the MIAC Pitcher of the Year in 2004.

Johnson, who earns MIAC All-Conference honors for the third straight season, had a record-breaking year in 2009. He set a school record for home runs in a season and tied an MIAC record for homers in a conference season. Johnson had 14 overall HR's and clubbed 10 long balls against league opponents.

Johnson hit .429 in league games this year. He led the MIAC in slugging percentage in conference games with an incredible 1.036 mark. He also led the conference in total bases (58), walks (16) and was tied for the MIAC lead in RBI with 22. Johnson was also second in on-base percentage (.570) and third in runs scored (22).

In total games Johnson finished the season with a .404 average and drove in a team-high 36 runs. He had a .947 slugging percentage and collected a career-high 89 total bases.

He was named the MIAC Player of the Week on April 27 after he hit five home runs in the team's six games, had an unprecedented 1.50 slugging percentage and hit .563 for the week.

Schumacher earns MIAC All-Conference honors for the first time in his career. He had his best season as a Cobber in 2009. He led the team in hitting in MIAC play with a .448 average and finished the season by successfully hitting in 17 consecutive games. That streak is the third longest in school history. Schumacher tied with Johnson for the league in RBI with 22 and was in the top 10 in the conference in eight different offensive statistical categories. He was the best kept secret in the league after having to play in Johnson's shadow for much of the year.

He finished fifth in the MIAC in average, fourth in hits (30), tied for fourth in home runs (4), seventh in total bases (45), eighth in slugging percentage (.672), tied for eighth in on-base average (.487) and tied for eighth in runs scored (18).

On top of his hitting and defensive prowess at first base, Schumacher was also one of the top pitchers for the Cobbers in 2009. He finished the season with a 3-2 record in league play and led the team in innings pitched in MIAC games (29.1).

Schumacher was named the MIAC Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 23 after throwing a complete-game, one-hitter against SUNY-New Paltz.