All-Midwest Conference Baseball

GRINNELL, Iowa – Having just won its first Midwest Conference title and MWC Tournament crown in program history, Grinnell College's baseball team is getting its just reward in terms of postseason honors.
 
The Pioneers boasted the MWC Position Player, Newcomer and Coach of the Year for 2026, and had four players earn spots on the All-MWC first team.
 
Stuart Cash '27 was named the MWC Position Player of the Year, Connor Pink '29 collected Newcomer of the Year honors and Tim Hollibaugh was voted Coach of the Year. Players landing on the elite team were Cash, Connor Goodson '26, Nikolas Ruden '26 and Wyatt Raymond '28.
 
The number of first-teamers is the highest for the program since 2021.
 
Cash, a third baseman, absolutely dominated the MWC offensive statistics. In league play, he ranked first in batting average at .464, on-base percentage at .554 and stolen bases with 20. Cash was second in slugging percentage (.841) and OPS (1.395) and also ranked in the top 10 in home runs (six), hit by pitch (six) and hits (32). He set a school record this season for overall stolen bases in a season with 27.
 
Pink was a jack of all trades for the Pioneers, not only manning the left field spot but also serving as a relief pitcher. Offensively in league play, he ranked third in sacrifice flies with three and also was in the top 10 in batting average with a .404 mark. He also registered three saves in MWC action, second in the league.
 
Hollibaugh not only coached the Pioneers to league regular-season and tournament titles, but claimed his 500^th career victory in the MWC Tourney championship victory over Illinois College. He is just the second coach in league history to win 500 games at the same school. Hollibaugh has been named MWC South Division Coach of the Year nine times in his career and is guiding the Pioneers to their first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament.
 
Goodson, a first baseman, led the league in RBIs with 45 and double plays turned with 14, was second in runs scored with 32 and third in batting average at .430, OPS at 1.257 and home runs with seven. He was also in the top 10 in hits with 37 and slugging percentage at .767. Goodson, who also was first-team All-MWC last season, has season school records for RBIs (63), runs scored (53) and hits (64).
 
Ruden, a second baseman, ranked third in league play in on-base percentage at .515 and  is also n the top 10 in batting average (.400), slugging percentage (.638), OPS (1.153), runs scored (29), hits (32), RBIs (26), walks (16), hit by pitch (five) and stolen bases (nine). He was third in double plays turned with 11 and ranked among the top 10 in fielding assists with 42.
 
Raymond, a right fielder, was tops in MWC play in slugging percentage at .956, OPS at 1.456, RBIs with 34, hits with 41, doubles with 13 and home runs with 11. He was second in batting average with a .451 mark and also ranked in the top 10 in on-base percentage (.500) and at-bats (91). He has 13 overall home runs this season, second in program history.
 
The MWC Pitcher of the Year was Ben Schweit of Beloit College.