The American Rivers Conference announced its 2025 All-Conference Baseball Team this afternoon with Buena Vista sweeping the major awards and landing three additional all-conference selections and two more honorable mentions.
Senior Evan Taylor was voted as the A-R-C Position Player of the Year, senior Mark Eddie was named the A-R-C Pitcher of the Year while freshman Kaden Struck was selected as the A-R-C Rookie of the Year. Meanwhile, BVU head coach Steve Eddie is this year’s A-R-C Coach of the Year.
During conference play, Taylor led the league in batting average (.417), hits (40), runs (35) and doubles (17) and finished second in walks (21). He registered at least one base hit in 21 of the 24 games played and registered 12 multi-hit games. During a three-game series at Simpson College, Taylor went 9-for-13 at the plate with four doubles, five RBI and five runs scored. He was also named A-R-C Position Player of the Week on Apr. 21. Taylor was voted as the A-R-C Position Player of the Year as a freshman in 2022.
Eddie, who was a Second Team All-Conference selection a season ago, made seven starts on the mound in league play this year and went a perfect 5-0 with a 1.56 ERA – both marks led the A-R-C. He was second in innings pitched (52.0), seventh in strikeouts with 44 and allowed the third-lowest walk total (6). He worked at least six innings in all seven starts and notched his first career nine-inning complete game in his final start of the regular season when he won 4-1 against No. 22 Coe College. He allowed two runs or less in six of the seven starts and struck out nine batters in his first two starts against Luther College and Nebraska Wesleyan, respectively. For the year, he has been named A-R-C Pitcher of the Week three times.
This is the first year in which the A-R-C has awarded the Rookie of the Year award. For Struck, he was leading the way in batting average during conference play for a bulk of the schedule before finishing at .330. He tallied 31 hits, seven doubles, three triples, 25 RBI and scored 20 runs. He tallied a 12-game hitting streak to begin A-R-C play and then ended the regular season with multi-hit performances in each game of the weekend series against No. 22 Coe College. Among his top single-game performances was a 4-for-5 outing, including a double and four RBI during game one of the doubleheader against Central College on Apr. 8. He drove in two runs in each game against Luther College to begin conference play.
For the third time in the last four years, and the fifth time overall, Steve Eddie has landed the Coach of the Year honors. He guided the program to an 18-6 conference record, its 19th regular season conference title all-time, and the fifth under his direction. Along the way, the Beavers hit .286 against A-R-C teams this season which was fourth, ranked second in runs scored (187), first in doubles (65), triples (12), walks (120) and stolen bases (32). The pitching staff was third in ERA (4.45) and third in fielding percentage (.964). Eddie’s team, picked to finish second in the preseason coaches poll, won its first six conference games of the year and 11 of the first 12. It overcame a 2-game deficit on the final weekend to overtake the Kohawks for the regular season title.
In addition to the major award winners, seniors Morgan Smith, Joel Garcia and Drew Taylor were all voted First Team selections while junior Connor Zegar and freshman Dylan Johnson earned Honorable Mention recognition.
Smith, who was the Pitcher of the Year in 2023, finished tied with Eddie for the league lead in wins this season with five (5-1) over his seven starts to go along with a 2.31 ERA. The right hander ranked third in ERA, tied for first in wins, third in innings pitched (50.2), eighth in strikeouts (42) and third in runs allowed (16). He kicked off conference play with a complete-game shutout at Luther College with nine strikeouts and followed that performance up with six scoreless innings against Nebraska Wesleyan while punching out seven. He had four outings overall with at least seven strikeouts.
Garcia, a three-time all-conference performer, hit .306 in league games this season with 30 hits, seven doubles, 22 RBI and 24 runs scored. He ranked eighth overall in RBI and seventh in runs. He had a season-long 12-game hit streak during conference play that began at home on Apr. 3 against Central College and continued through the first game of the weekend series at the University of Dubuque on Apr. 25. Among that stretch included a 4-for-7 performance during a doubleheader at Wartburg College on Apr. 22 which included a triple and a combined four RBI. He also broke the school record for sacrifice flies with his 19th during the middle game against No. 22 Coe College.
Taylor is also an all-conference selection for the third straight year and lands First Team honors for the first time. The third baseman hit .311 and ranked second on the team with 33 base hits in those games. His nine doubles were third-most among any hitter in the league and he drove in 20. He went 7-for-11 in the opening series of conference play at Luther with four doubles and two runs scored. He wrapped up the conference season with six hits during the series versus Coe College, including a 3-for-3 effort in game two.
Zegar and Johnson both earn recognition for the first time in their careers. Zegar, who moved into the regular varsity line-up this season and served as the team’s primary designated hitter, hit .312 in conference play with 29 hits and 20 runs scored. He also chalked up six doubles and drove in 18. He turned in three hits in games against both Luther College and Simpson College, respectively, and combined to drive in seven runs during the weekend series at Loras College.
Johnson became a strong piece to the Beaver bullpen during his first collegiate season. The left hander went 3-0 in relief with a 1.59 ERA in 14 total innings. He matched a season-high 3.0 innings pitched at Wartburg on Apr. 22 where he did not allow a hit or a run and struck out six to earn the win. His first collegiate victory also came against the Knights when the teams met in Storm Lake for a single-game on Mar. 25. In that outing, Johnson pitched 1.1 innings, allowing an unearned run and struck out three.
Buena Vista is currently 32-10 overall and is headed to the NCAA Regional Tournament which takes place from May 16-18.
