Johnny Kampes, Kyle Walker and Jake Kelchner Picked Second Team CCA All-East Region

5/24/2023 12:00:00 AM

Tweet #GBCLightning

The awards parade continued for Goldey-Beacom's baseball team with senior catcher Johnny Kampes (Colora, MD), junior third baseman Kyle Walker (Wilmington, DE) and junior pitcher Jake Kelchner (Collegeville, PA) each named second team Conference Commissioner's Association All-East Region.

This trio also was named first team All-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference with Kampes earlier this week tabbed second team All-East Region by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Kampes has beyond solidified his claim as one of the nation's top catchers and quite simply is one of the league's most feared players. A gifted athlete who is one of the College's elite among all sports, Kampes is a threat at all times with his incredible power, timely hitting, eye-opening speed and stupendous defense that has ended many opponents rallies.

One of the most exciting athletes and a privilege to watch compete, Kampes leaves behind enormous footprints within the program and huge shoes that will be tough to fill. He is second in the country with a school-record 47 stolen bases (first in the CACC), 16th with a school-record 22 doubles (first in the CACC), second in the league with a school-record 56 RBI, third with 10 home runs, third with 75 hits, fifth with a .642 on-base percentage and sixth with a .368 batting average.

Making the CACC and NCAA Tournaments his time to shine, Kampes went on a tear in batting .439 (18-for-41) with five doubles, eight RBI, seven stolen bases and a 1.000 fielding percentage over 82 chances. In those 10 games, he recorded a hit in nine of them after earlier this season going on a 13-game hitting streak.

Kampes graduates first in school history with 54 stolen bases, fourth with 16 home runs, third with 89 RBI and fourth with 30 doubles.

Walker has been one of the program's most vital players at third base with exceptional hitting on a consistent basis. This was witnessed earlier this season when the 2021 second team All-CACC pick went on a school-record 26-game hitting streak, during which he batted .362 (34-of-94) with nine extra-base hits and 22 RBI.

An incredibly exciting athlete to see play, Walker is second in league with 76 hits, fifth with 50 RBI and 16th with a .345 batting average. He is first in school history with 168 hits, first with 99 RBI, second with a .334 career batting average, fourth with 28 stolen bases and fifth with 29 doubles.

Walker's play was exemplified with his glove in the NCAA Tournament, repeatedly coming up with outstanding plays at the hot corner to end rallies. He notched a 1.000 fielding percentage over his 14 chances during the tournament's five games, including five assists May 18 against Felician.

Kelchner has been one of the conference's top pitchers, giving the Lightning consistently strong starts each time. Throwing at least six innings in nine of his last 11 starts and notching at least six strikeouts seven times, the southpaw is first in the league with a school-record seven wins, third with 77 innings pitched (second in team history), fourth with a 3.51 ERA, seventh with 72 strikeouts (second in team history) and 22nd with a .237 batting average against.

Among his highlights, Kelchner got a season-best nine strikeouts May 5 in helping Goldey-Beacom complete a CACC Tournament first-round sweep of Jefferson in the squads' best-of-three series. He followed that with seven strikeouts May 11 in the same tournament at Post and seven strikeouts May 18 in the NCAA Tournament against Felician.

In that Felician contest, he became the first in program history to throw nine innings in a contest twice in the same season. Among the program's career marks, his wins are tied for fifth with his strikeouts and innings 10th.

Goldey-Beacom (37-20) this season had another sensational campaign in which it played in the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons, hosted a regional for the first time and broke the school record for most wins. The team also received votes in the NCBWA national poll prior to the NCAA Tournament, was second in the NCAA East Regional rankings and won four times against nationally ranked schools.

This year also marked the third straight season the Lightning were part of the NCAA East Regional rankings.

Goldey-Beacom's first NCAA Tournament appearance was in 2021, when the squad notched two victories over nationally ranked Saint Thomas Aquinas. This was after the Lightning won the CACC South Division title, closing with a 22-9 overall record and 19-6 in the CACC.

The 2022 unit also excelled, ranked 14th nationally in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll and recorded 27 wins.

Print Friendly Version