Wheeling, W. Va. - On Wednesday afternoon, the Division II Collegiate Commissioners Association released their annual first and second team All-Region teams. For the second year in a row, the Wheeling University Baseball team is being represented as sophomore J.R. Heavilin was named to the D2CCA Second Team All-Atlantic Region. It is the first time in his career that Heavilin has been named an All-Region player and is the fourth Cardinal to be named to the team in the past two seasons. 

Heavilin was one of the offensive leaders for the Cardinals and stood out as one of the top overall hitters in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) during the 2022 season. The sophomore hit .424 with four home runs and 40 RBI, while sitting in a tie for second in all of Division II with 24 doubles this season. He finished the year with the top batting average in the MEC while finishing fourth in the conference in on-base percentage (0.516) and OPS (1.185) while sitting seventh in slugging at .669. For Heavilin, it was the best season of his collegiate career as he helped anchor the clean-up spot in the Cardinals lineup. 

Heavilin was consistently on base throughout the season, getting at least one hit in 38 of the 45 games and reaching base in 43 of the 45 games he played in. Heavilin moved around the field for the Cardinals this season, spending time as Designated Hitter, Catcher, Third Baseman, and Second Baseman throughout the season, as the Cardinals worked to get his bat in the lineup consistently. Over the final three weeks as his team was battling in the MEC playoff race, Heavilin stepped up when his team needed him. Over those final three series, Heavilin would hit .464 (13-28) with seven doubles and eight RBI. Unfortunately, Wheeling fell just short of a playoff spot, but battled until the final day of the season. 

With the award, Heavilin becomes the 16th Wheeling University Student-Athlete to appear on an All-Region list in their sport this season and is the only one to be named All-Region so far for the spring sports. Women's Basketball's Lauren Calhoun was the last All-Region player named, earning a spot on the D2CCA's Women's Basketball Second Team All-Atlantic Region. For baseball, there were eight players from the MEC recognized on the list, one making first team honors while the other seven landed on the second team. The Complete list of D2CCA All-Region Award Winners is below: 

FIRST TEAM 
C – Connor Hamilton, Slippery Rock 
1B – Josh Surowiec, Mercyhurst  
2B – Kyle OFier, Bloomsburg 
3B – Zack Saryeldin, Concord 
SS – Thomas Caufield, Millersville 
OF – Bren Taylor, Millersville 
OF – Alex Robenolt, Slippery Rock 
OF – Zachary Musgrove, Fairmont State 
DH – Ben Newbert, Bloomsburg 
UTILITY (P) – Jacob McCaskey, California (Pa.) 
UTILITY (NON-P) – Assaf Lowengart, Mansfield 
SP – Eric Sapp, Gannon 
SP – Jared Marshman, Bloomsburg 
SP – Chase Nowak, East Stroudsburg 
SP – Ben Francisco, East Stroudsburg 
RP – Nash Bryan, Seton Hill   

SECOND TEAM 
C – Tyler Dellerman, Charleston 
1B – Luke Trainer, Millersville 
2B – Jimmy Losh, Millersville 
3B – Jack Oberdorf, Seton Hill 
SS – Ben Ross, Notre Dame College 
OF – Danny Estrada, Frostburg State  
OF – Kyle Keenan, Concord 
OF – Zack Wright, West Chester 
DH – J.R. Heavilin, Wheeling 
UTILITY (P) – Ethan Kiple, Frostburg State 
UTILITY (NON-P) – Anthony Torreullas, East Stroudsburg 
SP – Devin Dunn, Slippery Rock 
SP – Dylan Brosky, California (Pa.) 
SP – Nick Zegna, Shippensburg 
SP – Ethan Soderna, Charleston 
RP – Kyle Lazar, Seton Hill 

The Wheeling University Baseball team heads into their off-season looking to continue to grow and build their team as they try to make it back to the MEC playoffs in 2023.