Wheeling, W. Va. - For the second day in a row an organization has released their All-Region honors and for the second day in a row J.R. Heavlin made the list. On Thursday, the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released their annual All-Region team and Heavilin made the list as an Honorable Mention at Designated Hitter. It is the sophomore's second All-Region honor of the season and marks the second year in a row that Wheeling Baseball had at least one NCBWA All-Region Player. 

It was a big year for the sophomore as he hit a career-best .424 with four home runs and 40 RBI while leading the Cardinals in batting average and sitting second with 40 RBI. He led the Mountain East Conference (MEC) in batting average while sitting fourth in both on-base percentage and OPS and sitting seventh in slugging percentage. However, bigger than all the work he did during the season was his performance down the stretch as the battle for the MEC playoffs was heating up.  

Entering the final three weeks of the season, Wheeling and Notre Dame College were going back and forth for the final playoff spot in a race that would come down to the final day of the season. During that final three week stretch, Heavilin hit .464 (13-28) with seven doubles and eight RBI. During that 10-game stretch, Heavilin had four multi-hit performances and reached base at least once in nine of the ten contests. His best day during that stretch came against Notre Dame in the first game of their four-game series when he went 4-4 with a double, three runs scored and two RBI. 

For Heavilin, it is his second All-Region selection of the season, after being named a Second Team All-Region Member for the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) on Wednesday. Heavilin also earned a spot on the All-MEC team this season, earning First Team honors for the first time in his career. Heavilin stepped in as a leader in his first season in a Cardinals uniform and is being rewarded for his efforts. 

The Wheeling University Baseball team now heads into the off-season as they prepare to get right back in the MEC playoff race during the 2023 season.