CHILLICOTHE, Ohio- The River States Conference announced the 2026 River States Conference baseball All-Conference selections and awards winners Thursday, during the first day of competition at the 2026 RSC Baseball Tournament at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio. The league unveiled its All-Conference and gold glove teams, and awarded the league's four major awards for Player, Pitcher, Freshman, and Coach of the Year. Each All-Conference selection and award winner is selected via a vote of the league's coaches.
Oakland City University was the most represented team on the All-Conference teams, with ten Mighty Oaks earning conference recognition. The Eagles of Midway University followed the Mighty Oaks with eight overall selections, with Brescia University and Indiana University Southeast following with seven total selections. IU Southeast was the top team in First Team honorees with five. Shawnee State and Rio Grande both had five selections, with IU Columbus and Kentucky Christian both at three, and IU Kokomo and WVU Tech rounding things out with two. The league also honored the top defensive players at each position as Gold Glove recipients.
The River States Conference's Player of the Year award went to Shawnee State's Diego Mendoza. The Shawnee State catcher was within striking distance of the Triple Crown, finishing first in the league in runs batted in (63) and second in both batting average (.394) and home runs (13). Mendoza also led the RSC in slugging percentage at .706, and logged an RSC-best 120 total bases. He logged 40 of his 67 hits in conference play, leading the league.
On the mound, the RSC Pitcher of the Year was awarded to Triple Crown winner Tyler Pyles of Midway University. Pyles led the conference in earned run average (2.10), wins (8) and strikeouts (86) as the ace of coach Luther Bramblett's staff. Pyles' numbers got even better in RSC play, with the lefthander going 5-0 with a 1.68 earned run average. Opposing hitters hit just .158 against Pyles in conference play, with the Eagle posting a WHIP of 0.91.
The award for the league's Freshman of the Year was given to Oakland City's Charlie Hoffman. In his first year of college baseball, Hoffman started 39 games for the Mighty Oaks, hitting .387 with 39 runs scored and 24 runs batted in. Serving as the Mighty Oaks' designated hitter, the Evansville native logged 15 extra-base hits with ten doubles, three triples, and one home run.
In his first season at the helm, Vince Tornincasa brought IU Southeast back to the top of the conference, and was honored by his peers as the 2026 RSC Coach of the Year. The Grenadiers earned a return trip to the NAIA Tournament, the program's eighth in the past ten full seasons, thanks to a 22-5 conference record, and posted a 35-14 record overall.
Additionally, the RSC is also proud to announce the athletes recognized as their program's Champion of Character. Each team in each River States Conference sponsored sport is asked to nominate one athlete as their Champion of Character. These student-athletes best represent the NAIA’s Champions of Character program and its five core values of Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Servant Leadership and Sportsmanship.
The 2026 River States Conference baseball tournament began Thursday in Chillicothe, Ohio. The tournament is scheduled to continue through Sunday afternoon, with the winner of the tournament earning the league's second automatic bid to the NAIA Opening Round next month.
RIVER STATES CONFERENCE ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
FIRST TEAM
SP: Tyler Pyles, Midway
SP: Brendan Whalen, IU Southeast
SP: Landen Ray, Oakland City
SP: Isaac Bellamy, Kentucky Christian
RP: Manny De Gracia, Oakland City
C: Diego Mendoza, Shawnee State
C: Gregory Catano, Rio Grande
1B: Trevor Goodwin, IU Southeast
2B: Jace Parnin, Shawnee State
3B: Bryson Arnette, Indiana Southeast
SS: Joseph Massa, Brescia
OF: Jack Amis, Shawnee State
OF: Grant Huebner, Brescia
OF: Eli Jones, Shawnee State
OF: Nazhir Bergen, Oakland City
DH: Caden Lockwood, IU Southeast
UTIL: Coulter Hamilton, IU Southeast
SECOND TEAM
SP: Nathan McKissick, Midway
SP: Ricardo Medrano, Shawnee State
SP: Brian Gonzalez, Brescia
SP: Andrew Combs, Kentucky Christian
RP: Schon Pespisa, Rio Grande
C: Oliver Hamilton, Oakland City
C: Connor Mitchuson, Brescia
1B: Taylor Voorhees, Midway
2B: Noah Atherholt, Midway
3B: Marcos Arocho, Oakland City
SS: Simon Gaines, Oakland City
OF: Gabe Yonto, IU Southeast
OF: Eric Correa, Oakland City
OF: Carson McNulty, IU Columbus
OF: Miguel Marcos, Brescia
DH: Hayden Jones, Brescia
UTIL: KB Perkins, Rio Grande
THIRD TEAM
SP: Weston Harvey, IU Southeast
SP: Logan Martin, Rio Grande
SP: Xavier Hart, Midway
SP: Marco Viteri Moran, WVU Tech
RP: Brenden Cole, Midway
C: Aidan Sheetz, IU Columbus
C: Isaac Tencza, Midway
1B: Jake Winzenread, Oakland City
2B: Noah Wolf, IU Kokomo
3B: Jaryn McLaughlin, Kentucky Christian
SS: Gehrig Cordial, Rio Grande
SS: Wyatt Sutton, IU Columbus
OF: Colt Whaley, Midway
OF: Bryce Humphrey, Oakland City
OF: Gabe Templeton, WVU Tech
OF: Max Johnson, Brescia
DH: Nate Montgomery, IU Kokomo
UTIL: Dicky Gonzalez, Oakland City
GOLD GLOVE TEAM
Pitcher: Tyler Pyles, Midway
Catcher: Oliver Hamilton, Oakland City
First Base: Eric Odell, Kentucky Christian
Second Base: Dicky Gonzalez, Oakland City
Shortstop: JJ Polvinale, WVU Tech
Third Base: Mason Reid, Shawnee State
Left Field: Jack Amis, Shawnee State
Center Field: Eli Jones, Shawnee State
Right Field: Christian Gerena, Kentucky Christian
CHAMPIONS OF CHARACTER
Chase Christie, Brescia
Carson McNulty, IU Columbus
Nate Olsen, IU Kokomo
Konnor Scheidt, IU Southeast
Drevin Sanders, Kentucky Christian
Oliver Hamilton, Oakland City
Cole Ginter, Midway
Carlos Mateo, Rio Grande
Trent Tice, Shawnee State
Cody Cooper, WVU Tech
Pitcher of the Year: Tyler Pyles, Midway
Player of the Year: Diego Mendoza, Shawnee State
Freshman of the Year: Charlie Hoffman, Oakland City
Coach of the Year: Vincent Tornincasa, IU Southeast