Kaffenbarger, Nies and Thombs named to All-HCAC Teams

Defiance senior Nate Kaffenbarger highlights a trio of Yellow Jackets on the 2022 All-HCAC teams for baseball. Kaffenbarger earned first-team honors at shortstop while senior pitcher Cohen Nies was named to the second team and freshman Sam Thombs received an honorable mention nod.

Kaffenbarger led the conference with a .4112 batting average and finished seventh in hits with 56. The slugging shortstop recorded 14 extra-base hits with 12 doubles, a triple, and a homer and drove in 20 runs. Kaffenbarger broke the program record for career hits and tied the career doubles record this season. He also ranks fourth in career RBIs, second in at-bats, sixth in runs, tied for sixth in triples, and tied for seventh in walks. This is the second All-HCAC selection for Kaffenbarger after being named to the honorable mention team last season. He is the first Yellow Jacket to earn a first-team selection since Ben Bucklew and Troy Konwinski in 2019.

Nies led the Yellow Jackets in starts, innings, and strikeouts and posted a 4-4 record with a team-best 4.53 ERA. The righty fanned 66 hitters, tied for the third-most in the HCAC regular season and the seventh-most in program history. Nies was also top-five in the conference in strikeouts looking with 19. Nies is currently second in Defiance history in career strikeouts with 250 and third in innings with 239. This is the third time Nies has earned All-HCAC honors and his first time earning a spot on the second team. Nies was named honorable mention All-HCAC in 2019 and 2021.

Thombs pitched the second-most innings on the team and led the HCAC in strikeouts looking. He also finished third on the team in strikeouts with 47 and logged the second-best ERA at 4.82. The freshman posted a 3-5 record with a save while starting nine games and pitching in relief in five. Thombs was a vital piece of the Defiance pitching staff. He started the second-most games and also had solid outings out of the bullpen, often throwing multiple innings in a long-relief role.