MASON CITY – NIACC sophomores Quinn Ahern and Zach Fricke signed national letters of intents on Wednesday with NCAA Division I schools.
Ahern, a right-handed pitcher from Plainfield, Ill., signed with Chicago State University and Fricke, a catcher/pitcher from Waterloo, signed with the University of Iowa.
“The success of these two will play huge roles for us this spring,” NIACC coach Travis Hergert said. “They will be two crucial pieces to the puzzle.
“This is why they came to NIACC. They believed in the process of how we could develop them and today they get to relish in that.”
Ahern was 3-7 with 1 save for the Trojans in 2014. He had 52 strikeouts, which ranks 8th on NIACC’s single-season strikeout list, and 23 walks.
Chicago State is a member of the Western Athletic Conference. Former NIACC players Robert Swenson and Ean McNeal will be seniors on this year’s Chicago State team.
The Cougars were 17-37 overall and 5-19 in the WAC in 2014.
Fricke hit .182 with five doubles, 27 RBIs and 30 walks. He also collected two saves as a pitcher with nine strikeouts and five walks.
“He’s a catcher with some left-handed pop,” Hergert said. “He does a nice job behind the plate and he can also be a pitcher.
“Zach had a really good fall for us and showed really well.”
Iowa was 30-23 overall and 10-14 in the Big Ten Conference in 2014.
