MASON CITY – NIACC’s interim baseball coach Lincoln Hochmuth has been selected as the ICCAC coach of the year for the 2022 season.
Hochmuth, who took over the NIACC baseball program in January, led the Trojans to an overall record of 34-19 and a 21-12 league mark. The Trojans earned the No. 2 seed for the NJCAA Region XI tournament.
NIACC landed three players on the NJCAA Region XI first-team, one on the second-team and the Trojans had two honorable mention selections.
Earning first-team all-region honors for the Trojans were Cody Kelly (catcher), Ike Mezzenga (infield) and Cayden Nicoletto (outfield). Brandt Thompson was a second-team pick as a pitcher and pitchers Thomas Gross and Ben Rosin earned honorable mention all-league honors.
Kelly hit .353 with 19 home runs, 13 doubles, 51 RBIs, 64 runs scored and drew 35 walks. The 19 home runs ranks fourth on NIACC’s all-time single-season list.
Mezzenga hit .345 with 15 home runs (7th on school’s single-season list), 12 doubles, 51 RBIs and drew 34 walks.
Nicoletto hit.398 with 11 home runs, 20 doubles (tied for seventh on school’s single-season list), 44 RBIs, 53 runs scored and 16 stolen bases.
Thompson was 6-0 with a 2.51 earned run average in the 2022 season. He accumulated 70 strikeouts with 22 walks.
Thompson compiled a career record of 9-3 with 112 strikeouts, which ranks eighth on the school’s career strikeout list.
Gross was 6-4 with a 4.34 ERA with 83 strikeouts and 34 walks. Gross collected 142 careeer strikeouts, which ranks third on the school’s career strikeout list.
Rosin (1-2) struck out 30 and walked five in 24 1/3 innings of work as a reliever in 2022 for the Trojans.
