LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (May 8, 2025) – The Whittier College baseball team yielded three players with recognition from the SCIAC this season, including two all-conference players and the 2025 SCIAC Character Award recipient.
Junior right fielder
Joe Plaskett and senior pitcher/first baseman/designated hitter
Maximus Berber earned their way onto First and Second Team All-SCIAC respectively. Plaskett showed himself to be without a shadow of a doubt the Poets' most improved player from 2024 to 2025. While he flashed a legitimate power stroke in 2024, he received an opportunity to play every day in right field this season and never moved out of the cleanup spot. He responded by leading the Poets in virtually every major statistical hitting category and featured with a .371/.444/.695 triple slash line and a 1.139 OPS. He was the only Poet this season to reach double-digit home runs and tallied 105 total bases.
As for Berber, he wrapped one of the most impressive Whittier four-year baseball careers in recent memory by achieving his 200th strikeout on the mound against Pacific University in his final start of the year last week. The milestone "K" came against the second-to-last batter he faced in his career. While his batting average lacked compared to other years, Berber too showcased a decent power stroke with four home runs while finding himself as the staff ace of the Poets' group of starting pitchers. He had 76 strikeouts in 77 innings and threw his way to a 3.16 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Each of these figures represented career highs for Berber, who also found himself on the right end of winning decisions in three of his final four starts.
The 2025 SCIAC Character Award went to senior middle infielder
Nathan Sherman, a fixture at both second base and shortstop during his four-year Whittier career. The SCIAC Character award is annually presented to a senior who best exemplifies success on the diamond, in the classroom and with involvement in community and school service. Sherman's involvement around campus involved stints in the Kinesiology Society, SAAC and the admissions department as a student-athlete ambassador. He is also lined up for a year-long internship with the National Junior Golf Association (NJGA) upon graduating, and provided exemplary sportsmanship over his four years in the baseball program.
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