Five Polar Bears named Academic All-District in Baseball by College Sports Communicators
By Marissa Myers
| 2025 CSC Baseball Academic All-District (.pdf) |
ADA — Ohio Northern seniors Andrew Stechschulte (Findlay) and Jack Ballas (Strongsville) and sophomores Kyler Lapp (Hall, Ill.), Evan Russ (Westfield, Ind.) and Matt Serdinak (Sagamore Hills/Walsh Jesuit) were named 2025 Academic All-District in baseball by College Sports Communicators.
The 2025 Academic All-District Baseball Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.
To be eligible for Academic All-District honors, each student-athlete must have at least a 3.5 GPA and have played in at least 50 percent of his team's games or pitched at least 10 innings during the season.
Stechschulte, an accounting major, is now a three-time Academic All-District honoree.
He batted .222 on the season and led the team with 12 doubles to go with 37 hits, 24 RBIs, four home runs, 33 runs scored and four stolen bases. Defensively, he posted a .990 fielding percentage.
In 129 career games at ONU, Stechschulte has a .256 average with 121 hits, 80 RBIs, 31 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs, 84 runs scored and 18 stolen bases.
Ballas, Lapp, Russ and Serdinak are all first-time Academic All-District selections.
Ballas posted a 1-0 record in 17 appearances with 20 strikeouts and a 3.08 ERA.
The exercise physiology major has a 1-1 career record with 32 strikeouts and a 4.29 ERA in 42.0 innings pitched.
Lapp, a mechanical engineering major, led the team with 53 hits and was second on the team with a .342 average. He also had 30 RBIs, eight doubles, two triples, 30 runs scored and four stolen bases.
In two years at ONU, Lapp is a career .336 hitter with 102 hits, 55 RBIs, 22 doubles, four triples, four home runs, 61 runs, and seven stolen bases.
Russ batted .297 on the year with 43 hits, 35 RBIs, eight doubles, one triple, two home runs, 29 runs scored and five stolen bases.
In 72 career games, the finance and accounting double major has a .276 average with 74 hits, 55 RBIs, 17 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 48 runs and eight stolen bases.
Serdinak, a civil engineering major, posted a 2-3 record this season with three saves, 32 strikeouts and a 6.98 ERA.
In 28 career appearances, he has a 2-3 record with four saves, 52 strikeouts, and a 8.60 ERA.
Under 14th-year head coach Gene Stechschulte, the Polar Bears finished 29-14 overall in 2025, placing second in the OAC with a 13-3 league mark. ONU also finished second in the OAC Tournament en route to earning their 10th NCAA III Tournament appearance and first since 1995.