OKLAHOMA CITY – For the first time since the program joined the Sooner Athletic Conference in 2008, the Mid-America Christian baseball team had two players earn All-SAC First Team honors as senior outfielder Yan Ely Adames and senior relief pitcher Frensly Leito were named to the esteemed list on Monday.
Becoming the first player to be named a two-time All-SAC First Team honoree, Adames was the big bat in the Evangels lineup all season, swatting a team-leading .386 batting average while also leading the squad in OPS (.1083), doubles (13), home runs (12), runs-batted-in (55) and finished second in runs (43) as well as stolen bases (11).
His 12th home run of the season recorded against Southwestern Christian in the SAC Tournament placed the Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic product in exclusive company as he joined MACU Player of the Decade Jerry McNew and Adrian Bravo-Carmona as the only players to hit at least 12 homers in a season. The mark tied McNew (2016, 2017) and Bravo-Carmona (2011) for second in the MACU record books and sits only behind Bravo-Carmona's record of 14 (2010) in a single year.
The 55 RBIs he finished with on the year also rank as the third-most in a single season during the NAIA era, placing him behind just McNew (2017) and James Frederick (2010). Adames also found himself on the single season list for hits (71, 4th), batting average (5th), slugging percentage (.652, 5th) and stolen bases (10th).
Adames turned in his best performance of the season in a 17-6 victory over Southwestern Christian on Apr. 29, when he slugged 4-for-5 with three doubles, a homer, seven RBIs and two runs. The three doubles were the most by a MACU player recorded in a single game while his seven RBIs was tied for the second-most, sitting behind his own record of eight notched against Bacone on Feb. 20, 2020.
Leito turned in one of the best single season pitching performances in the modern era for the Evangels. In his 2021 campaign, Leito appeared in 15 games and made three starts late in the year, as he closed out with a 3-2 record. The Wilhelmstead, Curacao native allowed just six earned runs on the year for a 1.46 ERA, allowing just 16 walks and 55 strikeouts to go with a .177 opponent batting average over 37 innings of work.
Leito set several program marks over the course of the season, as his .177 batting average is the second-lowest in program history behind Wyatt Glasgow while the 1.46 ERA is the third-lowest mark in the MACU record book. The six earned runs he did allow also rank as the third-lowest and his 23 hits allowed are the fifth-fewest of any pitcher to throw at least 20 innings in a season.
Becoming a late season starter, Leito saved his best performance for last, as he turned in MACU's program record fifth complete game shutout of the season, going eight innings and allowing just three hits and three walks to go with eight strikeouts in a 10-0 victory over Southwestern Christian in the SAC Tournament on May 7.
Leito turned in a season-high nine strikeouts over five innings of relief in MACU's 8-6 comeback victory at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Apr. 18. He was also a part of a combined two-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over SAC champion Science & Arts on Mar. 13, giving up just one hit and one walk with four strikeouts over two innings in the appearance.
Mid-America Christian finished the 2021 season with a 24-26 (.480) overall record, turning in its second-best overall record since the 2008 campaign. By also recording a 10-14 record in SAC play to finish fifth in the league standings, the Evangels turned in their highest ever finish in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
