GREENSBORO, N.C. – Four Baldwin Wallace University baseball players have been named to an American Baseball Coaches' Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-Region VII teams, with first team member Senior Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Player of the Year Dennis Ritlinger-Nirider (Grove City), earning the position player of the year for his outstanding performance.

The other first team member is senior starting pitcher and left-handed ace Brit Kostura (Tequesta, Fla./Jupiter Christian School), who was the OAC Pitcher of the Year in 2025. He led the Brown and Gold in nearly every major pitching category in 2026. Two other players, Senior third baseman Sean Kolenich (Parma/St. Edward) was named to the second team and junior designated hitter Colin West (Westborough, Mass./Worcester Academy) was named to the third team. 

Ritlinger-Nirider earns his second appearance on the All-Region VII team and debut appearance on the first team. He made an appearance on the second team in 2025 after hitting a then career-best 11 home runs while having a .349/.449/.691 slash line. He appeared in all 47 games a season ago.

Heading into the NCAA Division III Baseball World Series this week, the outfielder holds a .451 batting average and led the OAC with 12 home runs and 62 RBI to claim the batting triple crown. He also has 83 hits, 21 doubles, three triples, 33 walks, 146 total bases, and 63 runs scored to go with his triple crown, completing one of the best offensive seasons in the history of BW Baseball while playing 45 games so far.

For his career, Ritlinger-Nirider has appeared in 153 games and has made starts in 128 of them. He has a .377 batting average with 23 home runs and 124 RBI; all of his home runs have come over the last two seasons. He also has scored 132 runs scored, collected 181 hits, had 48 doubles, six triples, and 72 walks over the course of four seasons with the program. He is a three-time All-OAC selection.

Kostura also earns his first appearance on the All-Region VII first team after making the second team in 2025; he won the OAC Pitcher of the Year that season as well after having a 5-1 win-loss record with a 3.07 ERA. He had 63 strikeouts and threw two complete games, with one being a no-hitter at John Carroll University on May 2, 2025.

Heading into the NCAA Division III Baseball World Series this week, Kostura has a 2.04 ERA including a 1.44 mark through three starts in the postseason. He has a 9-3 win-loss record, and 74 strikeouts in 101 innings of work in 17 games, with 14 of them being starts. He has also issued only 17 walks to date. His highlights this season include a 9 ? inning effort against Muskingum where he only allowed one run, and a postseason of 25 innings in three starts, with his two most recent starts being complete games on 121 and 142 pitches, the latter being a shutout.

For his career, the left-hander has made 39 appearances with 24 of them being starts. He has a 14-4 win-loss record, a 2.38 ERA, 148 strikeouts in 185 ? innings of work. He is a two-time All-OAC team selection and a two-time Academic All-OAC selection.

Kolenich earned his second appearance on the ABCA All-Region VII second team after making it in 2023; he set the program's single-season hits record with 95 before missing all of 2024 with an injury. He hit .406 that respective season with three home runs and 40 RBI.

Heading into the NCAA Division III Baseball World Series this week, Kolenich has a .358/.447/.597 slash line with six home runs, and 50 RBI. He also has 72 hits, 22 doubles, four triples, 31 walks and 72 runs scored in 46 games, all of which are starts. His highlight of the year was a six-hit game in the season opener against Alfred State (N.Y.) on February 14.

For his career, Kolenich has played in 192 games and has started in all but one of them. He has a .362/.437/.528 slash line with 17 home runs and 177 RBI. He also has 67 doubles, seven triples, 94 walks and 215 runs scored. He is a three-time All-OAC team selection.

West earns his first career appearance on the ABCA All-Region VII third team after having a breakthrough year his junior season. Heading into the NCAA Division III Baseball World Series this week, he has a .339/.427/.556 slash line with five home runs and 53 RBI in 46 games played, 45 of which are starts. He also had 20 doubles, two triples, 19 walks, 61 hits and 40 runs scored. His highlight of the season was his five-hit game against DeSales (Pa.) on March 10, going 5-for-6 with two doubles and a triple. He additionally hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning against Wisconsin-La Crosse in game two of the NCAA Tournament Decatur Regional. 

For his career, West has played in 107 games and has made starts in 82 of these occurrences. He has a .354/.442/.540 slash line with seven home runs and 83 RBI. He also has 33 doubles, three triples, 114 hits, 39 walks and 72 runs scored. He is a 2026 All-OAC first-team selection.

Up Next

The Yellow Jackets are back in action when they face off against seventh-ranked John Hopkins (Md.) University in the NCAA Division III World Series on Friday, May 29 at Classic Park in Eastlake. First pitch is set for 10 a.m. Fans can click here to watch the game and can also tune into WBWC 88.3 The Sting with Alex Dettmer calling all the action.