Freshman Enmanuel Lpez (Santiago, Dominican Republic/Prepara) of the Marshalltown Community College Baseball team concluded the 2016 season as the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Division I Player of the Week. Lopez helped lead the Tigers to the Region XI Championship game.
In five games in the Region XI Tournament this past weekend, Lopez batted .389 at the plate as the Tigers reached their fourth postseason championship since 2011. The Tigers defeated No. 3 seed Indian Hills Community College 1-0 on Friday before falling to top-seeded Iowa Western Community College 5-3 on Saturday.
Lopez and the tigers bounced back for a 9-1 win over No. 4 seed Muscatine Community College Saturday evening to reach the Region XI Championship. The Tigers defeated Iowa Western 3-2 to force a winner-take-all game, but fell to the Reivers 9-4.
Lopez had a hit in all five games for the Tigers, including a 2-3 performance with a run scored and an RBI in the championship game vs. the Reivers.
Lopez finished the 2016 season with a .418 batting average, the first Tiger to eclipse the .400 mark since Scotty Ethell posted a .426 average in 2008. Lopez also tied the school record with 76 hits on the season, joining former Tiger Ben Lott (2012) atop the record book.
The Tigers finished the 2016 season with a program-record 34 wins and tied a school-record with 11 NJCAA Division I All-Region XI selections, including Lopez who was a second-team pick.
This is Lopez's third ICCAC Player of the Week honor this season. As a team, the Tigers earned seven weekly accolades from the conference this year, including four ICCAC Pitcher of the Week honors.
