Gov. Mifflin grad named NAIA college baseball Player of the Year
J.D. Drew and Ajay Sczepkowski.
That’s it; that’s the list.
They’re the only players in the history of college baseball to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in the same season.
Sczepkowski, a 2017 Gov. Mifflin grad, has been rewarded for his monster season at Georgia Gwinnett College by being named NAIA Baseball Player of the Year.
The 24-year-old outfielder is the first NAIA player to achieve a 30-30 season.
Sczepkowski set program records with 33 home runs and 102 RBIs. He batted .421, scored 95 runs and was good on 36-of-41 stolen base attempts.
“Ajay is a special talent,” Gwinnett coach Jeremy Sheetinger told Baseball America earlier this season. “His ability to impact the game in so many ways commands attention.
“A Gold Glove in the outfield, a threat to steal every time he’s on base, and a knack for getting his best swing off lands him as one of, if not the best NAIA player in the country.”
Sczepkowski, in his first season at Gwinnett, helped the Grizzlies finish 50-8, win the Continental Athletic Conference title and reach the World Series; they lost their first two games and were eliminated.
Sczepkowski is the second player in Gwinnett history to earn national Player of the Year honors, following Ty Abbott in 2015.
He twice hit three homers in a game to set the single-game program record. He had nine games with multiple homers, the last time in the World Series against Indiana Wesleyan May 29. He drove in seven runs in one game.
Sczepkowski’s road to success has been a long one.
He spent three seasons at Harford Community College in Maryland and played last season at Charleston Southern, a Division I program which plays in the Big South Conference.
He struggled to stay on the field in his early seasons. He tore his labrum in 2018, tore his meniscus in 2019 and was limited to 12 games in 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak.
He had never hit more than nine homers in a season before breaking out this season.
Sczepkowski had 55 extra-base hits in 57 games and compiled a 1.009 slugging average.
“Great things happen to great people and Ajay has put himself among the best players ever to wear our green and gray uniform,” Sheetinger told the Gwinnett Daily Post.
“More important than his offensive production is the fact that he’s humble and phenomenal teammate who is always putting the team and its needs first.”
He batted .310 with nine home runs and 16 doubles last season at Southern University, helping the Bucs reach the Big South Conference tournament championship game.
Sczepkowski played four sports at Mifflin, including football, basketball and golf. He received the Cecil E. King award as the best all-around athlete at Mifflin as a senior.
Drew became the first player in Division 1 to join the 30-30 club in 1997 when, playing for Florida State, he hit .455 with 31 home runs and 32 stolen bases on his way to winning the Golden Spikes Award and Baseball America Player of the Year.