Perkins Wins Ivy League Player of the Year

On Friday afternoon, while most students were hauling away their things and leaving campus, members of the Columbia baseball team were hauling in some prestigious postseason accolades.

The highest individual award in Ivy League baseball, the Ivy League Player of the Year award, went to a Columbia player for the first time since Garrett Neubart won it in 1995 as senior second baseman Henry Perkins was selected for the award.

Perkins led the Lions with a .383 batting average, a .448 on-base percentage, and a .594 slugging percentage over the course of the season. In the deciding third game of the Ivy League championship series against Dartmouth, Perkins not only played a staunch second base and homered, but he also pitched 3 1/3 innings of relief to earn his only save of the season.

That wasn't the only esteemed award that the Light Blue garnered, as freshman Nick Cox was unanimously selected as the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, making him the first Columbia player to be chosen for this honor. In his first collegiate season, Cox led the Lions in stolen bases with 26 and was second only to Perkins with his .365 batting average on 66 hits.

Perkins was selected to the first team all-Ivy League, and he was joined Blair Bat winner Noah Cooper and staff ace John Baumann. Cox earned a spot on the second team all-Ivy and he was joined by junior pitcher Joe Scarlata, junior third baseman Mike Roberts, and sophomore outfielder Jason Banos. Sophomore catcher Dean Forthun was an honorable mention.

The team is awaiting its next matchup, which will be decided on May 26 and the regionals of the NCAA Tournament will take place beginning on May 30.