CHICAGO, Ill. – North Park Baseball established a new program record with four selections on the D3Baseball.com All-Region 8 Team, as the organization announced on Tuesday morning. Senior two-way player Bobby Bartlett, junior outfielder Alex DiVito, and senior infielder Justin Swanson were second-team honorees while sophomore pitcher Ethan Condit landed on the third team.
Bartlett continues to add more recognition to a sensational senior year and Viking career. Bartlett, a two-time first-team All-CCIW pick and the league's Player of the Year this season, was formidable at the plate and on the hill to guide the Vikings to a CCIW title. The left hander led NPU with a 3.36 ERA, .223 batting average against, .800 win-loss percentage, and was second on the team with 48 strikeouts. He only got better as the season went on, evidenced by his season high 10 strikeouts against Carthage in the CCIW Tournament. At the plate, Bartlett hit .370 with seven doubles, a home run, and 24 RBI while fielding .989 with 16 assists. He showcased an OBP of .454, scored 18 runs, and swiped four bases.
DiVito's hot start to the season barely fizzled, as the everyday center fielder for the Vikings boasted some of the top numbers in Division III Baseball for the majority of the season. DiVito led North Park in eight categories on offense: batting average (.396), slugging percentage (.574), on-base percentage (.495), runs scored (51), hits (67), home runs (5), total bases (97), and sac flies (5). He also added 11 doubles, a pair of triples, 23 walks and 33 stolen bases. He manned the outfield with a .980 fielding percentage and four assists. He had 19 multi-hit performances and had three games with 4+ hits. His 33 bases are tied for the fourth-best single season total at NPU while his 67 hits and 51 runs scored are 8th and 6th, respectively.
Swanson enjoys the second All-Region nod of his career after posting impressive numbers both at the plate and in the infield. The four-year starter up the middle finished his senior season with a slash line of .351 / .488 / .525 with a team-leading 12 doubles, a pair of triples, and four homers. He led the Vikings with 46 RBI, drew 28 walks, and was plunked at the plate 19 times this season. On defense, he fielded .985 with 103 assists and was a part of 25 double plays. His 84 total bases and 49 runs scored were second only to DiVito. Swanson has etched his name in a number of all-time categories at NPU, including: hits (t6,184), doubles (t4, 41), home runs (t14, 16), RBI (t8, 118), SLG% (22nd, .513), total bases (6th, 285), walks (4th, 107), OBP (.t7, .470), stolen bases (15th, 44), assists (6th, 334) and he's now the all-time leader in HBP with 45.
Condit moved from a spot starting role as a freshman in 2023 to go-to reliever/closer in his 2024 sophomore season. The right hander led the Vikings staff with 19 appearances and five wins while grabbing as many saves. He posted a 2.10 ERA with a three-to-one SO/BB ratio (36-to-11). Batters hit .252 against Condit and he allowed just three extra-base hits all season. He allowed earned runs in just five of his 19 appearances, and he had a stretch of 10 games where he didn't surrender an earned run. Finally, he struck out at least one batter in each of his final five appearances, including a season high six against Carroll (4/27).
The 2024 season marks the 12th season that D3baseball.com has named All-Region teams, with more than 1,000 players nominated by Sports Information Directors. The ballot was then made available to D3baseball.com staff and contributors from which three teams in each region were determined. All-Region selections are also eligible for All-American recognition, which will be announced by D3baseball.com this week.
