STERLINGTON, La. – The Louisiana Christian University baseball program was represented at the Red River Athletic Conference awards ceremony five times as announced by the league office Thursday night as Tyler McKenna was named Newcomer of the Year and a First Team selection at catcher, Harrison Waxley claimed Freshman of the Year, Braxton Cooksey found himself on the Second Team as a utility man, and Logan Lobell received the Wildcats' nod on the Champions of Character Team.
 
McKenna, a graduate student transfer from New Orleans and Daytona State Community College, ended the regular season as one of the most fearsome hitters in all of the NAIA, ranked sixth nationally with a .458 batting average and eighth regarding on-base percentage at a healthy .559 clip, both of which led the league. The Valrico, Florida native joined the club for the spring semester and immediately produced as he wound up second among the RRAC in slugging percentage (.725) and doubles (27), fifth in extra-base hits (22), and tenth in hits (55) while playing exceptional defense behind the dish with 215 putouts (10th in RRAC) as well as catching nine runners stealing (8th in RRAC). The burly backstop led the team prior to the tournament in home runs at five (Braden Trull tied him in the 1st Round win over LSUA) and sacrifice flies at four in addition to registering 35 RBIs, 34 runs scored, 18 walks, and even a stolen base while sporting a Wildcat-best on-base streak of 25 games plus a team-high 16-game hitting streak at different points throughout 2024.
 
Waxley, a redshirt freshman third baseman from Bossier City, Louisiana, was snubbed from making all-conference despite the recognition as the Red River's top first year student-athlete, made his impact known from the first series in Orange and Blue as he introduced himself to the Wildcats faithful by winning RRAC Player of the Week during the season-opening sweep of Dillard. The righty who sported a throwback fashion statement with his mutton chop sideburns early in the campaign, put together a special debut campaign on "The Hill" as he was second only to Southwest (New Mexico)'s Carlos Jaquez for the season's most RBIs (52), topped the squad and clubbed the sixth-most hits in the league (59), on top of sliding onto the backend of the top-ten for both batting average (.373) and doubles (13). The freshman phenom scored 36 times, walked during 22 plate appearances, stole a quartet of bags, and showcased some power by connecting on a pair of long balls. He racked up a 2024-most 21 multi-hit and 16 multi-RBI outings while wrapping up with the third-longest on-base string behind McKenna (25) and Nicholas Brunet (21) at 17-in-a-row.
 
Cooksey, a junior two-way player from McComb, Mississippi, was sent to the bump the eighth-highest number of times in the conference with 17 appearances including four starts. The former Southwest Mississippi CC Bear fell just 5.2 innings (40.1 IP) shy of qualifying for the pitching leaderboards, but if he had, the flamethrower would have been second for strikeouts per nine innings (11.83), eighth for WHIP (1.36), and ninth for ERA (3.57) as he struck out 53 batters for a 5-3 record, one save, and a weak .197 batting average against. The man with flowing gold locks held his own with the stick too, hitting .277 as he drove in 14 baserunners, came around to score a dozen times himself, and squared up seven doubles.
 
Lobell, a redshirt sophomore catcher from Holden, Louisiana, was a brick wall and a sniper when called upon to put on the gear, recording 19 putouts and five assists without a miscue as he threw out two of the three would-be base stealers that dared to try him. At the plate, he drew more than half as many walks (6) as he had official at-bats (11) for a .444 on-base percentage including a double, a run scored, a sacrifice fly, and a steal to boot.
 
The Diamond Cats will look to vanquish the proverbial monkey from off its back on Friday at 5 p.m. in the RRAC Tournament Winner's Bracket as they attempt to knock off the #4 ranked and top-seeded LSU Shreveport Pilots for the first time in its last 19 tries dating back to its last triumph in March of 2009.
 

---

Follow the baseball program on Facebook (@LCUWildcatsBaseball), Twitter/X (@LCU_BSB) and Instagram (@LCUWildcatsBaseball).
 
Follow the Wildcats on Facebook (@LCUAthletics), Twitter/X (@LCU_Wildcats) and Instagram (@LCU_Wildcats).