Pittston Area graduate Kyle OFier earned multiple individual honors after playing a leading role in Bloomsburg University’s trip to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II baseball tournament.
The redshirt junior second baseman was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings All-Atlantic Region second-team after also being selected as a first-team Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference all-star.
OFier led the Huskies to their second straight PSAC title and third straight trip to the Division II Atlantic Regional in their return after a shortened 2020 season that did not include playoffs.
Bloomsburg went 24-18, including 18-14 in the PSAC East.
OFier showed he was ready from the start and wound up leading the team in doubles (10), home runs (10), total bases (87) and runs batted in (43). He finished second with 47 hits, a .322 batting average and .596 slugging percentage.
A nine-game hitting streak to open the season put OFier at 16-for-30 (.533) and earned him an early PSAC Eastern Division Athlete of the Week award.
OFier had 12 multiple-RBI games and 14 multiple-hit games.
Bloomsburg opened the Atlantic Regional with a 3-2 win over Charleston on OFier’s game-winning, solo home run to lead off the bottom of the 10th inning. It was his third walk-off hit of the season and second by homer.
In four seasons, including the 9 games in the shortened 2020 season, OFier has played 152 games, all but one as a starter. He is batting .285 with 28 home runs and 127 RBI.
OFier has a season left in which he has a shot at the school career records of home runs (37) and RBI (165) set by Berwick graduate Matt Karchner during his 1986-89 Bloomsburg career before making to Major League Baseball as a pitcher.
Injuries to the pitching staff sent Bloomsburg into the postseason as the underdog, but the Huskies went 5-2 in the PSAC playoffs, all on the road, and 4-1 in elimination games.
Bloomsburg defeated West Chester in the quarterfinals, Millersville in the semifinals and Seton Hill in the finals.
OFier was not alone as a District 2 graduate contributing to the championship run.
Jared Marshman, a redshirt sophomore from Berwick, and Nate Baranski, a redshirt freshman from Wyoming Valley West, shared the team lead of five wins.
Graduate student Ed Herbener from MMI Prep also had a win on the mound for the team that is coached by Scranton Prep graduate Mike Collins.
Marshman was 5-3 with a save and a 6.09 earned run average. He made 14 appearances, including 7 starts, 2 of which he finished. In 54 2/3 innings, Marshman gave up 63 hits and 14 walks while striking out 53.
In his three-year career, Marshman is 10-4.
Baranski was 5-1 with a save and a 7.66 ERA. He appeared in 13 games, giving up 34 hits and 6 walks while striking out 18 in 20 innings.
Before his freshman season was halted early, Baranski was off to a strong start with a win and a save in his first two college appearances, striking out six without walking a batter in 4 2/3 innings while posting a 1.93 ERA.
Herbener was 1-2 with a 12.58 ERA this season. He pitched in nine games, including five starts. Herbener completed one game. In 24 1/3 innings, he gave up 41 hits and 20 walks while striking out 31.
For his Bloomsburg career, Herbener pitched 44 times, including 8 starts, and went 4-4 with a save and 9.54 ERA. He struck out 86 in 84 innings.
