KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan senior catcher Connor Charping has been selected as one of the Mid-American Conference's Preseason Co-Players of the Year by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
 
It marks the second consecutive season WMU has boasted a preseason Player of the Year, as D1Baseball named Broncos' outfielder Blake Dunn as the MAC's Preseason Player of the Year heading into the 2021 campaign. Dunn went on to become a 15th round pick of the Cincinnati Reds in last June's Major League Baseball Draft.
 
An All-MAC First Team and CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree following the 2021 season, Charping started and played in all 50 games for WMU and hit .355, the fifth-highest batting average in the MAC. The Trenton, Mich., native led the Broncos in batting average, runs (42), hits (65) and stolen bases (32) for the season. His 32 stolen bases set a new single-season program record and ranked fourth nationally.
 
"It's a tremendous honor to have a Bronco named Preseason MAC Player of the Year in back-to-back years," Western Michigan head coach Billy Gernon said. "2021 was a special season, and we're looking forward to building off of that success. We can't wait for opening day!"
 
Western Michigan finished tied for third in the MAC standings last spring, and was picked to finish fourth by Collegiate Baseball. The publication also listed senior infielder Justin McIntyre, senior right-hander Jack Huisman and junior righty Easton Sikorski among its Players to Watch in 2022.
 
The Broncos are slated to begin the 2022 season on Friday, Feb. 25, as they open up a three-game series at Kentucky. Western Michigan's first home series of the new campaign is set for the weekend of March 18-20, as Toledo comes to Kalamazoo for the opening weekend of Mid-American Conference play.