KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan catcher Connor Charping has been named among the top 50 catchers in the country by D1Baseball.com. The WMU senior came in at #27 on the publication's list of top backstops.  
 
An All-MAC First Team and CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree following the 2021 campaign, Charping started all 50 games for Western Michigan 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. Last month, Charping was named one of the MAC's Preseason Co-Players of the Year by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
 
In D1 Baseball's Mid-American Conference preview, the Broncos were selected to finish in fourth-place. WMU posted a 23-17 mark in league play last season to tie for third in the final MAC standings.
 
Junior right-hander Easton Sikorski was also mentioned in D1 Baseball's preview as the sixth-best prospect in the conference for the upcoming 2022 MLB Draft. Sikorski is coming off of a 5-3 campaign which saw him post a 4.14 ERA and lead the Broncos in both innings pitched (63.0) and strikeouts (62) in 11 starts.
 
 
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 to begin Mid-American Conference play.