Bobcats Earn All-Sports Award in First Official OCCAC Season

Bryant & Stratton (OH) Athletics entered the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference with a bang, winning three regular season championships after officially joining the league prior to the 2020-21 seasons (probationary member in two previous seasons). The Bobcats’ success led to earning the ’20-21 OCCAC All-Sports Award.

“This award is a reflection of all the hard work and dedication that our student-athletes, coaches, and support staff contributed during this past year,” Eric Lahetta, Bryant & Stratton (OH) athletics director, said. “The recognition is truly deserving considering what our teams had to experience each and every day this past year in order to practice and play games during a global pandemic.” 

Bryant & Stratton dominated on the hardwood, taking home both the men’s and women’s basketball conference crowns. Men’s basketball finished the season ranked 14^th nationally with an 11-2 overall record and 8-1 mark in OCCAC play. Women’s basketball dropped just a lone league game as well (5-1) while going 8-3 overall and receiving votes in the final national poll.

Lahetta is not only the Bobcat AD, but also head baseball coach. His diamond squad laid claim to the OCCAC trophy by winning nine of 12 league games. Bryant & Stratton Baseball accumulated 24 wins in total (24-12).

“Proud to say I am a part of Bobcat Nation, and I am looking forward to what this next year brings,” Lahetta said.

As one would expect, many individual awards followed the trophies back to campus in Solon. The long list of annual awards gathered by Bryant & Stratton representatives includes:

Coaches of the Year – Eric Lahetta (baseball), Michael Duncan (women’s basketball), Dwayne Morrow (men’s basketball)
Players of the Year – Torrey Roper (baseball), Keara Wilson (women’s basketball), Deval Harrell (co men’s basketball)
Pitcher of the Year – Brad Wolfe (baseball)
Defensive Player of the Year – Greg Thurman (men’s basketball)

The award is tallied by issuing points to schools based on their place of finish in each OCCAC-sponsored sport and dividing that total by the number of sports at each respective school. Conference champions earn 10 points, second place earns nine and so on. Ties are divided (i.e. – a two-way tie for second place would result in both schools receiving 8.5 points; a three-way tie for second would give each team 8.0 points). A three-sport minimum is required to win the OCCAC All-Sports Award.

Owens Community College and Lakeland Community College were accounted for in the baseball and softball standings. Neither school reached the three-sport minimum to be considered for the All-Sports Award, however.

List of the OCCAC All-Sports Award standings dating back to 2008-09