2024 GPAC Baseball All-Conference Teams
First Team: Joey Grabanski (Co-Player of the Year); Jaidan Quinn (Co-Player of the Year); Jay Adams; Alec Blakestad; Matt Rhoades (Freshman of the Year).
Second Team: Christian Gutierrez; Jacob Lycan; Ty Nekoliczak; Tanner Tompkins.
Honorable Mention: Jimmy Blumberg; Brad Hallock; Caden Johnson.
Coach of the Year: Ryan Dupic
SEWARD, Neb. – A total of 13 Bulldogs from the GPAC championship Concordia University Baseball team were recognized by the GPAC on Wednesday (May 8). The 2024 GPAC All-Conference list was headlined by Co-GPAC Players of the Year, Joey Grabanski and Jaidan Quinn. Additional major awards went to Ryan Dupic, the GPAC Coach of the Year, and Matt Rhoades, the GPAC Freshman of the Year. Grabanski, Quinn and Rhoades were joined on the All-GPAC First Team by Alec Blakestad and Jay Adams. Meanwhile, second team accolades were handed out to pitchers Christian Gutierrez and Jacob Lycan and to Ty Nekoliczak and Tanner Tompkins. Three others earned honorable mention status.
The NAIA record-breaking Grabanski (Grand Forks, N.D.) has been tabbed the GPAC Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons and now boasts four career First Team All-GPAC honors. In 52 games this season, Grabanski has hit .393 with a .496 on-base percentage and .847 slugging percentage to go along with 56 runs, 11 doubles, 24 home runs and a GPAC high 79 RBIs. He has excelled defensively while playing both left field and first base. Back on April 13, Grabanski became the NAIA’s new all-time home run leader when he left the yard for the 78th time in his career. In four incredible collegiate seasons, Grabanski has batted a school record .381 and has totaled 224 runs, 302 hits, 51 doubles, 86 home runs and 291 RBIs. Entering the NAIA national tournament, Grabanski needs five more RBIs to break another NAIA career record. He was named an NAIA Second Team All-American in 2023.
Quinn becomes the third player in program history to be named GPAC Player of the Year, joining Grabanski (2023 and 2024) and Christian Meza (2019). The Bonner Springs, Kan., native Quinn has picked up his third career First Team All-GPAC award. The slugging third baseman paces the GPAC in home runs (26), on-base percentage (.531) and slugging percentage (.894) and is hitting .389 in 54 games. Quinn has also totaled 76 runs, 70 hits, 13 doubles and 71 RBIs. Across three seasons as a Bulldog (170 games), Quinn has batted .360 with 196 hits, 209 runs, 37 doubles, 72 home runs and 201 RBIs. He also owns a career .514 on-base percentage and .825 slugging percentage. In 2023, Quinn became the first player in program history to hit four home runs in a single game. Like Grabanski, he was honored as an NAIA Second Team All-American in 2023.
Dupic has been chosen as the GPAC Coach of the Year for the third time (2017, 2019 and 2024). The 10th-year skipper has orchestrated a transformational period in Concordia Baseball history. Since being tabbed head coach beginning with the 2015 season, Dupic has led the program to a combined seven GPAC championships and six national tournament appearances. The 2021 season resulted in a historic trip to the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho. Dupic is the winningest coach in program history with an overall record of 323-176-1. The Bulldogs have won at least 40 games in four-straight seasons under Dupic’s leadership.
The Waverly, Neb., native Adams also ranks among the best players in program history. After starting at second base from 2020 through 2023, Adams moved to right field in 2024. He is also a four-time First Team All-GPAC honoree. Through 54 games in ’24, Adams has batted .375 with 65 runs, 16 doubles, 10 home runs, 46 RBIs and 11 stolen bases to go along with a .450 on-base percentage and .596 slugging percentage. He owns program career records for games played (244), at bats (954), runs scored (281), hits (342) and doubles (69). Adams is a career .358 hitter who has tallied 44 home runs and 220 RBIs while striking out only 116 times (compared to 107 walks) in his impeccable career. Adams was selected as a 2022 NAIA Honorable Mention All-American.
An Omaha native, Blakestad has starred as the GPAC’s best center fielder in back-to-back years. He is a two-time First Team All-GPAC award winner and was a Second Team All-GPAC recipient in 2022. On the year, Blakestad is hitting .324 (57-for-176) with 51 runs, 12 doubles, two triples, 12 RBIs and 51 RBIs. He sports a .472 on-base percentage and .619 slugging percentage in 54 games. In center field, he has handled 95 of 97 chances (.979). In 199 games as a Bulldog, Blakestad has batted .352 with 195 runs, 192 hits, 42 doubles, seven triples, 30 home runs, 148 RBIs and 54 stolen bases.
Dupic and his staff found another gem when it landed Rhoades out of Monument, Colo. The GPAC Freshman of the Year is hitting .311 (56-for-180) with 32 runs, seven doubles, 16 home runs and 53 RBIs to go with a .395 on-base percentage and .617 slugging percentage in 54 games. Rhoades belted two homers in the first game of his college career and enjoyed a stretch in February that saw him homer in four-straight games. He’s also made six starts on the mound and is 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 22 innings.
A native of La Mirada, Calif., Gutierrez has logged a team high 78.1 innings in 14 appearances (13 starts) this season. The workhorse righty has tossed four complete games, including a four-hit shutout of Hastings on April 21. Gutierrez is 7-3 with a 3.68 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 2024. Over three collegiate seasons, Gutierrez owns a record of 21-5 with a 4.24 ERA and 174 strikeouts in 204 innings. He was also a 2022 Honorable Mention All-GPAC choice.
A fifth-year contributor out of Omaha, Neb., Lycan has starred out of the bullpen. He sports a team low 1.80 ERA and has earned three wins and two saves. He has appeared in 17 games and has covered 30 innings, striking out 37 hitters and holding the opposition to a .200 batting average. The Millard North High School alum Lycan has made 64 career appearances out of the bullpen as a Bulldog.
A three-year starter in the middle infield, Nekoliczak has earned his third career All-GPAC honor (HM in 2022 and first team in 2023). The Greeley, Neb., native has started all 54 games at second base (after playing shortstop in 2022 and 2023) and has hit .315 (58-for-184) with three doubles, two triples, two home runs and 30 RBIs. He has worked 38 walks while posting a robust .429 on-base percentage. In addition to Second Team All-GPAC accolades, Nekoliczak was awarded the GPAC Gold Glove at second base. From that spot, Nekoliczak has converted 203 of 206 chances (.985 fielding percentage). In 169 career games, Nekoliczak has batted .351 with a .453 on-base percentage and .430 slugging percentage. He has notched 188 career hits.
Tompkins, who hails from Normal, Ill., has been named to the GPAC’s second team in back-to-back campaigns. As the team’s primary catcher (30 starts), Tompkins is hitting .345 with three doubles, five home runs and 24 RBIs to go with a .400 on-base percentage and .504 slugging percentage. He has recorded 11 assists from the catcher position. Across three seasons at Concordia, Tompkins has hit .337 (128 hits) with a .400 on-base percentage and .509 slugging percentage. He’s homered 15 times in 131 career games.
The honorable mention list includes shortstop Jimmy Blumberg, designated hitter Brad Hallock and starting pitcher Caden Johnson. Blumberg has helped solidify the middle infield defense along with Nekoliczak. A native of La Mirada, Calif., Blumberg has drawn 23 walks on the season. A transfer addition like Blumberg, Hallock (Carrollton, Texas) has stepped into the middle of the lineup and has hit .315 with 10 home runs and 43 RBIs.
Johnson has garnered his third career All-GPAC honor (first team in 2022 and 2023). In 12 starts this season, Johnson is 7-2 with a 5.40 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 60 innings. Opposing hitters have batted .204. In his latest start, the Papillion, Neb., native threw seven shutout innings versus Midland. In 53 career games (41 starts), Johnson owns a 25-7 record with a 4.15 ERA and 242 strikeouts in 219 innings. On the program’s all-time lists, he ranks in a tie for second in wins, second in starts, third in strikeouts, third in innings.
The Bulldogs (41-13) will learn of their draw for the opening round of the national tournament at 4 p.m. CT on Thursday when the NAIA selection show is held. That show can be viewed via the NAIA’s YouTube channel HERE.