Bennett Hostetler Covington headshot 2018Our 14th best hitter came a long way to join the Valley League, but he sure made it worth his while.

A native of Bozeman, Montana, and a rising junior at North Dakota State, Bennett Hostetler had a breakout summer for the Covington Lumberjacks, and from the shortstop position, no less.

In the League, Bennett finished tied for 9th in batting average (with his teammate), tied for 1st in doubles, tied for 6th in hits, and was named 1st team All-Valley at shortstop. He also performed very well in the playoffs. Here are his numbers:

VBL G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS Avg OBP SLG
2018 38 136 26 48 14 0 1 21 11 27 5 0 0.353 0.421 0.478
Play 3 12 3 5 0 0 1 2 0 3 1 0 0.417 0.500 0.667

That playoff home run tied the one game, winner-take-all matchup with Charlottesville at 2 in the 4th inning- a game that the Tom Sox would go on to win. (It was a screamer to left center. Everyone in the park knew it was gone off the bat.)

Bennett also played in the Jayhawk League in the summer of his freshman year. Here’s what he did for the Dodge City A’s:

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS Avg OBP SLG
2017 40 164 41 60 8 1 2 39 17 17 5 1 0.366 0.438 0.463

Pretty similar stats to what he did this sumemr in the VBL, actually.

Then, what Bennett has done in college:

NDS G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB CS Avg OBP SLG
2017 54 190 26 53 5 1 2 26 13 40 5 2 0.279 0.332 0.347
2018 50 191 35 43 6 4 1 19 29 35 6 5 0.225 0.351 0.314

In 2017, Bennett was named to the Summit League Academic Honor Roll.

So while Hostetler did not get as much attention as another hitter in his team’s lineup (writeup on him coming later), he was still a crucial cog in the Lumberjacks’ South Division-winning team.

Congrats on your summer, Bennett!

Bennett Hostetler