LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Five members of the Slippery Rock University baseball program were named to the 2026 All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Team, the league office announced Tuesday with the unveiling of its annual awards.
 
Representing SRU on the All-PSAC West First Team were outfielder Gage Gillott, starting pitcher Cole Grady and utility player Michael Kitko. The Rock's second team honorees were first baseman Stone Powell and relief pitcher Joey Vanzin.
 
Tuesday's announcement marks the third All-PSAC West accolade for Gillott, while Grady, Kitko, Powell and Vanzin are all first-time honorees. No stranger to postseason accolades, Grady did earn All-Mountain East Conference recognition a season ago while at Glenville State University.
 
All-Conference teams and major awards are determined annually by a vote of the conference's head coaches.
 
Seton Hill collected three of the four PSAC West individual awards. Brady McGuire earned PSAC West Athlete of the Year honors, Sean Williams was tabbed the PSAC West Pitcher of the Year and Marc Marizzaldi was voted the PSAC West Coach of the Year. California's Charlie Nigut was recognized as the PSAC West Freshman of the Year.
 
Slippery Rock recently concluded the regular season with a 30-17 overall record and a 16-12 conference showing. SRU enters the PSAC Tournament as the fourth seed out of the Western Division and as such will play Shepherd University 3 p.m. Wednesday in a day one elimination game at Critchfield Park.
 
A look at the season highlights for each of The Rock's All-PSAC West selections can be found below.
 
Gage Gillott – 1st Team – Outfield
One of two Rock athletes to have started 47 games, Gillott continued to be one of the top athletes in the Atlantic Region as he has been over the course of his career. He enters the PSAC Tournament in possession of a .344/.466/.509 slash line with 47 runs scored, three home runs, 28 RBIs, nine stolen bases and 18 doubles. Gillott leads the PSAC West in doubles in addition to ranking third in both runs and walks. He'll carry a 17-game reached base streak into the conference tournament. 
 
Michael Kitko – 1st Team - Utility
2026 was a career-year for Kitko, who closed the regular season batting .406 with a .445 on-base percentage, 25 runs, six home runs and 44 RBIs. Indicative of such an impressive batting average, Kitko led SRU with 18 multi-hit games this season. Kitko ranked third in the PSAC in batting average, third in hits (63), fourth in hits per game (1.37) and fifth in RBIs. With just one strikeout every 22.1 at-bats, Kitko also ranked fifth in Division II in the NCAA's "toughest to strikeout" statistic. In addition to his 43 starts as a position player, Kitko also made nine pitching appearances, going 2-2 with 27 strikeouts in 25.2 innings of work.
 
Cole Grady – 1st Team – Starting Pitcher
Grady made a seamless transition from Glenville State to Slippery Rock as he stepped in and became SRU's most consistent and effective starting pitcher over the course of the season. In 10 appearances, including eight starts, Grady went 4-1 with a 3.09 ERA and .223 opponent batting average. He struck out 52 batters over 46.2 innings pitched. In conference games, Grady ranked second in the Western Division in ERA and opponent batting average while his 47 strikeouts in PSAC West play was the best in the division.
 
Stone Powell – 2nd Team – First Base
Powell not only avoided any sort of sophomore slump, he built on a great 2025 freshman campaign with an even better 2026 season. Taking over first base duties at The Rock on a fulltime basis, Powell joined Gillott as the only Rock athletes to start all 47 games en route to hitting .341 with 37 runs, nine home runs, 48 RBIs, 17 doubles and .413 on-base percentage while slugging .612. He ranked second in the PSAC West in doubles, third in home runs and fourth in RBIs.
 
Joey Vanzin – 2nd Team – Relief Pitcher
Vanzin took over as The Rock's go-to reliever after an early-season injury to preseason All-American Mark Wilbur. He excelled in the role, finishing out the regular season by going 4-2 with five saves, a 2.87 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and .234 opponent batting average. Vanzin pitched 37.2 innings across 19 appearances and registered 47 strikeouts while issuing just eight walks. Vanzin ranked second in the PSC West in saves and gave up earned runs in just five appearances.





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