CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The Appalachian League announced that Princeton’s Sam Hunt (Kansas) and Burlington’s Ben Sieracki (Elon) were named the Player and Pitcher of the Week of July 10-16, respectively.
Hunt, 21, earned Player of the Week honors after hitting .533 with two home runs and nine RBIs. The WhistlePigs first baseman/outfielder went 8-for-15 with a 1.544 OPS in four games last week while also scoring twice and walking three times. Hunt led all Appalachian League hitters in OPS and slugging percentage (.933) last week and was tied for first in home runs. He finished the week second in RBI, batting average and on-base percentage (.611).
The Flower Mound, Texas native recorded two hits in all four games and had three multi-RBI games. In Sunday’s doubleheader against Danville, Hunt went a combined 4-for-8 with two home runs, seven RBIs and two runs scored. After going 2-for-4 with two RBI in Game 1, Hunt hit a solo home run and a grand slam in Game 2. He raised his average from .208 to .286 last week and has now hit three home runs with 14 RBI for Princeton this summer. The Kansas redshirt sophomore drove in six runs over 28 games for the Jayhawks last spring.
Sieracki, 21, earned Pitcher of the Week honors after tossing five no-hit innings against Kingsport on Saturday. The Sock Puppets right-hander struck out eight over five innings allowing one unearned run and walking two. Sieracki did not allow a baserunner to reach after the first inning and retired the final 14 Axmen hitters he faced. Sieracki led all Appalachian League pitchers with at least 5.0 innings last week in batting average against (.000), tied for first in ERA (0.00) and was second in WHIP (0.40).
The Rocky Mount, N.C., product is 1-0 with a 3.54 ERA in eight appearances (five starts) for Burlington this summer. The Elon junior is second in the Appalachian League in strikeouts (33), fourth in innings pitched (28.0) and sixth in WHIP (1.07). Sieracki pitched in 14 games (two starts) at Elon this spring and recorded 22 strikeouts in 20.1 innings.
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