After a tough 14-5 loss to Harding in the elimination game, the Wonder Boys season is officially over. While the last two games are ones to certainly erase from memory. There was still lots of high moments for this Arkansas Tech team. ATU clinched their third straight GAC regular season championship after starting the season 8-13. Despite the tough start to the season, the Wonder Boys went on to win the next 21 out of 26 games, which helped them in their charge for the GAC championship.

The tough stretch was also bad for offense, in those first 21 games for the Wonder Boys, they went a combined 181 for 705 in AB’s for a batting average of .257. They quickly turned that around in the remaining games, batting a .345 combined.

Arkansas Tech found their stride early enough in the season to still make a impact, when at one point some journalists and fans thought the feat would be impossible.

In 2024, the Wonder Boys would claim a share of the Great American Conference Regular Season Championship with a 23-10 conference record. They also finished the season 38-20 overall and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament for the second-straight season.

Going into the season, it was led by the pitching of seniors, John Gray, Emiliano Mata and Jack Rector. As well as Cole Dickson and Daniel Hutchison. Gray was an all-conference selection in 2024 after he went 6-3 with a 5.11 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 86.1 innings pitched.

This season, Gray went 4-3 with a 7.24 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 54.2 innings pitched. The Arkansas Tech starting pitching staff went a combined 6.70 ERA through 263.2 innings pitched and 196 ER, which was the among the bottom half in the GAC conference. Despite the rough stats, the Wonder Boys were dead even with the conference average of 6.70 ERA.

Arkansas Tech 2025 Pitching Stats (Min 5 starts)

Name	IP	ERA	WHIP	W-L	ER	SO
Daniel Hutchinson*	80.0	4.95	1.65	9-2	44	75
John Gray*	54.2	7.24	1.57	4-3	44	30
Cole Dickson*	47.0	6.89	1.98	2-3	36	29
Emiliano Mata	46.2	8.29	1.93	2-5	43	25
Jack Rector	35.1	7.39	1.56	1-3	29	47

Daniel Hutchinson was the Wonder Boys ace this season logging a full 25 innings more then John Gray. Hutchinson pitched extremely well this season, finishing the season as the eighth best pitcher across the GAC conference by ERA. His performance in his first season at ATU was good enough to land him on the All-GAC second team. Hutchinson will be going into his senior year with the Wonder Boys in 2026, looking to repeat his tremendous season once again.

The Wonder Boys topped the GAC conference in offense and defense, but pitching is what unfortunately held them down this season. Something that will definitely need some fixing this offseason.

Relief pitching was the anchor that helped the Wonder Boys this season. Relief pitchers with a minimum 5 appearances, all combined for a 2.03 ERA, which if you don’t understand what ERA is, it’s like really good!

Arkansas Tech 2025 Relief Pitching Stats (min 5 appearances)

*=senior

Name	ERA	WHIP	App.	Saves	IP	ER	SO
JT Caffery*	3.00	1.21	19	6	24.0	8	18
Ashton Greenlee	4.79	1.16	18	2	41.1	22	35
Jonah Prokott	6.04	1.86	15	0	25.1	17	22
Austin Mittelstedt	7.00	1.61	17	0	18.0	14	12
Turner Seelinger	8.38	1.97	14	1	19.1	18	16
Jaxon Mctyre	9.15	2.08	15	0	19.2	20	18
Derek Rockett	10.07	2.19	13	1	22.1	25	20
Simon Murray*	12.38	2.75	10	0	8.0	11	14
Kade Cartwright	12.46	2.31	5	0	4.1	6	0

Now the Wonder Boys will be saying goodbye to seniors in the pitching department, John Gray, Daniel Hutchison, Cole Dickson, Simon Murray and JT Caffery. All signing off on amazing college careers. Bear Sports News wishes all of them the best in their future endeavors! Congratulations on your graduation!

As mentioned earlier, Arkansas Tech’s batting and fielding was top-notch this season. ATU batted a combined .311 with 527 AB’s. Stand out batters included Cole Dawson, Tyler Sardelli and Christian Olea who combined for a .381 batting average, with 230 hits and 329 total bases.

It seems like everyone on the Wonder Boys had a super hot bat this season, which led them to multiple wins this season. ATU was very patient at their AB’s and seemed to always wait for their pitch. The Wonder Boys had only 315 strikeouts, which was third lowest in the GAC conference. Arkansas Tech’s incredible batting is just one of many reasons that led the Wonder boys to their third consecutive GAC Regular Season Championship.

Arkansas Tech Batting Stats 2025 (Minimum 25 AB)

Player	AVG	OPS	SLG%	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	TB
Cole Dawson	.390	.943	.484	213	62	83	2	36	103
Tyler Sardelli	.380	1.110	.624	205	62	78	10	48	128
Sawyer Duddleston	.316	.987	.516	190	53	60	7	55	98
Christian Olea	.373	.953	.503	185	51	69	3	39	93
Luke Ray	.288	.740	.353	170	46	49	1	25	60
Kirby Jenkins	.319	.998	.556	160	36	51	8	51	89
Simon Murray	.314	.952	.490	153	50	48	7	41	75
Brendyn Bard	.270	.646	.297	148	23	40	0	26	44
Grant Jones	.179	.613	.250	112	24	20	0	19	28
Joe Kinneberg	.270	.717	.338	74	10	20	1	14	25
Kolby Webb	.274	.811	.419	62	8	17	2	17	26
Nolan Self	.234	.670	.319	47	6	11	0	5	15
Dayton Francis	.171	.684	.343	35	2	6	1	9	12
Jeffrey Cisneros	.185	.586	.296	27	8	5	1	3	8

Arkansas Tech had 6 batters that had averages over .300 which is just absolutely insane. It seems like everyone who faced the Wonder Boys, had problems putting those bats away. ATU finished the season with a +67 run differential on 372 runs scored. Just absolutely mind-boggling stats for these Wonder Boys.

The fielding as mentioned earlier, was just absolutely exceptional for the Wonder Boys this season, being able to turn 33 double plays and had a combined .975 fielding percentage, which was the best in the conference. They only had 43 errors, which was well below the conference average of 57 errors.

The Wonder Boys will also be saying goodbye to seniors, Christian Olea, Luke Ray, Grant Jones, and Nolan Self. A huge congratulation to all of these seniors on their hard work! We wish you the best in your future endevaors!

Another congratulations to the GAC Honor Roll Members:

Kirby Jenkins

Austin Mittlestedt

Daniel Hutchison

Drew Vega

Luke Ray

Matthew McCart

Aiden Kennon

Ashton Greenlee

Levi Martin

Tyler Sardelli

Cole Dickson

Sawyer Duddleston

Jacob Beaudoin

Jonah Prokott

It was a pleasure watching the Wonder Boys season this year and documenting it. This team has lots of talent and potential and i am confident enough to say, that they will be fighting for the DII championship in given time. With players like Cole Dawson who recently just won the all-defensive team shortstop, Tyler Sardelli who also was mentioned for the first-team All-GAC and pitcher Emiliano Mata ready to lead the charge next season. Let’s also not forget about head coach, Dave Dawson, who recently won a award as well, the GAC Coach of The Year. We wish the Wonder Boys luck this offseason and for the upcoming 2026 season!