Ivy Tech catcher Rickert earns ‘Gold Glove’ in NJCAA Region 12

An ironman earned some gold.

Tyler Rickert, freshman catcher at Ivy Tech Community College in Fort Wayne, caught in 40 of the first-year program’s 43 games and earned the “Gold Glove Award” at the position in National Junior College Athletic Association Region 12 (Indiana, Ohio and the Lower Peninsula of Michigan).

No other single player in the region was behind the plate for a larger percentage of his team’s games.

Rickert, who played at Leo High School for coach Dave Boyce, handled 243 defensive chances with 205 putouts, 22 assists and just four errors, fielding at a .983 clip. He was changed with four passed balls and threw out more than 30 percent of stolen base attempts.

“I am very proud of Tyler!,” says Ivy Tech coach Lance Hershberger of the son of Dave and Sharlyn Rickert of Fort Wayne. “He is very deserving of this award.

“With our small roster, and the season ending injury to our other catcher, Tyler was all we had behind the plate for over the last 20 games. Not only did he play all of those games in a row, but he played well in those games.”

Rickert played through a hairline fracture in his hand and battled back injuries.

“The other coaches in the region recognized his heroic and courageous performance,” says Hershberger, who led the fledgling Titans to a 25-18 mark in 2018.

Showing his creative side, Rickert also received a $250 scholarship from the Ivy Tech Foundation last fall for designing a baseball T-shirt.

Tyler Rickert, an Ivy Tech Community College freshman catcher, earned an National Junior College Athletic Association Region 12 “Gold Glove” in 2018. His T-shirt designs for the first-year program (shown above) won the Leo High School graduate a $250 scholarship from the Ivy Tech Foundation. (Ivy Tech Community College Images)

 

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