ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis baseball team had four players presented with scholarships in between games of its doubleheader against McKendree on April 20.
Ryan Berry was awarded the Dale Westerholt "Twelve" Scholarship,
Trent Anderson received the Arnold Copeland Scholarship,
Logan Mantz was presented with the James Brady Scholarship and
Garrett Brunstetter was awarded the Stan Musial Scholarship.
Westerholt proudly wore number 12 on the mound for UMSL during his four-year career and was inducted into the UMSL Sports Hall of Fame as an individual in 2016. As a dominant pitcher, he helped lead the then Rivermen to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division II Baseball Championships in 1972 and 1973. In his senior season, Westerholt recorded the program's first ever win at the Division II Baseball Championships. At the time of his induction in 2016, Westerholt ranked third in career earned run average at 2.87, seventh in career wins with 16 and 10th in career strikeouts.
Westerholt intended for the "Twelve" Scholarship to go towards assisting the education expenses of an incoming freshman each year that plans on pitching for the Tritons.
Berry, a Laguna Nigel, Calif., native, has made two appearances on the mound this season for UMSL.
Copeland, the first-ever baseball coach at UMSL, started the program in 1967 and coached the team for six seasons. During his final four years (1969-72), he compiled a record of 63-42-1. He led UMSL to its first ever 20-win season, going 23-6 during the 1972 season, guiding the then Rivermen to the Midwest Regional title and the program's first-ever bid to the Division II Baseball Championships.
The scholarship in Copeland's name is presented annually to an UMSL baseball student-athlete that exemplifies the same passion for the game that Coach Copeland displayed as well as a player who gives relentless effort and is a great teammate.
Anderson, a Hermann, Mo., native, leads the team with five saves this season and is 3-1 with a team-best 1.98 earned run average.
The James Brady Scholarship is in honor of the late Head Coach Jim Brady, the scholarship was established to provide financial assistance for an UMSL Baseball student-athlete.
Over the 33 years at the helm of the UMSL Baseball Program, Brady owned a career record of 835-664-5, the most wins for any head coach in any sport in UMSL Athletics history. Entering his final season in 2017, he ranked 15th among NCAA Division II active coaches for the most career wins. During his tenure, his teams recorded a winning season 24 times, including 12 30-win seasons. Brady also directed five teams to the NCAA Tournament, including two College World Series Appearances. He was inducted into the UMSL Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
Mantz, a native of Slinger, Wis., has appeared in 22 games with 14 starts this season and is hitting .278 with a double and five runs batted in. He had back-to-back game-winning hits in the doubleheader sweep of William Jewell on April 6.
Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Stan Musial, perhaps the most well-known and beloved St. Louis Cardinal in its long history, spent 22 seasons with the Cardinals, finishing in the Top Five of Most Valuable Player voting nine times, winning the award three times. Musial won seven National League batting titles, led the National League in total bases six times and was an All-Star more than 20 times in his career.
Musial and his family have funded several scholarships for collegiate baseball programs throughout the St. Louis area. Musial is known for saying "Unless you give it all you've got, there isn't any sense in playing." That is the motto for the Musial Scholarship.
Brunstetter, a Louisville, Ky., native, is 3-3 this season with an ERA of 4.96 and is second on the team with 57 strikeouts.
