Former Greenwave Standout Casey Solem (2005) Named NAIA Baseball All-American

Here are a couple of articles I found about Casey Solem being named to the NAIA All-American team. He put up some amazing stats. Congratulations and great job Casey!






Index of Sports Press Releases

June 3, 2010

DWU’s Solem named school’s first Second Team All-American


Casey Solem

MITCHELL, S.D. – Dakota Wesleyan University baseball has a storied history with a number of outstanding players throughout the years. However, Casey Solem established a new level of greatness during his senior season, which resulted in Thursday’s announcement that he is the first Tiger to ever earn NAIA All-America Second Team honors.

Solem, a senior from East Grand Forks, Minn., becomes the 10th DWU player to earn NAIA All-American honors and the first since pitcher Chris Baker was named All-America Honorable Mention in 2008. Dakota Wesleyan’s previous nine All-Americans were all Honorable Mention selections (including Robert Stockton, who did it twice), making Solem the first Tiger to ever crack the 17-player Second Team. The First and Second Teams are made up of 17 players each by position, with 34 selections regardless of position making up the Honorable Mention list.

The Tiger star was named to the Second Team as one of four outfielders, making him one of the top eight outfielders in the entire NAIA in 2010. Solem earned the honor because of his great offensive numbers and his outstanding all-around play. He truly did it all for Dakota Wesleyan this season, and the All-America honors add to his All-Great Plains Athletic Conference First-Team accolades.


DWU’s Casey Solem became the first Tiger player to ever earn NAIA All-America Second Team honors Thursday. (Action photos by Laura Wehde)
During his two years at Dakota Wesleyan after transferring from the University of North Dakota, Solem was a mainstay in the third spot in the Tigers’ lineup and in the outfield. He was everything a great third hitter should be, thanks to one of the greatest offensive seasons in school history. Solem set new Dakota Wesleyan single-season school records for batting average (.453), runs batted in (63) and total bases (136). He also wasn’t far from equaling the Tiger records for runs (55), hits (73), home runs (15) and stolen bases (29).

The senior star also had six doubles, six triples, 19 walks, a slugging percentage of .845 and an on-base percentage of .526. He led DWU in 10 offensive categories while also playing stellar defense in center field. He made just three errors all season with 108 put-outs and one assist for a .973 fielding percentage.

Between his incredible average, power, stolen bases and defense, Solem gave the Tigers a true all-around star to build around, and his presence resulted in back-to-back 30-win seasons. In addition, he always seemed to come through in the biggest spots, with a handful of walk-off and game-winning hits and home runs during his two-year DWU career.

The All-America Second Team honor will now serve as the exclamation point at the end of a great career. In addition to the All-America honors, Solem was a two-time All-GPAC First Team selection in the outfield. He also won a GPAC Gold Glove in the outfield in 2009 and received one GPAC Player-of-the-Week award. As a senior, he served as one of the Tigers’ team captains.

Solem was one of two GPAC players to land on the All-America Second Team, along with the league’s Pitcher-of-the-Year, Mount Marty’s Trey Krier. In the GPAC tournament, Solem hit three home runs off of Krier to lead DWU to a win over the Lancers in an elimination game.

The conference didn’t have any First-Team selections, and two GPAC players earned Honorable Mention honors – Morningside’s Jared Noteboom and Northwestern’s Brad Payne. Surprisingly, the GPAC Player-of-the-Year, Mount Marty’s Josh Damewood, did not receive All-American honors.

Cumberland University’s (Tenn.) Matt Greener – the All-America First Team third baseman – was named the 2010 NAIA Baseball Player-of-the-Year. The 2010 NAIA Baseball Coach-of-the-Year will be announced in early January, 2011, at the ABCA Coaches’ Convention. The official NAIA release with the complete 2010 All-American teams can be found at: http://naia.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/060310aaa.html.

"Casey Solem Joins Merchants"
6/4/2010





St. Paul, MN – Dakota Wesleyan University baseball has a storied history with a number of outstanding players throughout the years. However, Casey Solem established a new level of greatness during his senior season, which resulted in Thursday’s announcement that he is the first Tiger to ever earn NAIA All-America Second Team honors. Solem becomes the 10th DWU player to earn NAIA All-American honors and the first since pitcher Chris Baker was named All-America Honorable Mention in 2008. Dakota Wesleyan’s previous nine All-Americans were all Honorable Mention selections (including Robert Stockton, who did it twice), making Solem the first Tiger to ever crack the 17-player Second Team. The First and Second Teams are made up of 17 players each by position, with 34 selections regardless of position making up the Honorable Mention list. The Tiger star was named to the Second Team as one of four outfielders, making him one of the top eight outfielders in the entire NAIA in 2010. Solem earned the honor because of his great offensive numbers and his outstanding all-around play. He truly did it all for Dakota Wesleyan this season, and the All-America honors add to his All-Great Plains Athletic Conference First-Team accolades.




During his two years at Dakota Wesleyan after transferring from the University of North Dakota, Solem was a mainstay in the third spot in the Tigers’ lineup and in the outfield. He was everything a great third hitter should be, thanks to one of the greatest offensive seasons in school history. Solem set new Dakota Wesleyan single-season school records for batting average (.453), runs batted in (63) and total bases (136). He also wasn’t far from equaling the Tiger records for runs (55), hits (73), home runs (15) and stolen bases (29).

The senior star also had six doubles, six triples, 19 walks, a slugging percentage of .845 and an on-base percentage of .526. He led DWU in 10 offensive categories while also playing stellar defense in center field. He made just three errors all season with 108 put-outs and one assist for a .973 fielding percentage.

Between his incredible average, power, stolen bases and defense, Solem gave the Tigers a true all-around star to build around, and his presence resulted in back-to-back 30-win seasons. In addition, he always seemed to come through in the biggest spots, with a handful of walk-off and game-winning hits and home runs during his two-year DWU career.

The All-America Second Team honor will now serve as the exclamation point at the end of a great career. In addition to the All-America honors, Solem was a two-time All-GPAC First Team selection in the outfield. He also won a GPAC Gold Glove in the outfield in 2009 and received one GPAC Player-of-the-Week award. As a senior, he served as one of the Tigers’ team captains. Solem was one of two GPAC players to land on the All-America Second Team, along with the league’s Pitcher-of-the-Year, Mount Marty’s Trey Krier. In the GPAC tournament, Solem hit three home runs off of Krier to lead DWU to a win over the Lancers in an elimination game.

Earlier this week Solem announced his intentions to sign with the East Side Merchants of the St. Paul League. Solem, whose parents live and reside in Rosemount, Minnesota, will be a huge addition to the Merchants everyday lineup. Solem will join forces with North Dakota teammates Andy Sadler, John Greciar and Kris Kwak. Solem also becomes the seventh North Dakotan to sign with East Side in the last three years joining a class which includes former 2003 Gatorade Player of the Year, Bo Stanley and All-NCC Selection Chris Gulsvig. Solem will become an automatic everyday player for East Side in an incredible outfield aligment which includes Sadler, '09 World Series MVP Matt Olson, Wisconsin-Eau Claire's Matt Kruger and Team Captain Matty Grill.

The addition of Solem will also ease the loss of Deryk Marks to the St. Cloud River Bats of the Northwoods League as Solem will now fill the vacant 3-hole slot in the East Side lineup. Solem becomes the tenth newcomer to the Merchants roster in 2010. Continue to stay up-to-date with all information regarding the East Side Merchants at the home for the Merchant Baseball, www.eastsidemerchants.com