Oskaloosa--Travon Jackson (Jr., Apple Valley, Calif., Modesto JC) and Cody Himes (Jr., Bishop, Calif., West Hills CC) were two of the most important figures during the 2007 Statesmen baseball campaign and both were rewarded for their integral roles as they were named to the Midwest Classic Conference baseball squads, announced by the league office today.

  Jackson was named to the first team as an outfielder, while Himes was an honorable-mention pitcher as 27 athletes garnered recognition by the league.

  Jackson paced Penn's offense throughout its 25-23 season, leading the team in numerous categories.  The junior will go down in the record books as being tied for the program's single-season record in doubles with 19, but his statistical prowess reached much further than that.

  The junior owned a team-leading .423 batting average, but also paced the Statesmen with 71 hits, five triples, 47 runs, a .613 slugging percentage, a .476 on-base percentage, and 19 stolen bases.  Jackson also tallied 26 RBIs on the year.

  Himes was a major force on the pitching staff as he was 7-3 on the year with a 2.68 Earned Run Average in 62 2/3 innings of action.  The junior tossed seven complete games with one combined shutout, while also striking out 48 batters against 30 walks.  He also led the pitching staff with a .235 opponent batting average.

  Mount Mercy's Brandon Bradley was named MCC Player of the Year, while St. Ambrose's Daniel Cutler garnered Pitcher of the Year laurels.  St. Ambrose's Jim Callahan also claimed the league's Coach of the Year award by guiding his team to its fourth league crown in his regime (program's seventh overall).