Kobayashi named NSAA Player of the Week

BISMARCK, N.D. -- Bellevue University junior Kanta Kobayashi (Tokyo, Japan) has been named the North Star Athletic Association's Baseball Player of the Week, as announced by the NSAA league office on Monday.

This past week Kobayashi hit .455 with a 1.475 OPS to help the Bruins win four of five games and secure their third-straight NSAA Regular-Season Championship. Half of his 10 hits went for extra-bases as he jacked three home runs to up his season total to four, drove in 12, and scored 11 times on the week.

He totaled three multi-hit games on the week running his season total to 23. Additionally, he now has 14 three-hit games and four four-hit games on the year. He has reached safely in 43 of 47 games on the season.

On the season, Kobayashi leads the conference in hits (80), runs (70), triples (5), stolen bases (21), and batting average (.430) while also ranking in the top five in doubles (16), walks (25), and on-base percentage (.509).

In conference play, Kobayashi has been even better as he has hit .463 with a 1.279 OPS, produced 15 extra-base hits, driven in 24, scored 45 runs, and has been successful in 12 of 14 stolen base attempts, all in just 23 games.

Bellevue (38-9) hosts Peru State (20-26) on Wednesday with first pitch at 5 p.m. from John Stella Field at Brown Park.