KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Former Northeastern State baseball standout Ryan Helsley was inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame on Monday evening (June 2) at the yearly MIAA Awards Celebration in Kansas City.  Helsley played at Northeastern State during the 2014 and 2015 seasons before embarking on a career in professional baseball.

Helsley was among 11 individuals inducted into the Class of 2025. He is the first RiverHawk to go into the MIAA Hall of Fame since NSU joined the conference in 2012-13.  An individual must be a member of their school's hall of fame before receiving consideration for being inducted into the MIAA Hall of Fame. Helsley was previously inducted into the Northeastern State Hall of Fame in 2023.

A dominant pitcher during his time with the NSU baseball team, Helsley earned the honor for his exceptional performance on the mound. He compiled a 4.06 ERA across 126.1 innings pitched, threw three complete games, and racked up 151 strikeouts. As a sophomore, he was the only underclassman to earn a spot on the 2015 All-MIAA First Team, following an impressive freshman season where he secured All-MIAA Second Team honors in 2014.

He was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2015 Major League Baseball Draft. Helsley was the first player from the MIAA in that draft class, the second player from the state of Oklahoma selected, and the fifth player in all of NCAA Division II to come off the draft board

Helsley has since made his mark in Major League Baseball, becoming the first Northeastern State alum to be selected for the MLB All-Star Game, earning spots in 2022 and 2024. A key asset in the Cardinals' bullpen, he led the National League with 49 saves this past season and capped off an outstanding 2024 campaign by winning the Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year Award.