Eight SAC Baseball Players Earn ABCA All-Region Honors

May 19, 2010

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Eight baseball players from the South Atlantic Conference have been named to the 2010 Rawlings/America Baseball Coaches Association Division II All-Southeast Region and Gold Glove Teams.

The Rawlings/ABCA All-Southeast Region team is selected by a vote of the region's head baseball coaches.

Catawba

Craige Lyerly (Salibsury, NC/E. Rowan HS) and Wade Moore (Salisbury, NC/W. Rowan HS/NC State) were named first team by ABCA. Trevor Mullins (Jamestown, NC/Ragsdale HS/Appalachian St.) was named second team by the ABCA.


Craige Lyerly	Wade Moore

Trevor Mullins	Sean Cotten

Jared Richmond	Mills Rogers

Jeff Lockwood	Evan Taylor

Lyerly completed a stellar career by reaching base safely in his final 88 games. He finished sixth on the NCAA all-time career hit list with 336 and finished fifth all-time with 537 total bases. This season, the senior hit .399 with a team-leading 83 hits. He scored 59 runs, added eight home runs, drove in 54 runs and stole 27 bases. Moore led the team with a .410 batting average and also posted team highs in runs (77), home runs (16), RBI (59) and steals (29).

Mullins led the staff in wins, going 8-3 with a 4.13 ERA. He allowed 92 hits in 89 and a third innings with 92 strikeouts.

Tusculum

Tusculum College's Sean Cotten and Jared Richmond have been named to the 2010 Rawlings/America Baseball Coaches Association Division II All-Southeast Region Team.

Cotten was named the All-Region First Team catcher, while Richmond garnered Second Team honors at first base.

Cotten, a junior from Mooresville, N.C., batted .375 this season with 13 doubles, 15 home runs and 69 RBI. Cotten is fifth in the South Atlantic Conference and 28th in the nation in homers, while his .690 slugging percentage is eighth in the conference. He is also seventh in the league in total bases (127) sixth in putouts (274).

The 2010 All-SAC First Team selection is closing in on the school's career RBI record. He is third in school history with 143 RBI, needing three more to match the school record set by former TC slugger George Hanger (146, 2002-05). Cotten is also 11th all-time in career doubles (33), 10th in career total bases (283), sixth career walks (72), third in career sacrifice flies (14) and sixth in career putouts (629)

Richmond has put together one of the best seasons in school history. The Fort Smith, Ark. senior led the league with 23 home runs (3rd in NCAA II) and 71 RBI (17th in NCAA II), while becoming the fourth player in Tusculum history to earn SAC Player of the Year honors. The 2010 All-Region Second Team choice also led the league with a .855 slugging percentage (12th in NCAA II) and total bases (148). The two-time All-SAC First Team selection finished third in the league in runs scored (60), fifth in on-base percentage (.505), fourth in walks (35) and fifth in putouts (276). Richmond accounted for a pair of impressive hitting streaks. He started the season with a 16-game hitting streak and followed later in the year with a hit in 18 straight contests.

Richmond's 23 home runs are a new school single-season record, finishing just one shy of the league mark held by three players (Darren Hayes, Wingate-1995; David Trexler, Catawba-1999; Jerry Sands, Catawba-2008). He is also Tusculum's all-time leader in home runs and has been credited with 34 in his 94-game career, surpassing the previous record of 30 set by 2001 SAC Player of the Year Shane Banks (1997-2001). Richmond is also ninth all-time at Tusculum in career batting average (.375), first in slugging percentage (.744) and seventh in career RBI (120).

Tusculum posted a 30-18 record, for the program's 10th consecutive winning season and seventh straight 30-win campaign.

Carson-Newman

Carson-Newman shortstop Mills Rogers (Simpsonville, S.C.) and outfielder Jeff Lockwood (Knoxville, Tenn.) has been named to the 2010 Rawlings/America Baseball Coaches Association Division II All-Southeast Region Team.

Rogers batted .378 this season in leading the Eagles to a 31-18 record. The senior led the team with 18 doubles. He was third on the team with 10 home runs, 50 runs scored, and 58 RBIs.

A first team All-South Atlantic Conference selection at shortstop, Rogers turned in a number of memorable games in his final season as an Eagle, including a two-home run performance in an 11-2 win over King College.

Lockwood led the Eagles with a .398 batting average and 67 RBIs. He also hit 20 home runs, the second most in school history.

A first team All-SAC selection as an outfielder, the Knoxville, Tenn. native was also first on the team in runs scored with 59 and a .488 on-base percentage. He also led the Eagles with a 3.14 ERA and a 2-1 record on the mound.

Lenoir-Rhyne

Lenoir-Rhyne outfielder Evan Taylor was named to the ABCA Southeast Region Gold Glove Team.

Taylor, a senior from Charlotte, N.C. (Independence HS), set the school record for home runs in a season this year with 17 and became Lenoir-Rhyne's all-time leader in home runs (36) and runs batted in (187). Taylor batted .314 this year with 53 runs batted in while starting all 45 games. Taylor committed just one error all year and finished with a .989 fielding percentage.

2010 RAWLINGS/ABCA DIVISION II ALL-SOUTHEAST REGION TEAM
First Team
1B - Jason Rogers, Columbus State
2B - Chas Anthony, Erskine
3B - Craige Lyerly, Catawba
SS - Barrett Kleinknecht, Francis Marion
INF - Seth Kivett, UNC Pembroke
C - Sean Cotten, Tusculum
OF - Bryan Fogle, Erskine
OF - Jeremy Nowak, Mount Olive
OF - Sean Harrell, Georgia College
OF - Wade Moore, Catawba
SP - Chris Rearick, North Georgia
SP - Matt McCovern, UNC Pembroke
SP - Martin Dewald, Georgia College
SP - William Buzhardt, Erskine
RP - Atlee Pearson, Erskine
DH - Michael Knox, Mount Olive

Second Team
1B - Jared Richmond, Tusculum
2B - Jason Veyna, Georgia College
3B - Jordan Erisman, North Georgia
SS - Mills Rodgers, Carson-Newman
INF - Jesse Lancaster, Mount Olive
C - Richard Pirkle, Georgia College
OF - Jeff Lockwood, Carson-Newman
OF - Shawn Ward, Georgia College
OF - Bobby Leeper, Mount Olive
OF - Bill Rice, USC Aiken
SP - Carter Capps, Mount Olive
SP - Trevor Mullins, Catawba
SP - Jackson Massey, Mount Olive
SP - Don Sandifer, Francis Marion
RP - Brian Willis, UNC Pembroke
DH - Brian Dice, Lenoir-Rhyne

Southeast Region Player of the Year: Bryan Fogle, Erskine
Southeast Region Pitcher of the Year: Chris Rearick, North Georgia

ABCA SOUTHEAST REGION GOLD GLOVE TEAM
1B: Jason Rogers, Columbus State
2B: Josh Biggers, Francis Marion
3B: Robert Skinner, Lander
SS: Barrett Kleinknecht, Francis Marion
OF: Alex Montes, Columbus State
OF: Michael Price, Armstrong Atlantic
OF: Evan Taylor, Lenoir-Rhyne
C: Daniel Pettiti, North Georgia
P: Blake Hobby, North Georgia