Catawba’s Smith, Tusculum’s Stotser Named Baseball All-Americans

Matt Smith, Catawba College
SALISBURY, NC -- Catawba College senior catcher Matt Smith (Brown Summit, NC) has been named a second team All-American by the American Baseball Coaches Association. Smith was named the South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year in 2006 and was a first team All-South Region pick.

Smith batted a career-best .403 this season, ranking second in the SAC. He collected 89 hits in 221 at bats with four home runs and 56 RBI. He tied a school and league mark with 30 doubles which ranks second in NCAA II. He also scored 71 runs which was second in the league and stands 24th in NCAA II.

For his career, Smith set school marks in doubles (70) and runs scored (208). He finished #2 all-time with 264 hits and was a career .340 hitter, belting 17 homers and collecting 157 RBI. Smith also saw time on the mound, posting an 11-7 record.

Greg Stotser, Tusculum College
MONTGOMERY, Ala. --- Tusculum College shortstop Greg Stotser has been named to the 2006 NCAA Division II Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association All-America Third Team announced College officials.

Stotser, a senior from Columbus, Ga., becomes the fifth player in school history to earn All-America distinction and the fourth individual during the Coach Doug Jones era. He joins Chad Busch (1995, 1996), Ryan Baker (1998), Guy O'Connell (2003) and Brent Gabel (2005) as the only TC players to garner All-America recognition on the diamond.

He was selected to the NCAA II Rawlings/ABCA All-South Region First Team and was also named to the All-South Atlantic Conference First Team. Stotser batted a team-best .369 this season and led the squad in home runs (14), runs batted in (58), total bases (123), slugging percentage (.621) and assists (146). His 14 home runs were amongst the nation's leaders and were the third most in TC history. He is also eighth all-time at Tusculum in career batting average (.371), seventh in home runs (18), and ninth in slugging percentage (.572), all coming in only two seasons.

In his two Pioneer campaigns, Tusculum claimed two South Atlantic Conference titles and posted an impressive 84-31-1 record. TC tallied a 40-14-1 slate in 2006, marking the first time in school history that the Pioneers accounted for consecutive 40-win seasons. Tusculum went 44-17 in 2005 while advancing to the NCAA Tournament.

Earlier this month, Stotser was named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District IV College Division Baseball Team.