Catawba College’s Matt Smith, Tim Smith Take Top SAC Baseball Honors

ROCK HILL, SC - Catawba College, which shared the league regular-season title with Tusculum and has been nationally ranked for much of the season, swept the South Atlantic Conference's top baseball awards, the league announced today.

Matt Smith (Browns Summitt, NC/NE Guilford), who led the conference with a .405 batting average with 48 RBI and a league-high 27 doubles, was named Player of the Year, while Tim Smith (Walnut Cove,NC/S.Stokes), who was 12-1 with a 3.28 ERA was named Pitcher of the Year. Jerry Sands, who had a 25-game hitting streak during the season, was named Freshman of the Year.

Catawba College coach Jim Gantt, who guided the Indians to a 17-4 conference record and 40-11 overall, was named Coach of the Year for the third time in his career.

Catawba led the way with eight All-Conference selections, including six on the First Team. Tusculum had six All-Conference selections, with three on the First Team.

Wingate senior pitcher/outfielder Seth Howell named the SAC's Scholar Athlete for baseball.

Howell a senior from Jefferson, S.C. (Central HS), has a 3.73 GPA as an American Studies major. He leads the Bulldogs with three saves this season. He pitched three innings of shutout ball with three strikeouts in his intercollegiate pitching debut in the 2004 Food Lion SAC Tournament championship game.

He is a member of the Phi Eta Sigma national honor society and has received the Air Force ROTC Academic Excellence Award two times, and the Lt. Harley H. Pope Daedalion Scholarship, presented to an aspiring military aviator. He also received the Marshall/Arnold 5-Star Award, presented to the top AFROTC cadet in each department, and the Military Order of the World Wars Award, presented to top cadets who exhibit excellence in scholarship, leadership and service.

Regular season statistical champions and senior awards were also announced.

2006 SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE BASEBALL AWARD WINNERS
FIRST TEAM
Catcher - Matt Smith, Catawba
Pitcher - Tim Smith, Catawba
Pitcher - Brent Gabel, Tusculum
Pitcher - Charlie Harrison, Mars Hill
1st base - Skip Talerek, Tusculum
2nd base - Langdon Potts, Carson-Newman
Shortstop - Greg Stotser, Tusculum
3rd base - Mark Smith, Catawba
Outfield - David Thomas, Catawba
Outfield - Brandon Burchfield, Carson-Newman
Outfield - Jerry Sands, Catawba
Designated Hitter - Jimbo Davis, Catawba
SECOND TEAM
Catcher - Adam Beacham, Tusculum
Pitcher - Wes Hill, Tusculum
Pitcher - Matt Teague, Carson-Newman
Pitcher - Alex Fairweather, Catawba
1st base - Aaron Rimer, Catawba
2nd base - Brent Simpson,Wingate
Shortstop - Taylor MacCurdy, Lenoir-Rhyne
3rd base - Matt Bodie, Presbyterian
Outfield - Cory Lyda, Presbyterian
Outfield - Matt Riggs, Tusculum
Outfield - Matt Russell, Mars Hill
Designated Hitter - Charlie Munroe, Carson-Newman

COACH OF THE YEAR - Jim Gantt, Catawba
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR - Jerry Sands, Catawba
PITCHER OF THE YEAR - Tim Smith, Catawba
PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Matt Smith, Catawba
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE - Seth Howell, Wingate

BASEBALL STAT CHAMPIONS

Matt Smith, Catawba, Batting Average, .405; Doubles Per Game, .55
Jerry Sands, Catawba, Slugging Pct., .702
Charlie Munroe, Carson-Newman, On-Base Pct. .497
Greg Stotser, Tusculum, RBI per game, 1.15; Homers Per Game, .28
David Thomas, Catawba, Runs Scored Per Game, 1.33
Dallas Tarleton, Lenoir-Rhyne, Triples Per Game, .15
Brandon Burchfield, Carson-Newman, Stolen Bases Per Game, .62
Alex Fairweather, Catawba, Earned Run Average, 3.13
Tim Smith, Pitching Victories, 12
Charlie Harrison, Mars Hill, Saves, 10
Alex Fairweather, Catawba, Strikeouts Per Game, 7.83
Catawba College - Batting Avg., .353; Slugging Pct., .570; Runs Per Game, 9.31; Doubles Per Game, 2.59; Homers Per Game, 1.53; RBIs Per Game, 8.53; Earned Run Average, 3.44; Strikeouts Per Game, 7.59
Lenoir-Rhyne - Triples Per Game, .47
Tusculum - Stolen Bases Per Game, 1.83
SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE SENIOR AWARDS
Carson-Newman
Brandon Hall
Derrick Calkin
Brandon Burchfield
Jonathan Mary
Chad Gillis
Charlie Munroe
Chris Gillies
Gavin Scroggins
John Wallace
Mike Ealey

Catawba
Mark Smith
Matt Smith
Jimbo Davis
Nick Lefko
Brian Benton
Aaron Rimer

Lenoir-Rhyne
Bobby Kennett
John Pugh
Matt Wiley
John Verdinek

Mars Hill
Jason Yelton
Jeff Mayo
John Quail
Dawson Plimpton
Matt Russell
Mark Hamilton
Chris Argano
Dan Race
Chris Lambert
Justin Boone
Newberry
Brandon Manasa
Jared Locke
Pete Stuppiello
Clark Mullins
Patrick Egleston
Lucas Hummers

Presbyterian
Robert Cook
Evan Sowell
Nick Hoffner
Matt Bodie

Tusculum
Tim Brown
Michael Axt
Adam Beacham
Josh Wolff
Jason Treon
Brent Gabel
Curtis Tuggle
Greg Stotser
Matt Riggs
Kenny Lewis
Tyler Mayfield
Kenny Reed
Bobby Darling
Rob Redelman
Wes Hill
Skip Talarek
Adam Hall

Wingate
Bryan Baylis
Michael Bell
Tim Bowman
Justin Clemens
Alex Cost
Ryan DeFaber
Seth Howell
Stuart Richardson
Chad Yow