SAC Baseball All-Conference Team, Awards Announced

ROCK HILL, SC - Tusculum College, which won the South Atlantic Conference baseball championship for the third year in a row and enters the conference tournament on a 20-game winning streak, swept the South Atlantic Conference's top baseball awards, the league announced today.

Maikol Gonzalez (Maraca Ibo, Venezuela/Louisburg College), a junior second baseman who led the conference with a .446 batting average, as well as on-base percentage, runs batted in and triples, was named Player of the Year. Senior left-handed pitcher Kevin Hammons (Jonesborough, Tenn./Cleveland St/Davy Crocket), who led the league with a 2.31 earned run average, was named Pitcher of the Year.

Maikol Gonzalez

Kevin Hammons

Justin Crowell

Brandon Burchfield Doug Jones

Tusculum coach Doug Jones, who guided the Pioneers to an 18-5 conference record and 41-10 overall, was named Coach of the Year for the first time in his career.

Lenoir-Rhyne pitcher Justin Crowell, who went 7-1 with a 3.21 ERA in his rookie season, was named Freshman of the Year.

Tusculum led the way with nine All-Conference selections, including six on the First Team. Catawba College had four All-Conference selections, with Carson-Newman, Lenoir-Rhyne and Lincoln Memorial each getting three. Wingate had two honorees and Newberry had one.

The South Atlantic Conference All-Conference teams are selected by the league's head coaches.

Carson-Newman senior outfielder Brandon Burchfield was named the SAC's Scholar Athlete for baseball.

Burchfield, a senior outfielder from Maryville, Tenn. (Maryville H.S.), carries a 4.0 GPA as a business administration major. He hit .314 this season for the Eagles and was third in the conference with 20 stolen bases. In 2006, he led the SAC with 31 stolen bases and was named First Team All-Conference as well second team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American.

Regular season statistical champions and senior awards were also announced.

2007 BASEBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM

FIRST TEAM
Catcher - Dallas Tarleton, Lenoir-Rhyne *
Catcher - Christian Rosa Tusculum *
Pitcher - Brandon Petty, Newberry
Pitcher - Kevin Hammons, Tusculum
Pitcher - C.J. Hillyer, Tusculum
1st base - Zach Evans, Catawba
2nd base - Maikol Gonzalez, Tusculum
Shortstop - Taylor MacCurdy, Lenoir-Rhyne
3rd base - Paul Finger, Tusculum
Outfield - David Thomas, Catawba
Outfield - Jerry Sands, Catawba
Outfield - Carlos Rivera, Tusculum
Designated Hitter - Josh Benton, Wingate

SECOND TEAM
Pitcher - Matt Teague, Carson-Newman
Pitcher - Cole Draughn, Carson-Newman
Pitcher - Mat Galens, Tusculum
1st base - Dustin Morrow, Tusculum
2nd base - Derek Treece, Lincoln Memorial
Shortstop - Michael Parker, Wingate
3rd base - Nick Achberger, Carson-Newman *
3rd base - Craige Lyerly, Catawba *
Outfield - Jordan Ackley, Lenoir-Rhyne
Outfield - TeWayne Willis, Lincoln Memorial
Outfield - Matt Webb, Tusculum
Designated Hitter - Casey Sedley, Lincoln Memorial
* Tie

COACH OF THE YEAR - Doug Jones, Tusculum
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR - Justin Crowell, Lenoir-Rhyne
PITCHER OF THE YEAR - Kevin Hammons, Tusculum
PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Maikol Gonzalez, Tusculum
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE - Brandon Burchfield, Carson-Newman

BASEBALL STAT CHAMPIONS
Maikol Gonzalez, Tusculum, Batting Avg., 446; On-Base Pct, .512; Triples Per Game, 0.29
Derek Treece, Lincoln Memorial, RBIs Per Game, 1.31
Jerry Sands, Catawba, Slugging Pct., .757; Homers Per Game, .40; Runs Scored Per Game, 1.29;
TeWayne Willis, Lincoln Memorial, Stolen Bases Per Game, .81
Kevin Hammons, Tusculum , Earned Run Average, 2.31
Stephen Byrd, Newberry, Pitching Victories, 8
Mark Carroll, Carson-Newman, 7; Josh Keller, Lenoir-Rhyne, 7
Casey Sedley, Lincoln Memorial, Strikeouts Per Game, 9.50
Tusculum College - Batting Avg., .345; Stolen Bases Per Game, 2.14; Triples Per Game, 0.80; Earned Run Average, 2.69; Strikeouts Per Game, 8.43
Catawba College - Slugging Pct., .539; On-Base Pct., .418; Runs Per Game, 8.56; Doubles Per Game, 2.40; Homers Per Game, 1.49; RBIs Per Game, 7.67;

SENIOR AWARDS

Carson-Newman
Jim Doran
Mark Carroll
Brandon Burchfield
Adam Kefauver
Matt Teague
Chris Gillies

Catawba
Zach Evans
Paul Link
Brian Sommer

Lenoir-Rhyne
Jordan Ackley
David Beach
Andrew Cooper
Dennis Downey
Billy Doyle
Jesse Jordan
Taylor MacCurdy
Derek Pugh
Trey Ramsey

Lincoln Memorial
Zach Gray
Joe Workman
Sergio Baez
Reed Neff
Kyle Wakefield
Dustin Rowland
Mike Richardson
Mickey Apple
Nathaniel Henderson

Mars Hill
Nick Tracy
Clarke Rollins
Marc Wassum
Billy Britt
Brandon Seger
Matt Carter

Newberry
Matthew Webb
Anthony Dillenger
Ryan Easterby
Brandon Gardner
Matthew Awtrey
Clark Mullins
Matt Cote

Presbyterian
Ross Ellis
John Berrian
Kemper Booth

Tusculum
Michael Axt
Mark Deans
Chris Hanney
Kevin Hammons
Danny Light
Aaron Porter
Steven Strassell
Ben Swaggerty

Wingate
Jay Barnes
Josh Benton
Tim Cottrell
Jeremy Helms
Shaughn Neal