Nine SAC Baseball Players Named To ABCA All-Region Team

May 22, 2009

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Nine baseball players from the South Atlantic Conference have been named to the 2009 American Baseball Coaches' Association Division II All-Southeast Team.

The SAC had three players named to the first team. Catawba College's third baseman Craige Lyerly and catcher Ryan Query were named to the first team, as was Wingate University outfielder Mark Letchworth. Lyerly and Letchworth were named the SAC Players of the Year.

Catawba


Craige Lyerly	Ryan Query

Blake Ketner	C.J. Hillyer

Nate Grabowski	Rob Currie

Mark Letchworth	Brian Williams

Josh Strawn

Catawba's Craige Lyerly (Salisbury, NC/E. Rowan HS) and Ryan Query (Kannapolis, NC/Brown HS) have been named to the first team All-Southest Region Team by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). Lyerly, a junior third baseman, and Query, a senior catcher were first team All-Southeast Region honorees, while senior pitcher Blake Ketner (Davidson, NC/NW Cabarrus HS) earned second team all-region honors.

Lylery set school and conference records with 106 hits this season. He finished the season on a school-record 35-game hitting streak and his .444 average was the highest since Charlie Beatty hit .504 in 1984. Lyerly collected 16 doubles, four triples and hit 13 home runs. He picked up 50 RBI and swiped a team-high 27 bases.

Query, who led the team with 20 home runs and 75 RBI, batted .384 on the year. He also had a team-high 21 doubles. Query finished among the top 10 career leaders in hits (240), RBI (179), runs scored (166), doubles (49) and home runs (34).

Ketner was unable to pitch for Catawba at the regional after breaking a bone in a finger on his pitching hand. In 14 starts, he posted a 10-3 record with a 3.93 ERA. He tossed one shutout and finished his career with five shutouts which is second only to the six hurled by Roy Hardison. Ketner's 29 career wins ranks third all-time as he posted a 29-15 record over four years with a 3.74 ERA.

Tusculum

Three Tusculum College baseball players have been named to the 2009 American Baseball Coaches' Association Division II All-Southeast Team announced officials. C.J. Hillyer, Nate Grabowski and Rob Currie were all named to the All-Region Second Team.

Hillyer, a 6-3, 245-pound left-handed pitcher from Abington, Mass., earns his second All-Region honor this year and third in his Tusculum career. He was tabbed to the Daktronics All-Southeast Region First Team earlier this month. The 2009 South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Year led the Pioneers with his 7-3 record and a 2.89 earned run average, which is the ninth lowest in school history. He has made 15 appearances this season, including 14 starts, which are tied for third most in Tusculum history. The two-time All-SAC standout has tossed 79.1 innings where he has walked 15 to go along with 55 strikeouts.

Grabowski, a 5-10, 190-pound outfielder, led Tusculum with his .406 batting average. The Pennellville, N.Y. junior also led the squad in runs scored (51), hits (73), doubles (16), walks (34) and on-base percentage (.505). The 2009 All-SAC First Team choice went 11-for-19 (.579) at last month's SAC Tournament, earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Grabowski's walk tally is the eighth best in TC history while his on-base percentage is currently the seventh highest ever by a Pioneer. He has also tallied seven home runs and a pair of triples. He was named to the 2009 Daktronics All-Region First Team.

Currie, a 6-6, 240-pound senior relief pitcher from St. Charles, Ill., was the ace of the Tusculum bull pen. Currie, who was selected as the 2009 All-SAC First Team relief pitcher, made 21 appearances where he posted a 5-1 record with a 1.21 ERA to go along with six saves. The six saves are the fourth-most ever by a Pioneer reliever. Currie limited the opposition to a .213 batting average, while striking out at team-best 57 with only 20 walks in his 52 innings of work. He has already earned Daktronics All-Region Second Team honors this year.

Tusculum captured its fourth South Atlantic Conference title in the last five years, while posting a 36-18 record. The Pioneers also earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament, TC's third straight postseason appearance and fifth in the last seven years. Tusculum's five NCAA Tournament showings are the most in conference history.

Wingate

Wingate University senior outfielder Mark Letchworth (Greenville, N.C.) has been named to the 2009 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Southeast Region Team.

Letchworth was the 2009 South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year. A first team All-SAC and All-Region selection, Letchworth posted 18 home runs, 66 RBI, 59 runs scored, 20 doubles, 156 total bases and a .765 slugging percentage this year. He led the league in doubles, while charting in either the second or third position in the other categories.

Wingate's top hitter with a .392 batting average, Letchworth was the only player on the Bulldog roster to start all 52 games this season. A very consistent performer, Letchworth hit .402 in conference games, with eight homers, 35 RBI and an .805 slugging percentage. He also had nine doubles and 25 runs scored in league play.

Mars Hill

Mars Hill outfielder Brian Williams, a 5-10, 195-pound senior from Orlando, Fla. earned second team ABCA All-Southeast Region honors, announced by the American Baseball Coaches' Association.

Williams was a first team All-South Atlantic Conference selection and ranked third in the SAC in batting average, homeruns and RBI. In NCAA D-II, Brian ranked 53rd in batting average, 75th in hits, eighth in homeruns per game, 14th in homeruns, 20th in RBI, and 12th in RBI per game.

The Lions finished the 2009 campaign in third place in the SAC, the program's highest finish ever. MHC was 27-20 overall and 12-8 in the conference.

Lincoln Memorial

Lincoln Memorial University pitcher Josh Strawn had been named to the ABCA All-Southeast Region second team.

Strawn, a 6-1 first-year right-hander from Bradenton, Florida stepped on to the mound to lead the Railsplitters in nearly every pitching category this season. Strawn ended the year with a 7-3 record and turned in a 2.05 ERA while recording three shutouts, leading the team in innings pitched (70.1), strikeouts (73) and holding the batters he faced this year to a .229 batting average. Strawn's efforts on the mound helped him record the lowest ERA in the South Atlantic Conference this season among pitchers with the minimum amount of innings pitched.

2009 ABCA
Southeast All-Region Team

First Team
Pos. Player School
1b Daniel Kassouf Belmont Abbey
2b Chas Anthony Erskine
3b Craige Lyerly Catawba
SS Rich Racobaldo Mt. Olive
INF Seth Kivett UNC Pembroke
OF Kevin Dietrich UNC Pembroke
OF Shannon Wilkerson Augusta State
OF Bryan Fogle Erskine
OF Mark Letchworth Wingate
C Ryan Query Catawba
DH Travis Howard USC Aiken
SP Matt McGovern UNC Pembroke
SP Cody Walden Armstrong Atlantic State
SP Nick Fogleman Pfeiffer
SP B.J. Dail Mt. Olive
RP Martin Dewald GCSU

Second Team
Pos. Player School
1b Ken Raborn USC Aiken
2b Jason Coker UNC Pembroke
3b Andre Airich North Georgia
SS Barrett Kleinknecht Francis Marion
INF Blair Carson Anderson
OF Cody McMorris USC Aiken
OF Alex Wyche Armstrong Atlantic State
OF Greg Huff Erskine
OF Nate Grabowski Tusculum
C Jared Barkdoll Francis Marion
DH Brian Williams Mars Hill
SP Blake Ketner Catawba
SP Josh Strawn Lincoln Memorial
SP Tyler Powell Belmont Abbey
SP C.J. Hillyer Tusculum
RP Rob Currie Tusculum

Region Player of the Year: Shannon Wilkerson, Augusta State
Region Pitcher of the Year: Matt McGovern, UNC Pembroke

Rawlings Southeast Region
Gold Glove Team

Pos. Player School
1b Seth Kivett UNC Pembroke
2b Carlos Cardoza-Oquendo Armstrong Atlantic State
3b Tom Porricelli UNC Pembroke
SS Barrett Kleinknecht Francis Marion
OF Shannon Wilkerson Augusta State
OF Kevin Dietrich UNC Pembroke
OF Zach Boyette Barton
C Daniel Pettiti North Georgia
SP David Walters Francis Marion