South Atlantic Conference 2015 Yearly Baseball Awards Announced

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSac.com) – Catawba catcher Will Albertson was voted the 2015 South Atlantic Conference Baseball Player of the Year, while teammate Craig Brooks was named the Pitcher of the Year.  In addition, Wingate's Bradley Brown was voted the League's Freshman of the Year and Newberry mentor Russell Triplett was tabbed the Coach of the Year, the League announced today.

Albertson, a junior from Sophia, N.C., finished the 2015 baseball regular season ranked No. 1 in the nation with 86 hits.  He is currently No. 2 in the country with a .494 average at the plate, to go along with 23 home runs to rank No. 3 in Division II.  His 0.51 homers per contest is good for No. 4 in the country, while he is also ranked No. 4 with and on-base percentage of .560.  Albertson pounded out 16 doubles on the year and a triple to close out the regular season at No. 4 in D-II in the nation with a slugging percentage of .994.  Albertson was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association National Hitter of the Week on two occasions and was named the NCBWA Region Hitter of the Week three times.

Brooks, a senior from Monroe, N.C., struck out a nation's-best 121 hitters during the 2015 season and ranks No. 3 in the country with 14.08 strikeouts per nine innings.  He also posted eight wins on the year to rank No. 8 in Division II.  Brooks threw 77.1 innings in 2015 and held his opponents to just a .142 average at the plate.  He surrendered just 14 earned runs during the year to rank No. 22 in Division II with an ERA of 1.63.

Brown, a designated hitter from Rockingham, N.C., closed out the regular season ranked No. 24 in the nation with 17 doubles and No. 25 in the country with 51 RBI.  Brown also posted 55 hits and a .340 average at the plate to finish the regular season with an on-base percentage of .427.  He belted eight homers on the year and a slugged .593 for the Bulldogs.  Brown was named the NCBWA Regional Co-Hitter of the Week on Feb. 25.

Triplett earns his first SAC Coach of the Year honor after leading the Wolves to their first top-three finish in the South Atlantic Conference since joining the League in 1996.  Newberry is coming off back-to-back 30-win seasons for first time in Newberry recorded history (1981) and Newberry's 33 wins is also the most in that time period.

Albertson was named the League's first-team catcher.  Albert Baur of Newberry earned first-team honors at first base, while Wingate's Shane Billings was voted the first-team second baseman.  Ryan Perkins from Lenoir-Rhyne garnered first-team shortstop honors and Nick Morabito from Lincoln Memorial rounded out the list of first-team infielders at third base.

In the outfield, Thomas Spitz from Wingate, Brandan Sheridan of Newberry and Catawba's Blake Houston made up the list of first-team honorees.

T.J. Wharton of Catawba was voted the first-team designated hitter.

The first-team relief pitcher was Devan Watts of Tusculum, while Brooks, Placido Torres of Tusculum and Wesley Camp were tabbed the first-team starters.

The South Atlantic Conference Gold Glove honorees were Albertson at catcher, Brooks at pitcher, first baseman Baur, second baseman Kyle Bailey of Anderson, Newberry's Jacob Bass at third base, Evan Rogers of Mars Hill at shortstop, Rayshelon Carolina from Mars Hill in left field, Mars Hill's Tommy Scala in centerfield and Alex Kirby of Newberry at right field.

2015 SAC Baseball All-Conference Agate

All-SAC First Team

C- Will Albertson, Catawba

1B – Albert Baur, Newberry

2B – Shane Billings, Wingate

SS – Ryan Perkins, Lenoir-Rhyne

3B – Nick Morabito, Lincoln Memorial

OF – Thomas Spitz, Wingate

OF – Blake Houston, Catawba

OF – Brandan Sheridan, Newberry

DH – T.J. Wharton, Catawba

RP – Devan Watts, Tusculum

P – Craig Brooks, Catawba

P – Placido Torres, Tusculum

P – Wesley Camp, Newberry

All-SAC Second Team

C- Kyle Floyd, Lincoln Memorial

1B – Steven Cooper, Anderson

2B – Brantley Rumford, Lenoir-Rhyne

SS – Evan Rogers, Mars Hill

3B – Matthew De la rosa, Lenoir-Rhyne

OF – JoJo Bradley, Newberry

OF – Rayshelon Carolina, Mars Hill

OF – Bo Ausmus, Carson-Newman

DH – Bradley Brown, Wingate

RP – Daniel Nations, Newberry

P – Shafer Shepard, Catawba

P –Vince Apicella, Carson-Newman

P- Jamie Miller, Carson-Newman

Honorable Mentions

C- L.J. Newman, Anderson

1B – Evan Jurjevic, Carson-Newman

2B – Jeovanny Tolentino, Tusculum

SS – Chris Waylock, Tusculum

3B – Jacob Bass, Newberry

OF – Andrew Bowerman, Tusculum

OF – Colby Barnette, Wingate

OF – Sammy Song, Coker

DH – Nolan Schrenker, Newberry

RP – Ryan McClintock, Catawba

P – Cole Cromer, Newberry

P – Hunter Donaldson, Brevard College

P – Jonathan Rosenberger, Newberry

All-Defensive Team

C – Will Albertson, Catawba

P – Craig Brooks, Catawba

1B – Albert Baur, Newberry

2B – Kyle Bailey, Anderson

3B – Jacob Bass, Newberry

SS - Evan Rogers, Mars Hill

LF – Rayshelon Carolina, Mars Hill

CF – Tommy Scala, Mars Hill

RF – Alex Kirby, Newberry

Player of the Year

Will Albertson, Catawba

Craig Brooks, Catawba

Freshman of the Year

Bradley Brown, Wingate

Coach of the Year

Russell Triplett, Newberry

Statistical Champions

Team Batting Average – Catawba (.326)

Team Slugging Percentage – Catawba (.529)

Team On-Base Percentage – Newberry (.411)

Team Doubles Per Game – Carson-Newman (2.54)

Team Triples Per Game – Lincoln Memorial (0.38)

Team Home Runs Per Game – Wingate (1.49)

Team RBIs Per Game – Catawba (8.08)

Team Stolen Bases Per Game – Mars Hill (1.87)

Team Earned Run Average – Catawba (2.98)

Tem Strikeouts Per Game – Lenoir-Rhyne (9.8)

Batting Average – Will Albertson, Catawba (.491)

On-Base Percentage – Will Albertson, Catawba (.55)

Slugging Percentage – Will Albertson, Catawba (.939)

Home Runs Per Game – Will Albertson, Catawba (0.45)

RBIs Per Game – Will Albertson, Catawba (1.67)

Runs Scored Per Game – Blake Houston, Catawba (1.54)

Doubles Per Game – Evan Jurjevic, Carson-Newman (0.46)

Triples Per Game – JoJo Bradley, Newberry (0.14)

Stolen Bases Per Game – Tommy Scala, Mars Hill (0.53)

Earned Run Average – Devan Watts, Tusculum (1.50)

Strikeouts Per Nine Innings – Craig Brooks, Catawba (14.34)

Pitching Victories – Craig Brooks, Catawba (8)