Five Pioneers named to All-SAC Baseball Team

Five Pioneers named to All-SAC Baseball Team

ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Five Tusculum student-athletes have been named to the 2018 All-South Atlantic Conference baseball team announced league officials Tuesday. 

Infielder Daulton Martin and outfielder Jarel McDade were named to the All-SAC first team, pitcher Charles Hall was tabbed to the second team while catcher Nate Montgomery and designated hitter Colby Skeen received All-Conference honorable mention.

Martin, a sophomore from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was named the first team second baseman after garnering honorable mention status at the same position last season.  This year, Martin leads the conference with his .415 batting average (31st in NCAA II) and is second in the country with his 80 hits.  The two-time All-SAC choice is fourth in the country with seven triples and 12th in the nation with his 18 doubles (4th in SAC).  He is also 25th in the land with his 50 runs scored and his 124 total bases are 10th in the nation.  Martin's .642 slugging percentage is fifth in the conference and has also tallied 40 RBI, four home runs, 22 walks and has been hit by a pitch on nine occasions.

McDade, a junior from Magnolia, Texas, is third on the team with his .344 batting average.  The Tyler College transfer leads the Pioneers with his 54 runs scored (4th in SAC/13th in NCAA II).  He also leads TC with his 10 home runs (10th in SAC), 28 walks and has been hit by a pitch 15 times (3rd in SAC/15th in NCAA II) which are the third most in school history.

Hall has emerged as the ace of the Tusculum weekend rotation.  The Dumfries, Virginia junior owns a 4-2 record with a 4.36 earned run average with a team-best 62 strikeouts.  He has earned a start in his last six appearances where he has a 4-1 record and a 3.12 ERA with 34 strikeouts in his last 40.1 innings over that six-game span.  Hall's 62 strikeouts are the fifth-most in the league and posted four consecutive wins over Catawba, Anderson, Newberry and Lenoir-Rhyne.  He recorded a season-best 11 strikeouts in his eight shutout innings at Catawba.

Montgomery, a junior from Geneva, Illinois, is batting .333 with 55 hits, including 10 doubles, one triple, one home run and 34 RBI.  The South Suburban College transfer has started 45 games behind the plate and has tallied 17 walks and has been hit by a pitch 13 times.

Skeen, a senior from Powell, Tennessee, is second on the team with his .356 batting average serving as the team's designated hitter.   The former Dyersburg State transfer has accounted for 36 hits with five doubles, two triples, one home run and 27 RBI.

The Pioneers (23-25) are the No. 7 seed in this year's Pilot/Flying J South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championship and will face sixth-seeded Newberry on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in an elimination game at Smokies Stadium in Kodak, Tennessee. The winner of the Tusculum/Newberry game will advance to the double elimination portion of the tournament and face either top-seed Catawba or No. 2 seed Wingate on Friday.

 

2018 All-South Atlantic Conference Baseball Team
First Team
OF – Justin Dean, Lenoir-Rhyne
OF – Luke Setzer, Catawba
OF – Jarel McDade, Tusculum
1B – Chance Bowden, Catawba
2B – Daulton Martin, Tusculum
SS – Colin Allman, Newberry
3B – Christian Stampler, Mars Hill
C – Matt Honeycutt, Mars Hill
DH – Bradley Brown, Wingate
SP – Ethan Elliott, Lincoln Memorial
SP – John Grigg, Lenoir-Rhyne
SP – Dillon Cate, Carson-Newman
RP – Landon Whitson, Lenoir-Rhyne

Second Team
OF – Logan Augustine, Lincoln Memorial
OF – Danton Hyman, Newberry
OF – Chandler Castleberry, Anderson
1B – Dillon Carpenter, Anderson
2B – McCann Mellett, Wingate
SS – Tyler Adams, Lincoln Memorial
3B – Jackson Raper, Catawba
C – Ethan Goforth, Carson-Newman
DH – Heath Mitchem, Catawba
SP – Austin Turgeon, Wingate
SP – Charles Hall, Tusculum
SP – Zac Brown, Mars Hill
RP – Will Gardner, Carson-Newman

All-SAC Honorable Mention
OF – Kyle Smith, Catawba
OF – Derek Olenchuk, Newberry
OF – Will Reddick, Lincoln Memorial
1B – Alex Reynolds, Lenoir-Rhyne
2B – Joe Butts, Catawba
SS – Tyler Miller, Anderson
3B – Brett Langhorne, Carson-Newman
C – Nate Montgomery, Tusculum
DH – Colby Skeen, Tusculum
SP – Ryan Harbin, Newberry
SP – Joe Bobiak, Lincoln Memorial
RP – DJ Laxton, Catawba

SAC Gold Glove Team
RF – Luke Setzer, Catawba
CF – Ty Andrus, Wingate
LF – Derek Olenchuk, Newberry
1B – Chance Bowden, Catawba
2B – Dalton Landsdowne, Newberry
SS – Tyler Miller, Anderson
3B – Brett Langhorne, Carson-Newman
C – Ethan Goforth, Carson-Newman
P – John Grigg, Lenoir-Rhyne

SAC Player of the Year: Chance Bowden, Catawba
SAC Pitcher of the Year: Ethan Elliott, Lincoln Memorial
SAC Freshman of the Year: Chandler Castleberry, Anderson
SAC Coach of the Year: Jim Gantt, Catawba