Four Eagles land on preseason All-SAC teams
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The South Atlantic Conference released its preseason all-conference units Thursday morning as Carson-Newman saw outfielder Ryan Addington, outfielder Cade Snapp and shortstop Jimmy Rice land on the first team and Gooch Greer earning a spot on the second team.
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The South Atlantic Conference released its preseason all-conference units Thursday morning as Carson-Newman saw outfielder Ryan Addington, outfielder Cade Snapp and shortstop Jimmy Rice land on the first team and Gooch Greer earning a spot on the second team.
The trio of first-team selections are the most since the inception of preseason all-league squads in 2007 when C-N posted four players to the top group. Overall, the four honorees are the most since 2009 when the Eagles registered five preseason players.
Eight different teams had at least one representative on a preseason squad as Catawba and Newberry led the way with five players each, four on the first team. Carson-Newman and Tusculum had the second-most with four players apiece with C-N's three first-teamers behind Catawba and Newberry.
"You don't know what that does to the psyche of the kid," Carson-Newman baseball coach Tom Griffin said. "There is a thought that I had a good last year and played well. When you are in that senior year, the key is how you start. If you start slow, you start pressing because you realize that time is really short. You try to get two hits with one swing. If we can keep them focused on team and we versus I and individual stats I think we will be fine."
Addington (Cincinnati, Ohio) has started 84 games over the last two seasons as he prepares for the beginning of his senior campaign. An honorable mention All-South Atlantic Conference pick as a junior, the veteran hit 342 at the dish with three home runs and 25 RBI. Addington ranked ninth in the league with 52 runs scored as he has racked up a team-leading 23 multi-hit outings.
"We know what we are capable of," Addington said. "We lost a couple guys but we have plenty of depth with guys waiting to replace them. If we stay healthy we have a lot of depth that we can compete."
The center fielder ranked 24th in the country with 26 stolen bases, a mark that ranks sixth since the program joined Division II in 1994. In the last seven years, the junior is just the third player with double-digit steals in a season and has the most since Evan Patterson swiped 24 bags in 2009.
Snapp (Seymour, Tenn.) made the majority of the starts in left field after being named to the SAC All-Tournament team in 2016. He led the team with 16 home runs while hitting .304 with 49 RBIs in 49 starts to become the first C-N player since Kyle Koeneman (20) in 2012 to notch double-digit HRs in a season as his season total of 16 ranks sixth on the school's Division II record book.
The junior piled up 15 multi-hit and a team-leading 15 multi-RBI affairs as a sophomore while making 21 starts in left field and 28 as the team's designated hitter.
"It's a team thing," Snapp said. "I don't necessarily think that it's an individual thing. Griff helped me a lot through the season last year getting my swing right. Coach Barnett helped me in the outfield all season. My teammates backed me up and made sure that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing."
Rice (Middlesex, N.J.) started 51 games and missed one game due to an injury as he tallying a .299 batting average with five home runs and 36 RBIs. He stroked 14 multi-hit games (10 two-hit and four three-hit) while racking up eight multi-RBI days.
Greer (Dickson, Tenn.), a 2016 South Atlantic Conference Gold Glove recipient after throwing out 61 percent of base runners attempting to steal a base as a junior, nearly 20 points higher than any catcher in the league to play at least 30 games. At the plate, he finished second on the team with a .345 batting average to go along with three home runs and 18 RBIs.
"We have to look at our success from last year," Greer said. "We got very hot there at the end of the year and we have to play off of that. We consider ourselves rolling into this year off of that success. We have to pay attention to the little things. Last year a couple of the little things got us. We weren't hyped up and ready to go. Some guys were tired and we can't have that this year."
The Eagles hit the road for their first contest of the season when Carson-Newman travels to Dahlonega, Ga. to challenge the North Georgia Nighthawks in a game scheduled for a 2 p.m. first pitch on Feb. 3. Broadcast coverage commences at 1:50 p.m. on cneagles.com/live on the Eagle Sports Network.
|
Position |
Name |
School |
|
OF |
Daymon Totherow |
Newberry |
|
OF |
Carson-Newman |
|
|
OF |
Carson-Newman |
|
|
1B |
Chance Bowden |
Catawaba |
|
2B |
Zack Finchum |
Tusculum |
|
SS |
Carson-Newman |
|
|
3B |
Derek Olenchuk |
Newberry |
|
C |
Jeff Sneed |
Newberry |
|
DH |
Malachi Hanes |
Catawba |
|
SP |
Zack Kelly |
Newberry |
|
SP |
Russ Weiker |
Catawba |
|
SP |
Ethan Elliot |
Lincoln Memorial |
|
RP |
Bryan Blanton |
Catawba |
|
Position |
Name |
School |
|
OF |
Mason Ewers |
Lincoln Memorial |
|
OF |
Danton Hyman |
Newberry |
|
OF |
Austin Turgeon |
Wingate |
|
1B |
Nick Lacina |
Tusculum |
|
2B |
Kyle Smith |
Catawba |
|
SS |
Bryson Conner |
Coker |
|
3B |
Eric Kalman |
Lincoln Memorial |
|
C |
Carson-Newman |
|
|
DH |
Bradley Brown |
Wingate |
|
SP |
Brandon Donahue |
Wingate |
|
SP |
Christian Raasch |
Tusculum |
|
SP |
Zach Slagle |
Tusculum |
|
RP |
Tad Ratliff |
Lenoir-Rhyne |
