November 9, 2020

Koeneman and Apicella lead talented all-decade team

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Former South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year Kyle Koeneman and two-time all-region selection Vince Apicella lead a group of 26 former all-conference selections named to the 2010s all-decade team for Carson-Newman baseball announced Monday.

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Former South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year Kyle Koeneman and two-time all-region selection Vince Apicella lead a group of 26 former all-conference selections named to the 2010s all-decade team for Carson-Newman baseball announced Monday.

During the decade, the program produced 268 overall wins and 131 conference victories adding 13 triumphs in the SAC Baseball Championships getting to a pair of SAC title contests along the way.

Each team was formatted with eight position players and a utility player representing what would be the designated hitter adding three starting pitchers and two relievers. Of the 28 players, 10 were named to an all-region or All-American team at some point in their career. Eleven played professional baseball including six that were affiliated with Major League Baseball Organizations and three draft selections.

Koeneman is one of seven Eagles to win the conference's top honor doing so in 2012 when he was a first-team All-American leading the NCAA with 20 homers. In 49 games, the first baseman hit .390 with 20 bombes, 51 RBIs scoring 48 runs and stealing five bags.

Apicella is the only player on this list to earn an all-region twice in his career doing so 2015 and 2016. The left-hander was a Brett Tomko Award semifinalist in 2016 given to the top Division II pitcher in the country. He produced 13 complete games over the two seasons with seven as a senior owning two of the top three strikeout seasons during the program's Division II era. For his career, he won 20 games with a 3.78 ERA fanning 263 in 226 1/3 innings.

At catcher on the first team, Ethan Goforth was a two-time All-SAC selection and a two-time all-defensive team pick. The 25th-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019 posted a .342 batting average with 13 home runs, 76 RBIs, 116 runs scored and 32 stolen bases for his career.

Sharpe became the first second baseman to be an All-SAC pick for C-N since 2008 when he finished the 2019 season with a .338 batting average and 43 RBIs.

Mills Rogers was a first-team All-SAC pick in 2010 tallying a monster season with a .378 batting average, 10 homers, 58 RBIs, 18 doubles and two triples adding eight stolen bases. A first-team all-region selection, Rogers played in the Nationals organization.

Current assistant coach Brandon Roberts earned the starting spot at third base in 184 of the team's 193 games in his four seasons. He ranked in the top 10 in the conference in five categories as a senior finishing with 11 homers and 71 hits during a campaign that netted him unanimous all-region laurels. An all-defensive team pick in 2016, Roberts posted a .940 fielding percentage for his career.

The first-team outfield produced massive power starting with Jeff Lockwood, a 2010 all-region pick, who hit 20 homers and drove in 67 runs while hitting .398 with a 1.312 OPS and adding eight stolen bases. He also appeared in six games on the mound posting two saves and two wins with a 3.14 ERA and 16 punch outs.

Jonathan Dalton hit 19 home runs in 84 games adding 42 total extra-base hits. In 2011, an all-conference campaign, he hit .318 with 12 homers and 45 RBIs adding six stolen bases.

Rounding out the outfield is 2017 all-region pick Ryan Addington who hit .393 as a senior leading the team to Championship Monday. Finished the year third in the SAC in doubles with 19, hits with 84, runs scored with 60 and total bases with 131…His 17 stolen bases are good for fourth and with a .393 batting average he is sixth. Addington set the SAC Record with 10 RBIs, ninth-most in Division II history, on Feb. 10, 2017 v. UVA-Wise hitting grand slams in the third and fourth innings going 5-for-6 with 14 total bases.

Academic All-American Paul Kirby takes the utility position produced 15 homers and 90 RBIs over two years finishing his career with a senior season that produced a .339 batting average, nine homers, 53 RBIs and 17 doubles.

Joining Apicella on the rubber is Dillon Cate and Austin Bridgewater. Cate, a 2018 first-team All-SAC pick and Academic All-American, went 6-3 with a 4.48 ERA striking out 97 in 80 1/3 innings. He set the program's D2 record with 15 K's over 7 1/3 no-hit innings against #14 Northwood on Feb. 18, 2018 earning NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week honors.

Bridgewater started 26 over two seasons earning all-conference laurels in 2010. Opponents hit a modest .250 during that span as he won nine games.

In the bullpen, Will Gardner leads the unit starting for the team in 2017 and closing for the club in 2018. As a junior, the right-hander tossed five complete games while racking up a dozen saves as a senior. The 21st-round pick of the Pirates struck out 122 in his career.

Rounding out the top unit, Ryan Fillers appeared in 88 games over four seasons out of the bullpen. The right-hander tallied 13 saves and 13 wins in his career.

Highlighting the second team, Derek Long, a three-time All-SAC pick at first base posted a .391 average, eight homers and 50 RBIs in 2010.

Brett Langhorne, a two-time All-SAC selection, was selected in the 10th round of the 2018 MLB Draft, the highest Carson-Newman position player of all time. In 101 games, the Mechiancsville, Va. native posted a .325 batting average with 14 home runs, 75 RBIs, 84 runs scored and 37 stolen bases in 45 attempts.

In the outfield, Tyler Thompson, a current senior on the roster, produced one of the best seasons in Eagle history in 2019 posting a .438 batting average with nine homers and 15 stolen bases. The unanimous all-region pick ranked fourth in the country in batting average and set the program's NCAA record for a single year.

Leading the pitching staff, Greg Valentine finished his career with 92 appearances, a program record, racking up 19 wins over four years. Transitioning to a starting role as a senior, he earned second-team All-SAC honors going 8-3 with a 3.62 ERA.