Six SoCon baseball players were named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Preseason All-America team, giving the league the third-highest total among Division I conferences. Only the ACC and SEC, with nine student-athletes represented, placed more players on the squad.
NCBWA Preseason All-Americans by conference
9 ACC
9 SEC
6 Southern
5 Pac 10
5 Conference USA
3 Big East
3 Big 12
3 Big West
3 Mountain West
2 Big Ten
2 Southland
2 Sun Belt
2 Missouri Valley
2 West Coast
1 Big South
1 Ohio Valley
1 Metro Atlantic
1 WAC
Brandon Sizemore Named First Team NCBWA Preseason All-American
Charleston, S.C. -- College of Charleston senior second baseman Brandon Sizemore has been named to the ninth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Pro-Line Athletic preseason Division I All-America baseball first team, it was announced on Tuesday.
Campbell, who was named a first team all-Southern Conference in 2008, hit .325 with 20 homers and 80 RBI last season, while picking up 24 doubles and 11 stolen bases.
Sizemore, from Jacksonville, Fla., ranked 7th nationally in RBI and 21st in home runs. Sizemore hit .418 vs. lefties and .299 vs. right-handers. He hit .380 with runners on base, .636 with the bases loaded, .410 leading off an inning, .404 with runners in scoring position, .378 with two outs and was second on the team with 32 two-out RBI. Sizemore hit .371 with 13 homers and 51 RBI over 27 Southern Conference games.
Many of NCBWA preseason All-Americans will be nominated for the 23rd annual Dick Howser Trophy, presented by the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Area chamber of Commerce and voted upon by the NCBWA membership. The Howser Trophy will be awarded on Saturday, June 13, 2009 prior to Game One of the NCAA World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
Benedict, Wright Named Preseason All-America
Georgia Southern seniors selected Third Team by the NCBWA
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius) and Ty Wright (Montrose/West Laurens), both seniors on the Georgia Southern Baseball team, were named Third Team Preseason All-America by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). The ninth-annual Pro-Line Athletic Preseason teams were announced Tuesday (Dec. 16).
They were two of six representatives from four Southern Conference teams.
Benedict earned Second Team All-SoCon honors last year and is regarded as one of the best all-around catchers in the country. The senior was also one of 19 in Georgia Southern history to record 60 runs scored/60 RBI in a season (60/65) and ranked 61st nationally in RBI per game (1.14). He batted .355 with 17 doubles, 12 home runs and walked more times (27) than he struck out (20) in 217 at-bats, all while posting a .978 fielding percentage.
He led the Eagles and finished fifth in the SoCon picking off six runners. In fact, Benedict had more pickoffs by himself than three SoCon teams had total. Benedict accounted for two of the Eagles' NCAA record 14 home runs hit during game two of the Columbia series last year, a 26-8 victory. He also recorded two home runs against Boston College and hit his first career grand slam during the Wofford series.
Wright is coming off an All-America season in 2008, his first with the Eagles. The senior outfielder, who earlier this month was named to the 'Wallace Watch' for the Brooks Wallace Award as National Player of the Year, earned Second Team All-America honors by the American Baseball Coaches Association last season. He also was selected First Team All-Atlantic Region and First Team All-Southern Conference.
Wright was featured in Sports Illustrated 'Faces in the Crowd' after hitting for the cycle in four consecutive innings (the first four innings of game three) at Wofford. Overall he tallied 63 runs scored (19th nationally), 52 RBI batting mainly as leadoff hitter, and led the team with 22 doubles (16th). He recorded 17 home runs (22nd in HR per game), including a program record six that led off a game. Wright posted a .781 slugging percentage (8th) and .494 on-base percentage (46th).
He tallied 32 walks to 25 strikeouts in 196 at-bats and just missed the .400 club, finishing the year batting at a .398 clip (48th nationally). He hit one of the NCAA record 14 home runs against Columbia (March 15). Wright was named SoCon 'Player of the Month' in April (.410 batting average, 34-for-83), and earned NCBWA 'National Player of the Week' and SoCon 'Player of the Week' honors for the week of April 29.
Georgia Southern opens the 2009 season on Friday, February 20th against Presbyterian. The three-game series will take place at J.I. Clements Stadium.
Davis, Harrilchak Named Preseason All-Americans
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Elon University seniors Bennett Davis (Katy, Texas) and Cory Harrilchak (Cary, N.C.) each were Second Team selections to the ninth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Pro-Line Athletic Preseason All-American team. There are 19 different conferences and 43 different schools represented among the three preseason teams selected by the NCBWA preseason All-America committee.
Davis earned his spot as a third baseman following a junior season in which he belted 18 homers and drove in a school record 82 runs while hitting .350. In 61 games, Davis scored 66 runs and also had 15 doubles. Davis was a Second Team All-Southern Conference selection by the league's media following the 2008 campaign. He also earned SoCon All-Tournament accolades after helping the Phoenix capture the league's automatic bid to NCAA Regional play.
Harrilchak claimed his position as an outfielder. As a junior, Harrilchak batted .410, 27th in the nation, to become the first Elon player to conclude a season with a .400+ batting average since 1988. Harrilchak was named the 2008 SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player after hitting .591 with three homers, 11 RBI, 13 runs score (tying a tournament record) and a 1-0 record on the mound in the tournament. He was a First Team All-SoCon pick by both the league's coaches and media and was a Second Team ABCA All-Atlantic Region choice. Harrilchak also belted 11 homers and finished with 12 doubles, five triples, 71 runs, 46 RBI and was 24-of-25 in stolen base attempts.
The Citadel’s Sonny Meade Named to Ninth Annual NCBWA Preseason All-America Team
Starkville, Miss. ? Sonny Meade was named to the ninth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Pro-Line Athletic pre-2009 All-America Third Team Tuesday, joining five other Southern Conference players to earn that accolade. Meade hit .393 last season with 49 runs scored and 46 RBI.
The six honorees from the Southern Conference gives the SoCon more members of the preseason All-America team than any other mid-major conference. Meade is only one of three players from the State of South Carolina to be honored.
While the Olympics and other international baseball events dominated much of the 2008 baseball scene, the preseason All-America team features many of the standouts from the various “dream” teams.
First team pitcher Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State was prominent on the mound staffs of both the U.S. Olympic team (composed of mainly top professional baseball stalwarts) as well as the U.S. National Team, which finished 24-0 and set a national team summer earned run average of 1.87.
While pitching numbers reflect the depth and star power of 2009 college competition, all three units are composed of teams which could make runs at NCAA regional and national crowns.
There are 19 conferences and 43 different schools (the most in the nine-year annals of NCBWA preseason All-America choices) represented among the selections by the NCBWA preseason All-America committee.
Many of these preseason standouts will be nominated for the 23rd annual Dick Howser Trophy, presented by the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Area Chamber of Commerce and voted upon by the NCBWA membership. The Howser Trophy will be awarded on Saturday, June 13, 2009 prior to Game One of the NCAA College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb.
Meade and The Citadel baseball team will kick off the 2009 season starting with a four-game series against Indiana State on Feb. 20, 2009 at 5 p.m. in Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park in Charleston.
For complete coverage of Bulldog Baseball, visit the official home of The Citadel Athletics at CitadelSports.com.