A full list of SoCon baseball players on the 2009 All Ping!BASEBALL Teams:
Second Team
3B Joey Bergman, College of Charleston
Third Team
SP Chris Mederos, Georgia Southern
RP Zach Quate, Appalachian State
C Richard Jones, The Citadel
SS Brent Greer, Western Carolina
Honorable Mention
SP Wes Wrenn, The Citadel
3B Isaac Harrow, Appalachian State
Quate, Harrow Earn All-America Recognition
BOONE, N.C. ? Relief pitcher Zach Quate (Raleigh, N.C./Wakefield) and third baseman Isaac Harrow (Hickory, N.C./Hickory) became just the second and third Appalachian State University baseball players in the past two decades to receive all-America recognition when Ping! Baseball named Quate to its third team and picked Harrow as an honorable-mention selection on Friday.
Quate turned in the best season by a closer in Appalachian history in ?09, going 3-1 with 11 saves and a 1.09 earned run average in 31 appearances. In 41.1 innings of work, the right-handed senior allowed only five earned runs on 24 hits (.171 opp. BA) while striking out 55 and walking only 14.
His 11 saves ranked 21st nationally and obliterated the ASU single-season record of eight. He was a perfect 11-for-11 in save opportunities and surrendered earned runs in only three of his 31 appearances. Aside from an uncharacteristic outing at UNC Greensboro on May 10 when he allowed three runs in a 9-8 extra-inning victory, Quate sported a miniscule 0.47 ERA in his 30 other outings on the mound.
Quate was especially dominant in April, going 1-0 with eight saves in 13 appearances. He struck out 24 and allowed only eight hits in 16 innings of work, en route to being named the SoCon’s Pitcher of the Month. He turned in perhaps his best performance of the season when he struck out the side on 10 pitches in the bottom of the ninth inning to nail down a 4-1 win over The Citadel in the opening game of the Southern Conference Tournament.
Harrow put together one of the best offensive campaigns in Appalachian history in ?09, setting school records with 75 RBI, 163 total bases and six triples. He ranked among the nation’s top 35 in nine different statistical categories, including batting average (.422 ? 19th), hits (92 ? 23rd), doubles (23 ? 18th), triples (6 ? 21st), RBI (75 ? 18th), slugging percentage (.748 ? 26th), total bases (163 ? 21st), on-base percentage (.500 ? 34th) and sacrifice flies (7 ? 28th).
Harrow was the driving force behind the Mountaineers’ rebound from a 6-14 start, hitting .488 (61-for-125) with 54 RBI, 39 runs scored, 15 doubles, five triples, seven home runs, a .557 on-base percentage and .856 slugging percentage over the final 31 games of the regular season. He was particularly impressive during the Apps’ 18-2 April, batting .442 (34-for-77) with 35 RBI and 27 runs scored in 20 games, en route to being named the SoCon Player of the Month. Half of his 34 hits in April went for extra bases (eight doubles, three triples, six home runs), good for a .857 slugging percentage, and he hit safely in 19-of-20 games, including 14-straight to close out the month.
In addition to his three single-season records, Harrow became ASU’s all-time leader in at-bats (750), runs (165), hits (260), doubles (65), RBI (201) and total bases (421) during the course of the season.
Quate and Harrow join current Pittsburgh Pirates farmhand David Rubinstein, who earned the third-team recognition in 2007, as Appalachian’s only all-Americans since 1988. This year’s duo ups the all-time total of Mountaineer all-Americans to 14.
Quate, Harrrow and fellow ASU seniors Josh Dowdy and Rand Smith will likely join Rubinstein in the professional ranks next week when Major League Baseball holds its annual First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday and Wednesday (June 9-10).
Chris Mederos Named to All-Ping!Baseball Team
Junior pitcher selected as a Third Team starter
STATESBORO, Ga. - Georgia Southern pitcher Chris Mederos (Valdosta/Lowndes County/Gordon College) was named to the 2009 All-Ping!Baseball team. The junior right-hander was a Third Team pick at starting pitcher.
The three teams and honorable mention selections were broken down by positions as Mederos was one of seven representing the Southern Conference.
Mederos finished the year 11-1 with a 3.83 ERA in 94 innings. He struck out 113 batters to just 29 walks allowed, starting in all 16 appearances. In the latest national statistical rankings, Mederos stands ninth in victories and 17th in strikeouts.
He pitched at least five innings in all but one start. The First Team All-SoCon and SoCon All-Tournament pick struck out at least six batters in 13 of his 16 starts, including consecutive outings of double-digits (11 Ks versus Wofford, 12 against Davidson in the opening round of the SoCon Tournament).
Among the Georgia Southern season leaders, Mederos tied for 10th in wins, tied for sixth winning eight consecutive decisions, and fell just five strikeouts shy of joining that season list. He helped the Eagles to a 42-17 record, win their fourth SoCon Tournament championship and make the program's 12th appearance in the NCAA Regionals.
Richard Jones, Wes Wrenn Named to Ping! Baseball All-America Teams
OMAHA, Neb. ? The Citadel’s Richard Jones and Wes Wrenn were honored by Ping! Baseball Monday as the pair was named to the Ping! All-America Teams. Jones garnered third team honors while Wrenn received honorable mention.
Jones tied The Citadel’s single-season home run record with 17 round-trippers in 2009 en route to 95 hits and a .378 batting average. Jones scored 54 runs on the season and recorded 69 RBI, earning All-Southern Conference First Team honors.
The 2009 Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year, Wes Wrenn earned Honorable Mention accolades from Ping! Baseball after posting a 9-3 record and a 3.62 ERA. Wrenn pitched in over 102 innings while striking out 82 batters.
The Citadel, along with Appalachian State, led the Southern Conference with two selections each. The SoCon had seven student-athletes honored with Georgia Southern, College of Charleston and Western Carolina each having one student-athlete honored by Ping! Baseball.