Gantt, Arrowood Tabbed as Player and Pitcher of the Year

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - College of Charleston center fielder Marty Gantt has been voted as the Player of the Year by the Southern Conference Sports Media Association while Appalachian State right-hander Ryan Arrowood has earned Pitcher of the Year accolades to highlight the awards.

Also earning superlative awards are Georgia Southern catcher Chase Griffin as the league's Freshman of the Year, and Appalachian State head coach Chris Pollard who was voted by the media as the Coach of the Year.

Gantt hit .349 with 10 home runs and 40 RBIs during the regular season to lead College of Charleston to a share of the regular season championship. The senior center fielder was among the SoCon leaders in numerous offensive categories, including topping the charts in on-base percentage (.481), runs (62) and walks (41).

Arrowood completed the regular season with a perfect 9-0 record as the ace of the Mountaineers' staff. The senior right-hander recorded a 3.93 earned run average and fanned 79 batters in 84.2 innings on the mound. In league play, Arrowood was 7-0, earning one third of the team's wins as ASU shared its first Southern Conference title since 1987.

Griffin was named Freshman of the Year after batting .306 with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs. A regular behind the plate for the Eagles, Griffin scored 28 times and had a .522 slugging percentage. Defensively, he gunned down 16 runners attempting to steal.

Pollard was selected as the Coach of the Year after guiding ASU to a 38-14 overall mark and a SoCon title. The Mountaineers entered all of the major national rankings during the season, reaching as high as 24th in the Baseball America poll in mid-May. ASU's first-place finish came after the league's media predicted it to finish sixth during the preseason.

Appalachian State, College of Charleston and Samford each had six players selected to the all-conference teams, including four first-team choices for the Mountaineers.

Will Callaway, Daniel Kassouf, Tyler Tewell, and Arrowood were first-team honorees for Appalachian while Gantt was joined on the first team by starting pitcher Christian Powell for the Cougars.

Samford and Western Carolina each tallied a pair of first team awards. The Bulldogs' Saxon Butler and Brandon Miller were honored as were the Catamounts' Ross Heffley and Preston Hatcher.

Also earning first team accolades were Elon catcher Alex Swim and Georgia Southern third baseman Eric Phillips.

2012 SoCon Sports Media Association Baseball All-Conference

Player of the Year - Marty Gantt, Sr., CF, College of Charleston
Pitcher of the Year - Ryan Arrowood, Sr., RHP, Appalachian State
Freshman of the Year - Chase Griffin, C, Georgia Southern
Coach of the Year - Chris Pollard, Appalachian State

First Team
SP  Ryan Arrowood, Appalachian State
SP  Christian Powell, College of Charleston
RP  Preston Hatcher, Western Carolina
C    Alex Swim, Elon
1B  Saxon Butler, Samford
2B  Ross Heffley, Western Carolina
SS  Will Callaway, Appalachian State
3B  Eric Phillips, Georgia Southern
OF  Tyler Tewell, Appalachian State
OF  Marty Gantt, College of Charleston
OF  Brandon Miller, Samford
DH  Daniel Kassouf, Appalachian State

Second Team
SP  Matt Pegler, College of Charleston
SP  Josh Martin, Samford
RP  Kyle Owings, College of Charleston
C    Brad Moss, Samford
1B  Ryan Kinsella, Elon
2B  Hector Crespo, Appalachian State
SS  Bradley Goodson, College of Charleston
3B  Rob Harding, College of Charleston
OF  Tyler Zupcic, Appalachian State
OF  Phillip Ervin, Samford
OF  Mac Doyle, Wofford
DH  C.K. Irby, Samford