SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Five Southern Conference baseball players have been selected to the 2021 American Baseball Coaches Assocaition (ABCA)/Rawlings NCAA Division I All-Region teams, the organization announced on Wednesday.
Mercer's Garett Delano and Samford's Tyler McManus were both first team selections in the Southeast region, while Western Carolina's Luke Robinson and Justice Bigbie both collected first-team All-Alantic honors and Pascanel Ferreras was named to the second team. WCU’s leauge-leading three selections are its most in a single season since 2014 when four Catamounts were on the squad.
The teams are voted on by members of the American Baseball Coaches Association and the process is led by the ABCA NCAA Div. I All-America Committee, which is chaired by Tommy Raffo of Arkansas State University.
Delano, a graduate student from Callahan, Florida, is an infielder and right-handed pitcher for the Bears. He led the team in batting average, .337 and runs batted in 52. Delano showed off his power as he hit nine home runs and 13 doubles. On the mound, he made 15 appearances - 12 starts and three in relief. He has a 6-1 record and an ERA of 4.32. Delano tallied 60 strikeouts to only 20 walks and held opponents to a .231 average through 81 1/3 innings pitched. He led the team in innings pitched and was second in wins. Delano is the first Bear since Kyle Lewis to earn this honor.
McManus led the Buldogs with a .346 batting average this season, which was among the top 10 in the conference, and tallied 53 RBIs were the second-most in the SoCon this year. The junior from Slidell, Louisiana, recored 13 doubles, 11 home runs and was a second team all-SoCon selection at designate hitter form both the coaches and the media.
Robinson adds the Atlantic All-Region selection to his postseason accolades that include being named first-team All-Southern Conference and to the SoCon All-Tournament team. The fifth-year senior started all 49 games on the season including 29 behind the plate, posting a career-best .345 batting average with 71 hits including career-bests with 13 doubles and 13 home runs, the latter of which tied him for fifth in the SoCon. The McLeansville, North Carolina, product led WCU with 29 two-out RBI, finishing the season with 52 runs driven in ranking third in the conference. Elected as a team captain for a second-consecutive season, Robinson was also on the official watch list for the 2021 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year award.
Bigbie collected the second all-region honor of his career after earning second-team plaudits back in 2019 and started all 49 games in left field in earning first-team All-SoCon honors to go along with his all-region accolades. The Chesapeake, Virginia, native also collected SoCon All-Tournament team accolades after finishing with a team-best 11 hits as he batted .647 in the four games. Bigbie led WCU with 77 base hits including a team-high 15 doubles and was tied for the team lead with a .395 seasonal batting average. Like Robinson, tabbed a team captain for a second-consecutive season, Bigbie earned SoCon Player of the Month honors in February that included the league’s first weekly honor.
A second-team all-region honoree, Ferreras started all 49 games at shortstop as a true freshman. He earned second-team All-SoCon honors and was named to the 2021 SoCon All-Freshman team after batting .329 with 70 hits including 11 doubles, two triples, and a team-best 16 home runs – the second-most in the SoCon. Ferreras led the SoCon with 133 total bases, posting 21 multiple-hit games with 15 multiple-RBI efforts. Defensively, the Stone Mountain, Geogia, product was a part of turning 38 double-plays, tops in the SoCon.
ABCA/Rawlings All-Region First Team selections are nominated for ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors. The ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. I All-American teams will be announced on Saturday, June 19.
The finalists for the ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. I Gold Glove Team will be announced via the Rawlings Sporting Goods Twitter on Monday, June 21, and the Gold Glove winners in all divisions will be announced on Wednesday, June 23. In all divisions, ABCA/Rawlings National Pitchers of the Year will be announced on Monday, June 28, followed by ABCA/Rawlings National Position Players of the Year on Wednesday, June 30.
View the full list of teams here.