SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference announced the 2022 baseball all-conference teams and individual honors on Tuesday, which were voted on by the league’s eight head coaches and the SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA).
 
UNCG second baseman Hogan Windish and right-handed pitcher Alex Hoppe were tabbed the player of the year and pitcher of the year, respectively, by the coaches, while Wofford catcher Lawson Hill and Hoppe were selected as the player of the year and pitcher of the year by the media. Wofford head coach Todd Interdonato was named coach of the year by both the coaches and the SCSMA after the Terriers clinched the 2022 regular-season crown to repeat as conference champions for the first time in program history, becoming the first SoCon school to win consecutive regular-season titles since Mercer won three straight from 2015-17.
 
Windish and Hoppe are the first UNCG duo to sweep the player and pitcher of the year awards since Andrew Moritz and Matt Frisbee earned the respective honors in 2018. ETSU outfielder Tommy Barth rounded out the individual awards as he earned consensus freshman of the year honors. Each of the three athletes also earned first-team all-conference honors from both the coaches and media.
 
Windish hit .392 for the Spartans this season, ranking second in the conference in batting average, while leading the league with a .495 on-base percentage. The junior from Jefferson, North Carolina, ranks second in the league with a .703 slugging percentage and tallied 52 RBIs, 13 home runs and 18 doubles, while scoring 44 runs in his 181 plate appearances. Windish also recorded 98 putouts and 111 assists in the field and was part of 22 double plays.
 
Hill leads the SoCon with a .394 batting average and 82 hits this season, while his .473 on-base percentage ranks second entering postseason play. His 18 doubles are tied for fifth in the SoCon and complement his one triple and two home runs. The fifth-year player from Canton, Georgia, has drawn 30 walks, scored 49 runs and driven in 38 in addition to going 10-for-13 on the base paths. He has turned in a .983 fielding percentage this season with just six errors in 350 total chances.
 
Hoppe led the conference with a 2.43 ERA and held opponents to a league-low .182 batting average this season. The senior from Clinton, Iowa, registered 81 total strikeouts and finished the regular season with a 7-2 overall record and three saves over 63 innings pitched.
 
Barth ranks third in the league with a .372 batting average. The redshirt freshman tallied 191 at bats, 71 hits, 38 RBIs, six home runs, a .592 slugging percentage and a .962 fielding percentage. The Brecksville, Ohio, native, is the first-ever rookie from ETSU to be named SCSMA Freshman of the Year and the first Buc to be voted freshman of the year by the coaches since Will Edwards in 1986. Barth posted a 22-game hitting streak during the 2022 campaign, the longest by a freshman in program history, passing the previous record of 17 games set by Paul Hoilman in 2008.
 
Wofford skipper Interdonato earns his second consecutive coach of the year award after guiding the Terriers to a 40-14-1 overall and 16-4-1 SoCon record, helping them secure Wofford’s second straight regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed for the upcoming SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases. Interdonato, who is in his 15^th season leading the program, has directed Wofford to 20 or more wins in 11 straight seasons and 30 or more wins in seven of the last eight full seasons. In the last nine completed years, Wofford has won 10 or more SoCon games each season.
 
In addition to voting for the individual awards, the coaches and media selected all-conference first and second teams and the coaches picked an all-freshman team.
 
Wofford had a league-best five first-team selections each on the coaches and media teams for 13 total honors between all teams. On both the coaches’ and media squads, Mercer, UNCG and Western Carolina earned two first-team selections apiece, while ETSU claimed one first-team selection on both the coaches and media first teams. Samford secured one first-team selection on the media team.
 
UNCG followed closely behind Wofford with 12 total selections, earning four first-team selections while combining for eight on the coaches and media second teams. In addition to Wofford’s first-team selections on the coaches and media squads, the Terriers earned one second-team selection from the coaches and two from the media, joining Samford in securing a trio of second-team selections. ETSU boasted five second-team selections and Mercer had four while VMI and Western Carolina each had one.
 
The coaches first team and media second team included 12 members each, while the coaches’ second team and media’s first team contained 13 members each due to ties in the voting. Western Carolina’s Zach Franklin (starting pitcher) and Pascanel Ferreras (shortstop), Wofford’s Matthew Marchal (starting pitcher), Hill (catcher), John Dempsey (first baseman), Ryan Galanie (third baseman) and Brennen Dorighi (designated hitter), Mercer’s Bill Knight (outfield) and Colby Thomas (outfield), UNCG’s Alex Hoppe (relief pitcher) and Windish (second baseman), and ETSU’s Barth (outfield) made up the coaches 12-member first team. On the media’s 13-member first team, Kelley and Hoppe tied at relief pitcher, while Samford’s Colton Ledbetter secured an all-conference spot at outfield.
 
The coaches 13-member second team consists of an additional relief pitcher position, with Mercer’s Jackson Kelley and Wofford’s Dalton Rhadans sharing the selection. Austin Parsley (starting pitcher), Mitchell Smith (third baseman), Kennedy Jones (outfield) and Pres Cavenaugh (outfield), ETSU’s Ashton King (first baseman) and Noah Webb (designated hitter), Mercer’s Collin Price (catcher) and Wofford’s Rhadans (relief pitcher) were all named to both the coaches and media second teams. ETSU’s Bryce Hodge (first baseman), Samford’s Colton Ledbetter (outfield) and Michael Ross (starting pitcher) and Western Carolina’s Will Prater (second baseman) secured a spot on the coaches second team, while Wofford’s Josh Vitus (starting pitcher), Samford’s Stephen Klein (first baseman), VMI’s Zac Morris (second baseman) and Mercer’s Thomas (outfield) were named to the media’s second team.
 
ETSU’s Barth highlighted the all-freshman team for the Bucs and was joined by teammate Andrew Ronne to total two on the squad, while The Citadel and Wofford led the all-freshman selections with three each. Fisher Paulsen, Sawyer Reeves and Wells Sykes collected all-freshman honors for the Bulldogs, while Carter Bailey, Coulson Buchanan and Marshall Toole claimed all-freshman honors for the Terriers. Mercer’s Treyson Hughes, UNCG’s Kennedy Jones, Samford’s Garrett Staton and VMI’s Tyler Kaltreider rounded out the squad.
 
2022 SoCon Baseball Coaches All-Southern Conference Teams
Player of the Year – Hogan Windish, Jr., 2B, UNCG
Pitcher of the Year – Alex Hoppe, Sr., RHP, UNCG
Freshman of the Year – Tommy Barth, OF, ETSU
Coach of the Year – Todd Interdonato, Wofford  
 
First team
SP        Zach Franklin, Western Carolina
SP        Matthew Marchal, Wofford
RP       Alex Hoppe, UNCG
C          Lawson Hill, Wofford
1B        John Dempsey, Wofford
2B        Hogan Windish, UNCG
SS        Pascanel Ferreras, Western Carolina
3B        Ryan Galanie, Wofford
OF       Tommy Barth, ETSU
OF       Bill Knight, Mercer
OF       Colby Thomas, Mercer
DH       Brennen Dorighi, Wofford
 
Second team
SP        Austin Parsley, UNCG
SP        Michael Ross, Samford
RP       Jackson Kelley, Mercer
RP       Dalton Rhadans, Wofford
C          Collin Price, Mercer
1B        Bryce Hodge, ETSU
2B        Will Prater, Western Carolina  
SS        Ashton King, ETSU
3B        Mitchell Smith, UNCG                      
OF       Pres Cavenaugh, UNCG
OF       Kennedy Jones, UNCG
OF       Colton Ledbetter, Samford
DH       Noah Webb, ETSU 
 
All-freshman team 
Fisher Paulsen, The Citadel
Sawyer Reeves, The Citadel
Wells Sykes, The Citadel
Tommy Barth, ETSU
Andrew Ronne, ETSU
Treyson Hughes, Mercer
Kennedy Jones, UNCG
Garrett Staton, Samford
Tyler Kaltreider, VMI
Carter Bailey, Wofford
Coulson Buchanan, Wofford
Marshall Toole, Wofford
 
2022 SoCon Sports Media Association Baseball All-Conference Teams
Player of the Year – Lawson Hill, 5th, C, Wofford  
Pitcher of the Year – Alex Hoppe, Sr., RHP, UNCG
Freshman of the Year – Tommy Barth, OF, ETSU
Coach of the Year – Todd Interdonato, Wofford
 
First team
SP        Zach Franklin, Western Carolina
SP        Matthew Marchal, Wofford
RP       Jackson Kelley, Mercer
RP       Alex Hoppe, UNCG
C          Lawson Hill, Wofford
1B        John Dempsey, Wofford
2B        Hogan Windish, UNCG
SS        Pascanel Ferreras, Western Carolina
3B        Ryan Galanie, Wofford
OF       Tommy Barth, ETSU
OF       Bill Knight, Mercer
OF       Colton Ledbetter, Samford
DH       Brennen Dorighi, Wofford
 
Second team
SP        Austin Parsley, UNCG
SP        Josh Vitus, Wofford
RP       Dalton Rhadans, Wofford
C          Collin Price, Mercer
1B        Stephen Klein, Samford
2B        Zac Morris, VMI
SS        Ashton King, ETSU
3B        Mitchell Smith, UNCG
OF       Pres Cavenaugh, UNCG
OF       Colby Thomas, Mercer
OF       Kennedy Jones, UNCG
DH       Noah Webb, ETSU