Five Hawks earn All-Conference baseball honors
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Five Huntingdon players were recognized with the release of the USA South All-Conference baseball awards on Wednesday.
Senior Taylor Fought was named first-team as a utility player. Sophomore pitcher Carden Mellown, sophomore shortstop Wes Powell, senior outfielder Joseph Calvert and junior outfielder Will Cosby were each named second-team All-Conference.
Fought and Powell were both second-team All-Conference selections last season.
Entering Wednesday's conference tournament, Fought led the USA South with 56 hits, was second with 41 RBIs and tied for second with 11 doubles. He leads Huntingdon with a .386 batting average, three home runs and a .538 slugging percentage and has scored 27 runs.
Mellown entered the USA South Tournament with a 6-2 record, 67 strikeouts and a 3.20 ERA in 64.2 innings. His 67 strikeouts and 64.2 innings led the conference and his six wins were tied for first.
Powell entered the conference tournament as the second-leading run scorer in the USA South with 37. Through 34 games this season, he had a .295 batting average, was third on Huntingdon's team with 39 hits and had six doubles and 23 RBIs.
Calvert entered the conference tournament as the Hawks' second-leading hitter with a .345 batting average and 41 hits, was second on the team with 30 RBIs and two home runs, tied for second with 10 stolen bases, tied for third with seven doubles and had scored 27 runs.
Through 34 games, Cosby led the USA South with 31 walks and a .487 on-base percentage and was fifth with 18 stolen bases and tied for fifth with 35 runs. He was third on Huntingdon's team with a .327 batting average, was second with eight doubles and also had 20 RBIs.
Huntingdon senior Jud Owens was named to the All-Sportsmanship team.
Piedmont junior outfielder Brady Ballstadt was named USA South Player of the Year and Ferrum senior Jacob Holland was named Pitcher of the Year. North Carolina Wesleyan freshman Drew Tubb was named Rookie Pitcher of the Year and LaGrange freshman infielder Jack Layrisson was named Rookie of the Year. Methodist' Tom Austin was recognized as the Coach of the Year.
The complete All-Conference awards are listed below.
USA South All-Conference Baseball Awards
Player of the Year: Brady Ballstadt, Piedmont
Pitcher of the Year: Jacob Holland, Ferrum
Rookie of the Year: Jake Layrisson, LaGrange
Rookie Pitcher of the Year: Drew Tubb, N.C. Wesleyan
Coach of the Year: Tom Austin, Methodist
First Team
1B - Andrew Burden, Piedmont
2B - Kyle Vidano, Averett
3B - Alec Allred, William Peace
SS - Matthias Carter, Methodist
C - Alex Kachler, Methodist
DH/Util. - Taylor Fought, Huntingdon
OF - Brady Ballstadt, Piedmont
OF - Johnny Carpenter, Maryville
OF - James Poropatic, LaGrange
SP - Sam Carpenter, Piedmont
SP - Jacob Holland, Ferrum
RP - Buddy Green, Piedmont
Second Team
1B - Garrett Dorton, Ferrum
2B - Brad Pennington, N.C. Wesleyan
3B - Tucker Criswell, Methodist
SS - Wes Powell, Huntingdon
C - Scotty McGuire, Greensboro
DH/Util. - Will May, Methodist
OF - Joseph Calvert, Huntingdon
OF - Davis Cass, Methodist
OF - Will Cosby, Huntingdon
SP - Nate Gardner, N.C. Wesleyan
SP - Carden Mellown, Huntingdon
RP - Gibson Bittner, LaGrange
Honorable Mention
1B - Jack Layrisson, LaGrange
2B - Hayden Hollingsworth, Maryville
3B - Mike Homan, Maryville
SS - Alec Titmus, N.C. Wesleyan
C - Noah Heatherly, Piedmont
OF - CJ Edmond, Covenant
OF - Joel Johnson, Covenant
OF - Max Johnson, N.C. Wesleyan
SP - Luke Westmoreland, William Peace
Sportsmanship
Hunter Collins, Averett
Ty Williams, Berea
Drake Black, Brevard
Taylor Bloye, Covenant
Michael Dorsainvil, Ferrum
Nick Corey, Greensboro
Jud Owens, Huntingdon
Jackson Patrick, LaGrange
Caleb Adams, Maryville
Thomas Dean, Methodist
Christian Heisey, N.C. Wesleyan
Christian Marciano, Pfeiffer
Drew Coker, Piedmont
Trey Hogan, William Peace