The South Atlantic Conference Announces 2018 Baseball Award Winners

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSac.com) – Catawba first baseman Chance Bowden was voted the 2018 South Atlantic Conference Baseball Player of the Year, while Lincoln Memorial's Ethan Elliott was named the Pitcher of the Year.  In addition, Anderson's Chandler Castleberry was voted the SAC Freshman of the Year and Catawba head coach Jim Gantt was named Coach of the Year, the Conference announced today.

Bowden, a senior from Salisbury, N.C., had a phenomenal year for the Catawba Indians, finishing the season ranked No. 1 nationally in hits with 82, No. 2 in RBI with 64, No. 2 in total bases with 158 and No. 4 in home runs with 18. He was named SAC AstroTurf Player of the Week three times this season. He was also named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Southeast Region Player of Week and he was named NCBWA National Hitter of the Week. The league leader in nearly every offensive category, Bowden batted .396 for the year, with 38 extra base hits and he had 24 multi-hit games.

Elliott, a junior left-handed pitcher from Knoxville, Tenn., made 12 appearances on the mound this year for the Railsplitters, posting 7-3 record. He threw 81 and two-thirds innings, including two complete games, allowing just 27 earned runs on 71 hits with 106 strikeouts and only 16 walks. He is ranked third in the nation in strikeouts, is ranked No. 30 in strikeouts per nine innings with an average of 11.68 and he is also ranked No. 21 in strikeout-to-walk ratio, with a 6.63 ratio.

Castleberry, an outfielder from Waxhaw, N.C., saw action in 48 games this season, batting .288 with 10 doubles, 15 home runs and 53 RBI. He is ranked second in the league in home runs and is third in runs batted in.  Castleberry had 16 multi-hit games this season and drove in at least one run in 25 games. 

Gantt earns his tenth Coach of the Year honor after guiding the Catawba Indians to their 13^th South Atlantic Conference Regular Season Championship, including their sixth-straight title.  Gantt's squad leads the SAC in several statistical categories including, slugging percentage (.518), on-base percentage (.426), doubles per game (2.54) and home runs per game (1.64). Under his leadership, Catawba has had four SAC AstroTurf Player/Pitchers of the Week, two NCBWA Region Players of the Week and one NCBWA National Hitter of the Week this season.

The SAC baseball awards will be presented at the 2018 Pilot/Flying J South Atlantic Conference Baseball Championship at Smokies Stadium in Kodak, Tenn. on Friday, April 27, between games four and five.

2018 SAC Baseball All-Conference

All-SAC First Team

OF – Justin Dean, Lenoir-Rhyne
OF – Luke Setzer, Catawba
OF – Jarel McDade, Tusculum
1B – Chance Bowden, Catawba
2B – Daulton Martin, Tusculum
SS – Colin Allman, Newberry
3B – Christian Stampler, Mars Hill
C – Matt Honeycutt, Mars Hill
DH – Bradley Brown, Wingate
SP – Ethan Elliott, Lincoln Memorial
SP – John Grigg, Lenoir-Rhyne
SP – Dillon Cate, Carson-Newman
RP – Landon Whitson, Lenoir-Rhyne

All-SAC Second Team

OF – Logan Augustine, Lincoln Memorial
OF – Danton Hyman, Newberry
OF – Chandler Castleberry, Anderson
1B – Dillon Carpenter, Anderson
2B – McCann Mellett, Wingate
SS – Tyler Adams, Lincoln Memorial
3B – Jackson Raper, Catawba
C – Ethan Goforth, Carson-Newman
DH – Heath Mitchem, Catawba
SP – Austin Turgeon, Wingate
SP – Charles Hall, Tusculum
SP – Zac Brown, Mars Hill
RP – Will Gardner, Carson-Newman 

Honorable Mentions

OF – Kyle Smith, Catawba
OF – Derek Olenchuk, Newberry
OF – Will Reddick, Lincoln Memorial
1B – Alex Reynolds, Lenoir-Rhyne
2B – Joe Butts, Catawba
SS – Tyler Miller, Anderson
3B – Brett Langhorne, Carson-Newman
C – Nate Montgomery, Tusculum
DH – Colby Skeen, Tusculum
SP – Ryan Harbin, Newberry
SP – Joe Bobiak, Lincoln Memorial
RP – DJ Laxton, Catawba 

All-Defensive Team

RF – Luke Setzer, Catawba
CF – Ty Andrus, Wingate
LF – Derek Olenchuk, Newberry
1B – Chance Bowden, Catawba
2B – Dalton Landsdowne, Newberry
SS – Tyler Miller, Anderson
3B – Brett Langhorne, Carson-Newman
C – Ethan Goforth, Carson-Newman
P – John Grigg, Lenoir-Rhyne 

Player of the Year

Chance Bowden, Catawba

Pitcher of the Year

Ethan Elliott, Lincoln Memorial

Freshman of the Year

Chandler Castleberry, Anderson

Coach of the Year

Jim Gantt, Catawba

Statistical Champions

Team Batting Average – Lincoln Memorial (.325)
Team Slugging Percentage – Catawba (.518)
Team On-Base Percentage – Catawba (.426)
Team Doubles Per Game – Catawba (2.54)
Team Triples Per Game – Lenoir-Rhyne (0.40)
Team Home Runs Per Game – Catawba (1.64)
Team Stolen Bases Per Game – Mars Hill (1.88)
Team Earned Run Average – Wingate (4.42)
Team Strikeouts Per Game – Carson-Newman (9.30) 

Batting Average – Daulton Martin (.415)
On-Base Percentage – Matthew Overton, Anderson (.511)
Slugging Percentage – Chance Bowden, Catawba (.763)
Home Runs Per Game – Chance Bowden, Catawba (0.38)
RBIs Per Game – Chance Bowden, Catawba (1.33)
Doubles Per Game – Kyle Smith, Catawba (0.48)
Triples Per Game – Cody Cline, Mars Hill (0.15)
Stolen Bases Per Game – Danton Hyman, Newberry (0.55)
Earned Run Average – Austin Turgeon, Wingate (2.60)
Strikeouts Per Nine Innings – Ethan Elliott, Lincoln Memorial (11.68)
Pitching Victories – John Grigg, Lenoir-Rhyne (8)

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