Patrick Grady is the 2014 PBC Player of the Year. A senior from Pompano Beach, Fla., he hit .386 on the season with nine home runs and
49 RBIs. He finished the year leading the league in doubles and runs
scored and was second in walks and on-base percentage, third in total
hits and total bases and sixth in batting average. Grady was named a
second-team All-American by the ABCA and third team by Daktronics.
Fraga was one of just five players to start all 51 games for UNCP
this season and led the club with a .392 (85-for-217) batting clip that
complemented 22 extra-base hits (4 HR), 36 RBI and 60 runs scored. Fraga hit a team-best .402 against league competition, was 21-for-25 on
stolen base attempts turned in a team-best 28 multiple-hit and 11 multiple-RBI contests. A stalwart on defense, he committed just six errors in
261 total defensive chances (.977) as the starting second baseman for
the Braves. He was also named first team all-Peach Belt Conference.
Hazel hit .381 this season for Georgia College, adding 13 home runs
and 53 RBI. The catcher had a .710 slugging percentage, and scored 45
runs as well. He is the first All-American choice for Georgia College baseball since 2011, when Shawn Ward and Tanner Funk earned positions.
Named second team by both the ABCA and Daktronics this season, the
junior from Kentwood, Mich., was third in the PBC in home runs and led
the conference in slugging.
One of the nation’s leading hitters, Jackson Oliver finished the season fifth in the Peach Belt Conference in hitting with a .386 average. The
sophomore added four home runs while driving in 56. Oliver collected 93 hits during the season, which was tied for the fifth most on the
single-season CSU hit list. The 93 base hits also finished the year as the
fourth most in the nation. The LaGrange native led Columbus State with
17 doubles, three triples and 128 total bases. He scored 50 times, stole 23
bases and had an on-base percentage of .430. Oliver is the first Columbus State sophomore to be named an All-American since Jarrett Coker
earned the honors in 2007.
Ethan Bader finished his Armstrong baseball career by being named
the PBC’s Pitcher of the Year, going 11-1 with a 3.45 ERA and leading the
league in strikeouts (121). During the season, Bader became the career
leader in both wins (31) and strikeouts (293) for Armstrong and he finishes his career ranked fifth in Peach Belt Conference history in wins and
seventh in total strikeouts. He was also a four-time PBC Pitcher of the
Week honoree this season.
Three PBC Baseball Players Named Academic All-Americans
YOUNG HARRIS, GA – Three Peach Belt Conference baseball players have
been named Capital One Academic All-Americans. Young Harris’ David
Atwood and Adam Moore and Francis Marion’s Dalton Gress were all
named third-team Academic All-Americans as selected by CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America). The award is widely regarded as the highest individual honor a student-athlete can receive.
2014 is the third consecutive year the PBC has had three or more Academ
78
2014 Baseball
All-Region Selections
Daktonics All-Southeast Region
First Team
Connor Lewis, Lander
Daniel Fraga, UNC Pembroke
Erik Lunde, Lander
Steve Hazel, Georgia College
Patrick Grady, Lander
Taylor Hinshaw, Georgia College
Ethan Bader, Armstrong
Dylan Wolchik, Lander
Second Team
Clay Ardeeser, Georgia College
Will Fulmer, Montevallo
Jordan Edgerton, UNC Pembroke
Michael Wilson, Francis Marion
Jackson Oliver, Columbus State
Dalton Knight, UNC Pembroke
Andy Sullivan, UNC Pembroke
Jeffrey Stoner, Francis Marion
Player of the Year
Patrick Grady, Lander
ABCA All-Southeast Region
First Team
Connor Lewis, Lander
Daniel Fraga, UNC Pembroke
Jordan Edgerton, UNC Pembroke
Erik Lunde, Lander
Jackson Oliver, Columbust State
Ethan Bader, Armstrong
Dylan Wolchik, Lander
Jack Morrow, Young Harris
Second Team
Clay Ardeeser, Georgia College
Graham Ramos, Lander
Michael Wilson, Francis Marion
R.J. Dennard, Armstrong
Dustin Averett, Columbus State
Tyler Moore, USC Aiken
Jeffrey Stoner, Francis Marion
Region Player of the Year
Patrick Grady, Lander
Region Coach of the Year
Kermit Smith, Lander
2013-14
ic All-Americans after having 10 in the first 20 years of the conference.
Three PBC student-athletes received the honor last year with a
record four the year prior to that.
It is the third consecutive season Atwood has been named to the
team after being a second-team choice in 2012 and a first-team honoree in 2013. It is the first selection for Moore. They also become the
third and fourth Young Harris student-athletes this year to be named
to a prestigious Capital One Academic All-America® team. Men’s soccer
player Ilija Ilic and softball player Sydney Weaver were both named to
the first team in their respective sports.
Atwood, a 5-foot-11 senior outfielder from Waynesville, North
Carolina, batted .292 (57-of-195) with 43 runs scored, six doubles, a
triple and 23 RBI. Atwood is second on the team with 21 stolen bases
and has a .333 slugging percentage and a .381 on-base percentage.
The two-time Peach Belt Conference All-Academic Team member is
fourth for the Mountain Lions with 18 multi-hit games and fifth with
six multi-RBI games this season. Atwood finished sixth in the Peach
Belt in stolen bases.
Atwood is a member of the Alpha Chi and Phi Theta Kappa honor
societies. The Who’s Who in American Universities and College choice
also received YHC’s Outstanding Biology Student Award and the Algernon Syd