The South Atlantic Conference and AstroTurf Present Senior Spotlights Featuring Catawba Baseball, Softball, Tennis and Women's Track & Field

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – In light of the recent events of the COVID-19 pandemic that canceled the remainder of the 2020 South Atlantic Conference spring sports seasons, the SAC along with its corporate partner AstroTurf, will be presenting the SAC AstroTurf Senior Spotlights. These highlights will showcase the spring sports teams at each of our 12 institutions and will give fans a brief overview of the team's shortened season, while highlighting the 2020 senior student-athletes on each team.

We continue our AstroTurf Senior Spotlights with the Catawba College Indians and the baseball, softball, men's and women's tennis, and women's track and field teams. 

BASEBALL

The Catawba baseball team had matched its highest NCAA II ranking, climbing to #2 in the Collegiate Baseball Poll just as the season was ended. After losing its opening two games, Catawba went 19-1, including a near school record stretch of 15 wins in a row. The Catawba Indians closed with a 19-3 record and an 8-1 mark in the conference.

Catawba was anchored by a 10-member senior class.

Bryce Butler had swiped a team-high nine bases in 20 games, scoring 14 runs with 17 hits.

Bryan Ketchie was 4-1 on the mound with 24 strikeouts over 34.1 innings. His 21 career wins stands 17th in school history.

DJ Laxton had two wins and a save over 14 appearances. He had posted 24 strikeouts over 21.2 innings. His 94 career appearances is third best in school history.

Caleb Link had not allowed a run with two wins in three outings. He had fanned six in 4.2 innings and gave up just one hit. 

Cameron Morrison was batting .436 on the year with five homers and 17 RBI. In a season, he stands third best with a .537 on base percentage and fifth with a .836 slugging percentage.

Lee Poteat was coming off NCBWA Southeast Region Player of the Week honors, batting .344 with a pair of homers and 16 RBI.

Jackson Raper had amassed 41 hits in 22 games, batting .436. He clubbed a team high nine home runs with 35 RBI. His 233 career hits ranks 16th all-time and his 160 RBI stands 12th.

Hunter Shepherd was hitting .477 and had posted a 3-0 mark on the mound, fanning 28 in 27.1 innings. At the plate, he shared the team lead with nine home runs and had 26 RBI. He is 12th all-time with 23 wins on the mound.

Jeremy Simpson, a perennial gold glove shortstop, was hitting .353 with 17 RBI and 16 runs scored.

Sawyer Strickland had posted a 2-0 mark on the mound with 22 strikeouts over 21 innings.

2020 Catawba Indians Baseball Seniors

SOFTBALL
The Catawba softball team was 10-12 on the year. Tight games were common for the Catawba Indians with 10 games decided by a single run.

Catawba's squad featured six seniors.

Kaylee Cook had a double among her nine hits. She had driven in three runs, scoring six runs and stole a pair of bases.

Preston Ellenberg went 3-2 in the circle with a 2.72 ERA. She posted 46 strikeouts over 46.1 innings. Her 189 career strikeouts placed ninth all-time.

Grace Holland had a double and scored a run in six games. She had .455 on-base percentage.

Anna Jasper was recovering from an injury and had not seen action in 2020.

Taylor Martin was hitting .317 on the year with three doubles and eight runs scored. She had swiped four bases.

Brooke Walser had a 3-4 mark in the circle with a save. She had struck out 44 batters over 63 innings. Walser ranks fifth with 269 career strikeouts, 10th with 23 career wins and tied for first all-time with five saves.

2020 Catawba Indians Softball Seniors

WOMEN'S TENNIS
The Catawba women's tennis team was 4-7 on the year, picking up wins against Limestone, Shaw, Belmont Abbey and Bluefield State. The team had two seniors.

Sophie Hirsch had went 5-4 in singles and 3-6 in doubles. Hirsch won 47 career matches with a .712 win percentage to rank ninth all-time in both categories. Hirsch won 40 matches at #2, the most by any Catawba player at that flight.

Olivia Wooldridge was 5-6 in singles and 3-7 in doubles on the year. She stands 18th with 40 career wins. 

2020 Catawba Indians Women's Tennis Seniors

MEN'S TENNIS
The Catawba men's tennis team had a 1-8 record on the season. The two conference losses came 4-3 at Lincoln Memorial and 5-2 at home to fourth-ranked Wingate. 

Catawba had three seniors.

Cason Hiers had collected a pair of wins at the #2 position and was 5-4 at #1 doubles. He teamed with fellow senior Ryen Reid for the doubles wins and the duo ranks 11th all-time with 19 wins as a doubles team.

Reid was 6-3 at #1 singles to go with his 5-4 mark with Hiers at #1 doubles where the duo posted 19 career wins to rank 11th all-time. Reid won 67% of his career singles matches to stand 13th overall in win percentage.

Adam Rocko had a pair of wins at #5 singles and won two doubles matches at #3. 

2020 Catawba Indians Men's Tennis Seniors

WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
The Catawba women's track & field team placed sixth at the 2020 SAC Indoor Championships. Sophomore MeKayla White qualified as an individual for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the triple jump. 

The team had two seniors.

Patience Hunt held school records in the indoor 800m and 1000m. In outdoor she was a member of record-setting times in the 4x400 and 4x800 relays.

Hannah Mercer missed the indoor season due to academic work, but is the school record holder in the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter. She earned a podium spot at the 2019 SAC Indoor Championships in the 5,000m. In outdoor track & field, Mercer set Catawba records in the 3,000m, 5,000m and 10,000m.

2020 Catawba Indians Women's Track & Field Seniors

AstroTurf is an official corporate partner of the South Atlantic Conference and title sponsor of the Conference's Player of the Week awards program.

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