SAC Places 11 On Daktronics All-South Region Baseball Team

LAKELAND, Fla. --- Two players who helped lead Tusculum College to its third straight South Atlantic Conference championship - second baseman Maikol Gonzalez and pitcher Kevin Hammons - are the 2007 Daktronics Division II South Region Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year.

In all, The South Atlantic Conference had 11 representatives on the All-South Region Team.

Tusculum had six players named to the All-South Region Team. Joining Gonzalez and Hammons on the First Team are Carlos Rivera and Christian Rosa. Pitchers C.J. Hillyer and Mat Galens were named to the All-Region Second Team.

Maikol Gonzalez

Kevin Hammons

Carlos Rivera

Christian Rosa

Matt Teague

Josh Benton

C.J. Hillyer

Mat Galens

Mark Carroll

TeWayne Willis

Dustin Rowland

Carson-Newman had two pitchers named to the squad. Matt Teague, who went 7-1 with a 2.89 ERA, was named to the First Team, while reliever Mark Carroll, who had a league-best seven saves, was named to the Second Team.

Wingate University designated hitter Josh Benton (Gold Hill, N.C.) was named to the First Team.

Lincoln Memorial University junior outfielder TeWayne Willis (Hazard, Kentucky) and senior catcher Dustin Rowland (Eagle River, Alaska) were named to the Second Team.

Gonzalez is hitting .446 and leads the NCAA Division II in triples with 14. He also has 62 RBI and 19 stolen bases. He is the 2007 South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year.

A lefthander, Hammons leads the Pioneers with a 9-1 record and 2.27 ERA. He has struck out 77 and walked only 18 in 71.1 innings. He is the 2007 South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Year. Two other Tusculum players joined their teammates on the first team - outfielder Carlos Rivera and catcher Christian Rosa. Tusculum (48-12 overall) won the SAC regular season title. The Pioneers are seeded second in the NCAA Division II South Regional.

Gonzalez, a junior from Maracaibo, Venezuela is hitting .446, leads NCAA Division II in with 14 triples to go along with 62 RBI and 19 stolen bases. He was named the South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year and was an All-SAC First Team selection.

Hammons, a senior lefthander from Jonesborough, Tenn., leads the Pioneers with a 9-1 record and a 2.27 earned run average. He has struck out 77 and walked just 18 in 71.1 innings. He was the SAC Pitcher of the Year and was also named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District IV First Team.

Rivera, a junior outfielder from Leesburg, Va., is second on the team with his .394 average to go along with 15 doubles, eight triples and four home runs. He is third on the squad with 58 RBI and is second with 21 stolen bases. The All-SAC First Team pick has already established TC single-season records with 93 hits and 236 at-bats.

Rosa was named the All-Region First Team catcher as he is hitting .349 this season so far. Rosa is tied for the team lead with 62 RBI and has accounted for 13 doubles, three triples and a team-best eight home runs. The All-SAC First Team catcher is the only player on the TC roster to play in all 60 games this season.

Hillyer, a junior lefthander from Abington, Mass., has recorded an 8-1 record and a 2.78 ERA. Hillyer has been credited with a shutout in his 71.1 innings where he has 54 strikeouts in his 11 starts. He was also named to the All-SAC First Team.

Galens, a junior righthander from Louisville, Ky., earns his first All-Region accolade. The two-time All-SAC selection has a 3-1 record, a 1.16 ERA and has tied a school record with his 24 mound appearances this year. Galens leads the team with five saves and has struck out 48 in his 38.2 innings of work.

Tusculum is ranked No. 10 in the country and is the second seed in this year's NCAA II South Regional, being played this week in Tampa, Fla. TC will face 17th-ranked Florida Southern on Thursday at 3 p.m.

Benton was named first team All-South Atlantic Conference as a designated hitter in 2007. In the SAC statistical rankings, he is second in total bases (144), second in doubles, third in hits, third in home runs and fourth in RBI.

Wingate's 2007 team MVP, Benton led the Bulldogs with 82 hits, 18 doubles, 14 home runs, 58 RBI, 25 walks, 144 total bases, .364 batting average, .640 slugging percentage and seven sacrifice flies. In addition, Benton had 48 runs scored, one triple and four stolen bases. He also compiled a 3-2 overall pitching record during the 2007 campaign.

For his Bulldog career, Benton had a .314 batting average with 31 home runs and 133 RBI. A four-year starter, he also had 47 doubles, 123 runs scored and a career slugging percentage of .530.

Willis, a 5-7 first-year player for the Railsplitters, hit .382 at the plate with 34 RBI while stealing a school record for 42 bases. Willis ranks seventh in NCAA Division II baseball in stolen bases this season and was also named Second Team All-South Atlantic Conference for his efforts.

In his second and final year with the Railsplitter baseball team, Rowland hit .387 this season, notching 51 runs batted in while helping the Railsplitters achieve a season record of 31-20. He was second on the team in double this year with 14 and turned in a .506 slugging percentage and a .463 on base percentage.

Defending national champion and Sunshine State Conference champion Tampa placed three players on the first team all-region squad. Craig Corrado, who leads the SSC in batting with a .437 average, was selected at third base. Jonathan Holt, who has 16 saves, a 1.99 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 45.1 innings, was named the relief pitcher. Kevin Ferguson, who leads the SSC in wins with an 11-2 record to go with a 2.68 ERA, was one of four starting pitchers selected. Tampa (45-9 overall) is seeded first in the NCAA Division II South Regional.

The Daktronics All-South Region Team was selected by a vote of sports information directors from the South Atlantic Conference, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Sunshine State Conference, plus independent Florida Gulf Coast. Players named to the First Team will appear on the national ballot for the Daktronics Division II All-America Team. The 2007 season marks the first year CoSIDA has selected All-Region and All-American teams in softball and baseball.

The 14 first team honorees, including six from the South Atlantic Conference, will advance to the national ballot. The members of CoSIDA will select three Daktronics All-American teams (first, second and third) comprised of 13 players each based on position.

Daktronics All-South Region First Team
1B - Bryan Cook, Jr., Nova Southeastern - .399, 13 HR, 59 RBI
2B - Maikol Gonzalez, Jr., Tusculum, - .446, 2 HR, 62 RBI
SS - Steve Condotta, Sr., Florida Tech - .431, 4 HR, 50 RBI, 42 SB
3B - Craig Corrado, Sr., Tampa - .437, 9 HR, 57 RBI
OF - Nicolas Boisvert, Sr., Lynn - .436, 15 HR, 43 RBI, 22 SB
OF - Will Cherry, So., Florida Southern - 386, 5 HR, 49 RBI
OF - Carlos Rivera, Jr., Tusculum - .394, 4 HR, 58 RBI, 21 SB
C - Christian Rosa, Jr., Tusculum - .349, 8 HR, 62 RBI
DH - Josh Benton, Sr., Wingate - .364, 14 HR, 58 RBI
UT - Orestes Gonzalez, Sr., Barry - .381, 8 HR, 38 RBI
SP - Kevin Hammons, Sr., Tusculum - 9-1, 2.27 ERA
SP - Kevin Ferguson, Jr., Tampa - 11-2, 2.68 ERA
SP - Dan Albritton, Sr., Florida Southern - 9-2, 3.69 ERA
SP - Matt Teague, Sr., Carson-Newman - 7-1, 2.89 ERA
RP - Jonathan Holt, Jr., Tampa - 2-2, 1.99, 16 saves

Daktronics All-South Region Second Team*
1B - Joe Arminio, Jr., Lynn - .398, 10 HR, 55 RBI
2B - Ryan Kennedy, Sr., Tampa - .383, 13 HR, 57 RBI
SS - Shawn Langlois, Sr., Nova Southeastern - .364, 3 HR, 34 RBI, 39 SB
3B - Ozzie Borrell, Jr., Florida Gulf Coast - .358, 5 HR, 59 RBI
OF - Matt Mindick, Jr., Nova Southeastern - .414, 12 HR, 61 RBI
OF - TeWayne Willis, Jr., Lincoln Memorial - .382, 1 HR, 34 RBI, 42 SB
OF - Paul Cruz, Jr., Tampa - .369, 4 HR, 31 RBI
OF - Andrew Frezza, Jr., Barry - .357, 7 HR, 55 RBI
C - Ricky Nolan, Jr., Saint Leo - .341, 2 HR, 37 RBI
C - Dustin Rowland, Sr., Lincoln Memorial - .387, 2 HR, 51 RBI
DH - Tristan Rainone, Jr., Florida Southern - .375, 5 HR, 30 RBI
UT - Stephen Rassel, Jr., Florida Gulf Coast - .350, 3 HR, 47 RBI
SP - David Bernat, Sr., Barry - 9-3, 3.59 ERA
SP - Ryan Clark, Jr., Saint Leo - 9-2, 2.61 ERA
SP - David Nathanson, Sr., Rollins - 9-3, 3.04 ERA
SP - C.J. Hillyer, Jr., Tusculum - 8-1, 2.78 ERA
SP - Jason Kiley, Sr., Florida Gulf Coast - 7-5, 3.36 ERA
SP - Scott Chapman, Jr., Tampa - 6-0, 3.34 ERA
RP - Mat Galens, Jr., Tusculum - 3-1, 1.16 ERA, 5 saves
RP - Mark Carroll, Sr., Carson-Newman - 4-3, 2.68 ERA, 7 saves
*additional positions due to ties in voting