Two Braves Named To Daktronics All-American Teams
MARSHALL, Minn. – Having already put the caps on one of the most successful seasons in program history, the postseason honors continued to roll in for the UNCP baseball team on Saturday as junior Braxton Lewis and senior Jason Coker each earned a spot on the 2011 Daktronics Baseball All-American teams.
The announcement signaled the sixth and seventh all-American laurels in the history of the UNCP baseball program, but the first for the Braves since a 2009 season that came to a conclusion in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. Lewis, a Seven Springs native, was one of five pitchers named to the first team, but the only relief arm. Coker, a Charlotte product, was one of 23 players listed as honorable mention all-Americans.
Lewis, a first team selection to the Daktronics, American Baseball Coaches Association and National Collegiate Baseball Writers all-region teams as well, allowed just two earned runs in 47 innings of relief work this season while recording a 7-1 record with a 0.38 ERA, nine saves and a pair of combined shutouts. The Seven Springs product struck out 51 batters over his 26 relief appearances and has walked just six batters over his last 39 innings of work. He surrendered just 13 hits in as many appearances (23.0 innings) against conference foes this season and retired the sides in order in 18 innings from the hill in 2011.
Coker, who has also collected a trio of all-region laurels this postseason, was one of just three (Haley, Brad Bridgeman) Braves to play in all 56 games this season and turned in a .307 (65-for-212) batting average with 24 extra-base hits (7 HR), 39 RBI and 45 runs scored. He was one of just two players on the squad (Eitan Maoz) with more walks than strikeouts booked 20 multiple-hit games, including a 4-hit outing in the series finale against then-No. 9 Georgia College, as well as 10 multiple-RBI contests. The Charlotte native accounted for a trio of RBI against five different opponents this season, including Coker, North Georgia and USC Aiken.
Members of the NCAA Division II College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) selected the all-America teams. The all-America team is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition. Daktronics has sponsored the baseball all-America program since 2007.
2011 DAKTRONICS NCAA DIVISION II BASEBALL ALL-AMERICA TEAMS
Ron Lenz Player of the Year: Chase Larsson, Cameron (Okla.)
Ron Lenz Pitcher of the Year: Carter Capps, Mount Olive (N.C.)
FIRST TEAM
C Michael Wiseman Sr. Wayne State (Mich.)
1B Dean Green Sr. Barry (Fla.)
2B Stuart Drew Jr. West Georgia
3B Kendall Boone Jr. West Texas A&M
SS Travis Hayes Jr. Tarleton State (Texas)
OF Chase Larsson Jr. Cameron (Texas)
OF Kenny Held Sr. Cameron (Texas)
OF Greg Pron Sr. West Florida
DH Nathan Minnich Jr. Shepherd (W.Va.)
UT Brandon Gipson Sr. Benedict (S.C.)
SP Carter Capps So. Mount Olive (N.C.)
SP Jeremy Gigliotti Sr. East Stroudsburg (Pa.)
SP Ryan Thompson So. Franklin Pierce (N.H.)
SP Chris Zbin Jr. Southern Connecticut State
RP Braxton Lewis Jr. North Carolina Pembroke
SECOND TEAM
C Joe Maloney Jr. Limestone (S.C.)
1B Nick DeBiasse Sr. Central Missouri
2B Josh Dawson Jr. Cameron (Okla.)
3B Jordan Smith So. St. Cloud State
SS Brandon Brewer Sr. West Florida
OF Dodson McPherson Jr. Wingate (N.C.)
OF Matt Johnson Sr. Arkansas Tech
OF Travis Taijeron Sr. Cal Poly Pomona
DH Michael Knox Jr. Mount Olive (N.C.)
UT Dillon Hazlett Sr. Emporia State (Kan.)
SP Kirk Jewasko Jr. Incarnate Word (Texas)
SP Kyle Schepel Jr. Grand Valley State (Mich.)
SP Daniel Vargas-Vila Sr. West Florida
SP Corey Witkowski Jr. Barry (Fla.)
RP Sammy Rivas Sr. St. Mary's (Texas)
THIRD TEAM
C Ryan McChesney Jr. Florida Tech
1B Brian Yeung So. Wingate (N.C.)
2B Garrett Yatch Jr. Grand Valley State (Mich.)
3B Jacob Rogers Jr. Mount Olive (N.C.)
SS Rashad Ingram Sr. St. Augustine's (N.C.)
OF Justin Miller Sr. Southeastern Oklahoma State
OF David Fox Sr. Metro State (Colo.)
OF Nate Baumann Sr. Augustana (S.D.)
DH Will Calhoun Sr. Abilene Christian
UT Blake Tagmyer Sr. California, San Diego
SP Gabriel Asakura Jr. Cal. State Los Angeles
SP Chuck Fontana Jr. Molloy (N.Y.)
SP Ajay Meyer Sr. Ashland (Ohio)
SP Tim Shibuya Sr. California, San Diego
RP Shane Waller Sr. West Florida
HONORABLE MENTION
Mike Dowd (C, Franklin Pierce), David Allbritton (C, Emporia State), Andrew Haake (1B, Nebraska-Kearney), Robert Kelly (1B, St. Anselm), Carlson Leyva (2B, Cal. State Dominguez Hills), Matt Kuchenbecker (2B, Minnesota State), Tanner Funk (SS, Georgia College & State), Ryan Rua (SS, Lake Erie), J.P. LaMunyon (3B, North Alabama), Tom Deangelis (3B, Seton Hill), Matt Umba (UT, Wilmington), Jason Coker (UT, UNC Pembroke), Derek Ingui (DH, Franklin Pierce), Tyler Choate (DH, Southern Indiana), Cody Grice (OF, Grand Valley State), Matt Howard (OF, Slippery Rock), Steve Anderson (OF, Grand Valley State), Eric Aschley (SP, Mercyhurst), Dave Middendorf (SP, Northern Kentucky), Blake Schwartz (SP, Minnesota State), Joe Harris (SP, Wilmington), Josh Pond (RP, Cal. State San Bernardino), Brian Thompson (RP, Quincy)
