ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University baseball team will look to build off its 2017 Mountain East Conference South Division title and 26-25 overall record with a strong core of players returning in 2018.
On Wednesday, the Mountain Lions had four players voted to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association Preseason Atlantic All-Region Team. Senior infielder
Chad Frazier appeared as a first team pick. A trio of juniors—catcher/designated hitter
Jordan Clark, outfielder
Evan Webb and infielder
Trevor Wiersma—were second team selections on the all-region squad.
Frazier was the 2017 MEC Player of the Year after he led the conference in batting average (.428), hits (83) and runs scored (73) last season. Frazier was named a Third Team All-American at the conclusion of last season—the 10
th All-American in program history.
Clark was an All-Region member by the American Baseball Coaches' Association in 2017 after he hit 13 home runs and tallied a MEC-best 63 RBI. Clark added a batting average of .354 and 12 doubles last season. Webb, a converted pitcher, posted the second-highest batting average for the Mountain Lions last season at .364. The Whitby, Ontario native notched 16 doubles while hitting two home runs and driving in 49 runs. Meanwhile, Wiersma, a two-time All-MEC First Team selection batted .331, blasted eight home runs and also recorded 49 RBI.
Concord returns three additional players that landed on the All-MEC Squad last season including first-team performers—senior catcher
Paul Williams and junior pitcher
Troy Beckner. Sophomore infielder
Nathan Neff was a second team all-league selection in 2017.
Entering his fourth season as a starter behind the dish for CU, Williams hit .352 as he tallied career highs in total hits (68) and doubles (15). The Vinton, Virginia native racked up 34 RBI and threw out eight base stealers. Neff was constantly on base for the Mountain Lions during his first season in the Maroon and Gray. Neff posted a batting average of .341 and collected 20 RBI, but his on-base percentage was .491 as he set team highs in walks (37) and getting hit by a pitch (16).
Beckner leads a pitching staff that had just three seniors a year ago and returns a total of four pitchers that tossed at least 10 innings in 2017. As CU's number one pitcher for most of the season, Beckner went 7-3 with a 3.27 ERA and 52 strikeouts. The Roanoke, Virginia native tossed three shutouts and completed five games. Additionally, Beckner went from March 19-April 14 of last season without giving up a run.
Sophomore pitcher
Trent Abernathy nearly averaged a strikeout per inning last season as he appeared in 13 games, tossing 31 innings. Abernathy struck out 28. As the season wore on, sophomore
Cody Dooley pitched more and more for Concord. Of his 28.2 innings, Dooley tossed 11.2 innings in his final two outings that included six strikeouts in six innings at UVa.-Wise.
Senior
Reece Edwards threw 22.1 innings last season as he struck out 16 hitters. Other returners for Concord on the mound are sophomore
Bryson Booher, sophomore
McKinley Scott, junior
Noah Tucker and junior
James Wood.
Not only does Concord have six bats returning to the lineup that were All-MEC picks in 2017, but it also has six more players that played in at least 15 games last season.
Sophomore infielder
Jakob Divers split time between second base, right field and left field last season. Divers played in 49 of 51 games as he batted .295 and drove in 30 runs. Junior infielder
Brett Simmons played in 42 games last season as he hit his first career home run and tallied 19 RBI.
Sophomore outfielder
Ryan Fralin played in 29 games and scored 22 runs and was perfect in stolen base opportunities (5-for-5). Junior infielder
Adrian Peralta saw action in 25 games with two home runs and 12 RBI. Senior outfielder
Oscar Garcia registered eight RBI in 27 games. Senior infielder
Ian Southcott played in 16 games and had five RBI.
Other position players for Concord include sophomore outfielders
Connor Boothe and
Adam Linkous.
Head coach
Kevin Garrett and his staff added six freshmen to the roster in catcher Austin Douglas, pitcher Gabe Garcia, pitcher Logan Morrison, pitcher Trent Pennington, utility man Anthony Stehlin and outfielder Jay Trail. The Mountain Lions also added junior college pitcher Will Guay during the offseason.
CU beings its season February 3 with a doubleheader at Wingate.
Â
