BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – Junior outfielder
Dawson Gragg of the Concord University baseball team has won Mountain East Conference Play of the Year, the league office announced Thursday morning.
Gragg wins MEC Play of the Year for his home-run robbing catch against Emory & Henry on February 25. Gragg's catch which was captured on both Mountain East Conference TV and by WVVA Sports Director Jon Surratt earned the fifth spot on ESPN's SportsCenter Top 10 Plays segment later in the evening of February 25.
Gragg's award-winning play earned 51 percent of the fan vote from the MEC. Overall, nearly 29,000 people voted over the last week. Additionally, Gragg's catch got 47,000 views on Instagram over the last seven days and received 13,000 views on the MEC's Facebook page. No other play generated more than 10,000 views on either social media platform during the voting and viewing process.
The home-run robbing catch by Gragg, a Christiansburg, Virginia native, came early in the game with CU trailing 2-1 in the game. The Mountain Lions went on to win the game 11-8 after Gragg's Superman-style leap, where his momentum, took him over the fence to rob E&H's Caeden Howell of a two-run home run.
Gragg's MEC Play of the Year marks the third consecutive year that a Concord athlete has won MEC Play of the Year. Andre Nicholson of CU's men's soccer netted a goal against West Virginia Wesleyan in the MEC Tournament Quarterfinals of the 2023 season, and Nakaila Gray of women's basketball knocked down a late three-pointer in the MEC Tournament Quarterfinals against West Virginia State to win in 2023.
Rob Reed won MEC Play of the Year in 2016 to give Concord four MEC Play of the Year winners. No other school in the conference has won MEC Play of the Year more than twice.
