CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Senior infielder
Tyson Burke and sophomore pitcher
Kaden Varela-Payne of the Concord University baseball team have been named to the All-Mountain East Conference Tournament, the league office released late Sunday evening after the completion of the MEC Tournament.
Burke, a native of Dunbar, West Virginia, went 4-for-10 at the MEC Tournament with a home run, a double and five RBI across three games. He began the conference postseason by crushing his second home run of the season, a two-run shot against Point Park, on Wednesday night. Burke was instrumental in the Mountain Lions staving off elimination with an 8-4 win over Wheeling as he went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Burke scored three times in the first two games of the MEC Tournament.
Varela-Payne's Thursday start against Wheeling was one for the record books. The Raleigh, North Carolina native racked up a single-game program record with 16 strikeouts. He also eclipsed the MEC Tournament record as well as the MEC single-game record, regular season or postseason, with his 16 punchouts. Varela-Payne broke Andrew Neff's Concord record of 13 strikeouts from a 2022 game against Bluefield State and moved past West Virginia State's Tyler Thompson's 13 punchouts versus Concord in 2014 for the MEC Tournament record. Varela-Payne tossed a complete game versus Wheeling, allowing four runs and winning his eighth game of the year.
Below is a rundown of the All-MEC Tournament Team.
Kaden Varela-Payne, Concord
Tyson Burke, Concord
Trevor Jones, Point Park
Jackson Schalick, Frostburg State
Ryan Bouma, Frostburg State
Bryce Bauer, Frostburg State
Adam Bright, Glenville State
Austin Crace, Glenville State
Zach Dellerman, Glenville State
Derrick Seiss, Charleston
Jaden Peterson, Charleston
MVPÂ - Collin Kemp, Charleston
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