McNeely, Drake and Shelton earn top TCCAA Baseball Awards
CHATTANOOGA, TN – No. 1 Walters State has been dominant all season and, on Monday, were rewarded for their efforts.
The TCCAA announced their baseball regular season awards at the TCCAA Tournament at Chattanooga State. Shortstop Caleb McNeely was named the TCCAA Player of the Year, Kohl Drake was named the TCCAA Pitcher of the Year and Dave Shelton was named the TCCAA Coach of the Year.
Along with those three, Noah Gent, Nick Block, Colby Backus, Kory Klingenbeck, Jake Knapp and Geo Rivera were named to the All-TCCAA First Team while Kruise Newman and Wesley Scott were named to the Second Team.
McNeely earned the Player of the Year honor after a season that saw him play every inning of all 56 games and dominate at the top of the lineup. McNeely finished the regular season batting .389 with 22 home runs and 64 RBIs. He scored 83 runs and stole 20 bases.
McNeely was first in the conference in home runs, first in runs scored, second in RBIs, tied for second in walks with 42, third in triples with four and tied for sixth in stolen bases. On a national level, McNeely ranked second in runs and third in home runs.
Not to be outdone by McNeely, Drake earned the honor of Pitcher of the Year after a 12-0 season. Drake started 14 games during the regular season, throwing 75 innings and striking out 129 while totaling a 1.44 ERA.
Drake ranked first in the conference in ERA and strikeouts and second in wins. On a national level, Drake ranked first in strikeouts, third in wins and tied for fourth in ERA.
Earlier in the season, Drake broke the school record for strikeouts in a season and strikeouts in a career.
Rounding out the top awards, Shelton earned conference Coach of the Year for the fourth time. Shelton was named Coach of the Year following a season that saw the Senators go 51-5 and 23-3 in TCCAA play. Walters State ranked first in the country in home runs, seventh in RBIs, third in earned runs, fourth in strikeouts and second in ERA.
The team has been ranked No. 1 in the country for eight weeks this season, including the past six weeks.
As for the first team, six Senators earned the honor. Gent led the way at third base with a .399 batting average in 54 games. He had 10 home runs with 53 RBIs while scoring 48 runs. Gent ranked third in the conference in batting average, seventh in RBIs and 10th in home runs. It's Gent's second time on the All-Conference teams.
Block and Backus earned two of the outfielders' spots after strong seasons. Block hit .382 in 52 games with four home runs and 31 RBIs while scoring 45 runs. Block also excelled in right field with a perfect fielding percentage and had 49 putouts and nine assists. It's his second time on the All-Conference Teams.
In 56 games this season, Backus hit .393 with 16 home runs and 63 RBIs while scoring 59 runs. Backus ranked second in the conference in home runs, third in RBIs and fifth in batting average. On a national level, he ranked 22nd in home runs. He had 44 putouts in the outfield in 45 chances.
Rounding out the first team for the Senators were battery mates Klingenbeck and Knapp and Rivera. Playing in 37 games this season behind the plate, Klingenbeck hit . 321 with 13 home runs and 37 RBIs. Behind the plate, Klingenbeck threw out eight runners. He was 10th in the conference in home runs.
On the mound, Knapp led the nation in wins with a 13-1 record in 14 appearances. Knapp had a 1.48 ERA, which is second in the conference and sixth in the nation. He struck out 97 batters which put him fourth in the conference.
Rounding out the first team was Rivera. Rivera made 15 appearances on the mound and posted a 6-1 record. He had three saves and a 0.86 ERA in 41.2 innings. He struck out 66 batters. Rivera was tied for sixth in the conference in wins and tied for seventh in saves. He was 15th in the conference in strikeouts despite throwing less innings than everyone in front of him.
On the second team was Newman and Scott. Newman fought his way into the starting lineup and has become a mainstay. In 46 games, Newman had a .352 batting average with 13 home runs and 35 RBIs and scored 36 runs. Newman finished fifth in the conference in home runs.
Scott was the Friday starter for Walters State this season and posted a 7-2 record in 15 appearances. Scott made 12 starts and threw 60.2 innings. He had a 3.41 ERA and struck out 103. Scott was third in the conference in strikeouts and tied for seventh in the nation.
Rob Harvey
Walters State Community College
Sports Information Director
Cell: (423) 779-8880
Email: sportsinfo@ws.edu
Website: www.ws.edu/athletics