Quate named All-SoCon
From staff reports

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Relief pitcher Zach Quate headlined three Appalachian State baseball players that received all-Southern Conference recognition from the league’s coaches, the conference announced on Monday.

Joining first-team honoree Quate are second-team selections Wes Hobson and center fielder Rand Smith.

Quate set an Appalachian record with 11 saves during the regular season and posted a miniscule 1.19 earned run average in 28 relief appearances. The senior stymied opposing batters to the tune of a .180 batting average against with 48 strikeouts and only 23 hits allowed in 37.2 innings of work.

He was particularly dominant in the month of April, when he went 1-0 with eight saves in 13 appearances. He struck out 24 and allowed only eight hits in 16 innings of work, en route to being named the SoCon’s Pitcher of the Month.

Hobson was named the SoCon’s second-team second baseman after a sterling regular season in which he ranked second on the club in batting average (.389), hits (86), doubles (22), triples (3), runs batted in (58), total bases (141), slugging percentage (.638) and on-base percentage (.459).

The junior was also one of the conference’s top defensive infielders, making just three errors in 259 chances at second base, good for a sterling .988 fielding percentage.

Smith earned second-team outfielder honors after putting together perhaps the most consistent campaign by a hitter in SoCon history. The senior hit safely in 49-of-51 games and put together an amazing three different double-digit hitting streaks, with hits the first 10 games of the season, followed by a school-record 27-game hitting streak and his current run of 12-straight games with a hit.

Overall, Smith hit .361 with 82 hits, 66 runs, 17 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs and 40 RBI to go along with five assists and a number of acrobatic catches in center field.

The tough-luck omission from the all-conference lists was Isaac Harrow, who finished behind SoCon Co-Players of the Year Joey Bergman (College of Charleston) and Chase Austin (Elon) in the coaches’ voting at third base. Winners of 26 of its last 31 games, sixth-seeded Appalachian (32-19) opens SoCon Tournament action on Wednesday when it squares off with No. 3-seeded The Citadel at 1 p.m. at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.

All-SoCon coaches teams
First Team
P Wes Wrenn The Citadel
P Chris Mederos Georgia Southern
RP Zach Quate Appalachian State
RP Thomas Girdwood Elon
C Richard Jones The Citadel
1B Chris McGuiness The Citadel
2B Brandon Sizemore College of Charleston
SS Brent Greer Western Carolina
3B Joey Bergman College of Charleston
OF Sonny Meade The Citadel
OF Pat Irvine Elon
OF Cory Harrilchak Elon
DH Ryan Daniels College of Charleston

Second Team
P Jesse Simpson College of Charleston
P Jimmy Reyes Elon
RP Drew Mahaffey The Citadel
C Griffin Benedict Georgia Southern
1B Joash Brodin College of Charleston
2B Wes Hobson Appalachian State
SS Michael Gilmartin Wofford
3B Chase Austin Elon
OF Matt Mansilla College of Charleston
OF Clay McCord College of Charleston
OF Rand Smith Appalachian State
DH Danny Weiss Davidson
Co-Players of the Year – Joey Bergman, College of Charleston and Chase Austin, Elon
Pitcher of the Year – Wes Wrenn, The Citadel
Freshman of the Year – Ross Heffley, Western Carolina
Coach of the Year – Mike Kennedy, Elon