HICKORY, N.C. – The North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) has just released its 2010 All-State College Division Baseball Team. Catawba and Mount Olive, who both won their respective conference tournaments and qualified for the NCAA Division II Playoffs, led the way with three players each. In all, seven institutions were represented on the all-state squad with four student-athletes repeating from last year. Chowan's Justin Bagbey was named to the team for the second consecutive season.
Catawba finished 40-13 on the season while Mount Olive, who also won the Conference Carolinas Regular Season Championship, ended the year with a 41-11 mark. Both squads ranked nationally in several final regular season polls.
Three of the four infielders earned all-state accolades for the second straight year: Chowan sophomore Justin Bagbey (Virgilina, Va.), UNC Pembroke senior Seth Kivett (Bear Creek, N.C.) and Catawba senior Craige Lyerly (Salisbury, N.C).
Bagbey was named the CIAA Player of The Year after leading the conference in home runs (13) to go along with a .437 batting average, 49 runs scored and 51 runs batted in. In addition, Bagbey garnered First-Team All-Atlantic Region honors and was named the NCCAA South Region Player Of The Year.
Kivett earned First-Team All-Peach Belt Conference and ABCA All-Southeast Region accolades after hitting .357 in addition to a school-record 63 runs scored and a team-leading 59 RBI.
Lyerly, a 2010 first-team all-league and all-region pick as well, hit .399 with 59 runs scored and 54 RBI and ended his career by reaching base safely in 88 consecutive games. Lyerly also finished in the top ten in career hits and total bases in NCAA Division II and holds the school career mark for steals and triples. Lyerly earned All-SAC Gold Glove honors as well.
Rounding out the infield is Pfeiffer senior Will Davis (New London, N.C.). Davis led the Falcons in hitting (.409) and fielding percentage (.993) and finished with six home runs and 52 RBI while putting together a 19-game hitting streak during the season.
Mount Olive captured two of three outfield spots with senior Bobby Leeper (Raleigh, N.C.) and senior Jeremy Nowak (Cheektowaga, N.Y.).
(over)
Nowak followed up his First-Team All-American (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association) and Conference Carolinas Player-Of-The-Year honors with a spot on the all-state squad. Nowak hit .446 on the year to go along with 17 home runs, 75 runs scored and 81 runs batted in.
Leeper, a first-team all-league pick, finished with a .433 batting average and his 79 runs scored this year ranked in the top five nationally. Leeper was also named to the ABCA and Daktronics All-Southeast Region Second Teams.
Catawba senior Wade Moore (Salisbury, N.C.) garnered the final spot in the outfield. Moore was selected to the ABCA All-American Third Team and All-SAC and ABCA All-Southeast Region First Teams after leading the Indians in batting average (.410), runs (77), doubles (20), home runs (16) and stolen bases (29). Moore earned a spot on the All-SAC Gold Glove Team as well.
Methodist sophomore Trey Such (Sanford, N.C.) landed the all-state catcher's spot after leading the squad in home runs (13) and RBI (54) and being named to the USA South All-Conference First Team.
Lenoir-Rhyne junior Brian Dice (Hickory, N.C.) earned all-state accolades as the designated hitter as he led the Bears in batting average (.435), hits (74), runs batted in (59), total bases (137) and slugging percentage (.806). Dice, a 2010 All-SAC First-Team and ABCA All-Southeast Region Second Team honoree, also hit 16 home runs and put together a 22-game hitting streak during the year.
UNC Pembroke senior Matt McGovern (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) was named to the all-state squad as a starting pitcher for the second straight year after finishing with a 9-2 mark, a 3.19 earned run average and 86 strikeouts. McGovern led the Braves to a 34-14 record and was named to the Peach Belt Conference and ABCA All-Southeast Region First Teams this spring.
Mount Olive junior Carter Capps (Kinston, N.C.) was one of three pitchers in the nation to go undefeated with at least 10 wins in 2010 after finishing with a 10-0 record. Capps, a first-team all-league and all-region pick, also fashioned a 3.09 earned run average in addition to six complete games, two shutouts and 63 strikeouts.
Catawba junior Wil Honeycutt (Locust, N.C.) garnered the all-state relief pitcher's honors after finishing 5-1 with four saves to lead the Indians. Honeycutt picked up two of his saves in the conference tournament to lead Catawba to the title and was named to the All-South Atlantic Conference First Team and the All-Southeast Region Second Team.
Founded in 2002, NCCSIA is comprised of sports information professionals from North Carolina's NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA and independent institutions for the purpose of promoting college athletics in the state. Membership is open to anyone affiliated with a college, university or conference located in North Carolina whose responsibilities include sports information.
2010 NCCSIA All-State Baseball
College Division Team
SP – Carter Capps, Mount Olive, Junior, Kinston, N.C.
SP – Matt McGovern, UNC Pembroke, Senior, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ^
RP – Wil Honeycutt, Catawba, Junior, Locust, N.C.
DH – Brian Dice, Lenoir-Rhyne, Junior, Hickory, N.C.
C – Trey Such, Methodist, Sophomore, Sanford, N.C.
INF – Justin Bagbey, Chowan, Sophomore, Virgilina, Va. ^
INF – Will Davis, Pfeiffer, Senior, New London, N.C.
INF – Seth Kivett, UNC Pembroke, Senior, Bear Creek, N.C. ^
INF – Craige Lyerly, Catawba, Senior, Salisbury, N.C. ^
OF – Bobby Leeper, Mount Olive, Senior, Raleigh, N.C.
OF – Jeremy Nowak, Mount Olive, Senior, Cheektowaga, N.Y.
OF – Wade Moore, Catawba, Senior, Salisbury, N.C.
^ = 2009 All-State Selection
