DANVILLE, Va.-- Coastal Carolina redshirt-junior catcher Dock Doyle and Chanticleers head coach Gary Gilmore were voted Big South baseball Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively, by the League's head coaches and sports information directors, it was announced this afternoon prior to the second game of the 2008 Big South Baseball Championship. UNC Asheville senior Alan DeRatt was voted the Big South's Pitcher of the Year, while Coastal third baseman Scott Woodward earned Freshman of the Year honors. Radford's Alex Gregory was selected Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the sports information directors.
DeRatt is the Big South's leader with a 1.74 earned run average and ranks among the national leaders in the category. He is tied for the League lead with eight wins following last night's victory over High Point in the Big South Championship Tournament. He has held opposing batters to a Conference-best .210 batting average, and ranks first in innings pitched (98.0). DeRatt also ranks among the Big South pitching leaders in strikeouts (7th, 68), complete games (T-1st, 3), and games started (1st, 14). He also tallied one shutout and combined on three others. At one point during the 2008 season, DeRatt was the national leader in ERA. He also was the first UNC Asheville pitcher ever to begin a season 6-0, allowed just two home runs in 347 at-bats and did not allow a run in his first 24 innings this year. In Big South play, DeRatt pitched into the eighth inning in four of seven starts and suffered three no decisions in Conference action in which he left the game with the lead. He was 1-2 with a 2.93 earned run average and 33 strikeouts against League foes.
The Conference also announced the 2008 All-Conference and All-Academic teams Wednesday, which are listed below. The First and Second All-Conference teams, as voted by the head coaches and sports information directors at each institution, are comprised of 13 players. However, this year's second-team features 14 players, as there was a tie for the relief pitcher spot. The All-Academic Team consists of one student-athlete from each institution and is nominated and selected by the sports information directors.
Coastal Carolina placed a Big South-record 11 members on the All-Conference squad, including a League-tying seven first-team selections. The previous record for most All-Conference selections was eight, shared by Winthrop (2005) and Coastal Carolina (2007). The Chanticleers' seven first-team honorees matches Winthrop's record set in 2006.
Asheville shortstop Kevin Weidenbacher earned his first all-conference honor as the junior college transfer was named to the first-team. Weidenbacher led the Bulldogs in hitting his season with a .350 average. He had a Big South record 31 game hit streak earlier this season.
Outfielder Kevin Mattison was named to the Big South second team. Mattison led the Big South in runs scored heading into the tournament. Mattison is Asheville's school record holder in triples and runs scored.
2008 BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE BASEBALL ALL-CONFERENCE
FIRST-TEAM
SP Alan DeRatt, Sr., RHP, UNC Asheville
SP Joey Haug, Sr., RHP, Coastal Carolina
SP Bobby Gagg, Jr., RHP, Coastal Carolina
RP Pete Andrelczyk, R-Jr., RHP, Coastal Carolina
C Dock Doyle, R-Jr., Coastal Carolina
1B Alex Gregory, Jr., Radford
2B Shane Geisslinger, Sr., VMI
3B Scott Woodward, Fr., Coastal Carolina
SS Kevin Weidenbacher, Jr., UNC Asheville
DH Derek Smith, Fr., Charleston Southern
OF David Sappelt, Jr., Coastal Carolina
OF Tommy Baldridge, Sr., Coastal Carolina
OF P.K. Keller, Sr., Liberty
SECOND-TEAM
SP David Stokes, Sr., RHP, Liberty
SP Eric Evans, Sr., LHP, Radford
SP Nick McCully, Soph., RHP, Coastal Carolina
RP Bubba O'Donnell, Sr., RHP, High Point (tie)
RP Chris Duty, Soph., RHP, VMI (tie)
C Errol Hollinger, Jr., Liberty
1B David Anderson, Jr., Coastal Carolina
2B Tyren Rivers, R-Soph., Radford
3B Randy Schwartz, Sr., High Point
SS Tyler Bortnick, Jr., Coastal Carolina
DH Eddie Rohan, Fr., Winthrop
OF Adam Rice, Soph., Coastal Carolina
OF Billy Froehlich, Sr., Winthrop
OF Kevin Mattison, Sr., UNC Asheville
ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Mark Perry, Jr., Charleston Southern
Tommy Baldridge, Sr., Coastal Carolina
Billy Alvino, Jr., High Point
David Giammaresi, R-Sr., Liberty
Steven Henry, Sr., Presbyterian
Alex Gregory, Jr., Radford
Ben Buchanan, Sr., UNC Asheville
Shane Geisslinger, Sr., VMI
Billy Tinsley, Sr., Winthrop
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Dock Doyle, R-Jr, C, Coastal Carolina
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Alan DeRatt, Sr., RHP, UNC Asheville
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Scott Woodward, 3B, Coastal Carolina
COACH OF THE YEAR
Gary Gilmore, Coastal Carolina
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Alex Gregory, Jr., Radford
