@ASUNBSB All-Conference Awards Announced; UNF's Kachler, Liberty's Delaite Garner Top Honors
@ASUNBSB All-Conference Awards Announced; UNF's Kachler, Liberty's Delaite Garner Top Honors
Baseball All-Conference Team/Awards
ATLANTA, Ga. - North Florida's Alex Kachler highlights the ASUN Conference Baseball Postseason All-Conference accolades as he was named the Player of the Year, as voted on by the league's head coaches. Liberty, the top seed in the North Division, claimed the remaining four superlative awards as Trevor Delaite nabbed the Pitcher of the Year honor, Cam Locklear was voted the Defensive Player of the Year, Trey Gibson garnered Freshman of the Year honors and Scott Jackson was selected as the Coach of the Year award.
Kachler becomes just the second North Florida Osprey to be named the ASUN Player of the Year (Donnie Dewees, 2015). The graduate student recorded a .420 batting average against league foes and added 22 runs, 20 RBI, four home runs and a .710 slugging percentage in ASUN contests. A two-time Player of the Week and the league's Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Kachler recorded 17 multi-hit games and hit .377 with runners on base and .500 with the bases loaded. He registered a 12-game hitting streak between March 23 and April 23 and broke the program record with eight hits in eight consecutive at-bats from April 25-28. Kachler was named one-of-10 finalists for the National Senior CLASS Award and is the lone representative from a mid-major program.
The first Liberty player to be named Pitcher of the Year, Delaite, leads the ASUN in both wins (9) and complete games (4) with two of those being shutouts. He is the only conference pitcher with multiple complete games on the season as all have come against league competition and he has not lost a game since Feb. 26. The southpaw senior has recorded 68 strikeouts (34 in ASUN play) in 84.0 innings pitched and his 2.14 ERA ranks second in the ASUN (1.33 ERA vs. ASUN competition). A two-time Pitcher of the Week, Delaite (9-1) has held his league opponents to a .196 batting average against.
Locklear earned Defensive Player of the Year honors after recording a .976 fielding percentage in conference games and .978 overall mark committing just four errors (two in league play) from his shortstop position. The senior from Lumberton, N.C., has started all 47 games this season for Liberty and his 62 assists against ASUN opponents ranks first in the league while his 130 total assists are second. Locklear, the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, has helped turn 22 double plays this year and ranks second in Flames history with 236 career games played.
Gibson landed the Freshman of the Year award after producing a 5-1 record and 1.35 ERA against league competition and went 7-4 with a 3.32 ERA overall. His 1.35 ERA ranked second in the league while his lone complete game of the year came in a 4-1 win vs. Kennesaw State on May 9. Gibson's 70 strikeouts on the year rank fourth in the conference while he has fanned 49 ASUN batters (9.45 strikeouts/9 innings) to rank second against just seven walks. The freshman righty has tossed 65.0 innings on the year and 46.2 innings in league play.
Jackson became the first coach in Liberty history to be named Coach of the Year after guiding the Flames to a 19-2 (.904) league record and 35-12 overall mark. That 90.4 percent conference winning percentage marks the best for an ASUN squad since 1990 when Georgia Southern went 17-1 (.944). Jackson led Liberty to 19 conference wins, the most of any team since 2014 and five conference series sweeps. The top seed in the North Division, Jackson and the Flames are looking for their second consecutive ASUN Championship title.
Player of the Year: Alex Kachler, North Florida
Pitcher of the Year: Trevor Delaite, Liberty
Defensive Player of the Year: Cam Locklear, Liberty
Freshman of the Year: Trey Gibson, Liberty
Coach of the Year: Scott Jackson, Liberty
ASUN All-Conference First Team
*SP - Trevor Delaite, Liberty (Sr. | Bangor, Maine | Master's Executive Leadership)
SP - Jake Rice, Kennesaw State (Gr. | Birmingham, Ala. | MBA)
SP - Nick Durgin, Stetson (Fr. | Melbourne, Fla. | Business Management)
RP - Fraser Ellard, Liberty (Sr. | Roswell, Ga. | Visual Communication Design)
C - Gray Betts, Liberty (So. | Raleigh, N.C. | Accounting)
*1B - Alex Kachler, North Florida (Gr. | Lithia, Fla. | MS Management)
*2B - Will Wagner, Liberty (Jr. | Crozet, Va. | Sport Management)
3B - Josh Finerty, Bellarmine (Sr. | Louisville, Ky. | Biology)
SS - Richie Garcia, FGCU (Sr. | Davie, Fla. | Communications)
OF - Brian Ellis, FGCU (So. | Oviedo, Fla. | Exercise Science)
OF - Aaron Anderson, Liberty (Jr. | Jacksonville, Fla. | MBA)
OF - Hernen Sardinas, Stetson (Gr. | Miami, Fla. | MBA)
DH - Garrett Hodges, Kennesaw State (Sr. | Guyton, Ga. | Middle Grades Education)
ASUN All-Conference Second Team
SP - Mason Studstill, FGCU (Sr. | Titusville, Fla. | Communications)
SP - Ryan Kennedy, Kennesaw State (Jr. | Winchester, Va. | Criminal Justice)
SP - Trey Gibson, Liberty (Fr. | Yorktown, Va. | Mechanical Engineering)
RP - Tyler Guilfoil, Lipscomb (So. | Lexington, Ky. | Mechanical Engineering)
C - Tyler Tolve, Kennesaw State (So. | Marietta, Ga. | Exercise Science)
1B - Joe Kinker, FGCU (So. | North Port, Fla. | Pre-Secondary Education)
2B - Jesse Sherrill, Kennesaw State (So. | Cantonment, Fla. | Integrative Studies)
3B - Trey McDyre, Liberty (Sr. | Purcellville, Va. | MBA)
SS - Cam Locklear, Liberty (Sr. | Lumberton, N.C. | Master's Business Leadership)
OF - Matt Higgins, Bellarmine (Jr. | Louisville, Ky. | Exercise Science)
OF - Alex Carballo, Kennesaw State (Sr. | Pembroke Pines, Fla. | Accounting)
OF - Andrew MacNeil, Stetson (Gr. | Gainesville, Fla. | MBA)
DH - Brady Gulakowski, Liberty (Jr. | Pittsburgh, Pa. | Sport Management)
ASUN All-Freshmen Team
*SP - Trey Gibson, Liberty (Yorktown, Va. | Mechanical Engineering)
*1B - Davis Crane, Bellarmine (Louisville, Ky. | Sports Administration)
*UTL - Ian Farrow, FGCU (Merritt Island, Fla. | Undeclared)
*SS - Aidan Sweatt, North Florida (Fernandina Beach, Fla. | Sport Management)
*SP - Nick Durgin, Stetson (Melbourne, Fla. | Business Management)
*1B - Brandon Hylton, Stetson (Basking Ridge, N.J. | Business Administration)
*C - Christian Pregent, Stetson (Daytona Beach, Fla. | Psychology)
C - Johnny Long, FGCU (Naples, Fla. | Exercise Science)
3B - Jackson Grabsky, Jacksonville (Orlando, Fla. | Sports Business)
2B - Jesus Pacheco, Jacksonville (Weston, Fla. | Sports Management)
OF - Tiger Borom, Lipscomb (Jonesboro, Ga. | Business)
RP - Nick Willard, Liberty (Yorktown, Va. | Sport Psychology)
RP - Jovan Gill, Stetson (Fort Myers, Fla. | Music)
* - Denotes unanimous selection
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