April 16, 2008
Contact: Mike Christie, Assistant Commissioner

USA South Baseball Awards Announced

(FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.) - The USA South Athletic Conference has announced its All-Conference awards for baseball. A total of 43 student-athletes have been named to the USA South All-Conference team. Christopher Newport University's Trae Bailey has been named the Player of the Year while teammate Kenny Moreland has been named the Pitcher of the Year and their coach, John Harvell, is the Coach of the Year. Greg Van Sickler of Shenandoah University has been named Rookie of the Year while J.R. Pike of Greensboro College has been named Rookie Pitcher of the Year. Also, for the first time, the USA South recognized an All-Sportsmanship Team, consisting of one member from each competing school. All honors are determined by votes from the baseball coach at each institution.

Bailey, a senior from Chesapeake, Virginia, led the conference in batting average (.479), RBI (49), doubles (17) and total bases (100) this season. The shortstop played and started all 30 games for the Captains this spring. Bailey had a team-best 56 hits and seven home runs while striking out just five times. This is Bailey's third appearance on the All-Conference Team as he has earned first team honors this spring, second team honors last spring and honorable mention accolades in 2006. Finally, Bailey was named USA South Player of Week twice this spring.

A senior from Springfield, Virginia, Moreland posted a 9-0 record with a 1.75 ERA and 84 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .202 average in 77 innings pitched this spring. Moreland's wins, strikeouts and opponents' batting average all led the USA South. In conference play, Moreland was 6-0 with a 1.88 ERA and 46 strikeouts. He led the Captains in wins, complete games, innings pitched and strikeouts. This is Moreland's fourth appearance on the All-Conference Team as he has earned first team honors for the third consecutive spring in addition to his second team and Rookie Pitcher of the Year accolades in 2005. Finally, Moreland was named USA South Pitcher of the Week twice this spring.

Van Sickler, a freshman from Stephenson, Virginia, played a key role in the Hornets' season as he was third in the league in batting with a .457 average. He also was in the USA South's top-five in slugging percentage, on-base percentage, doubles and total bases. In addition to leading the Hornets in all the aforementioned categories, Van Sickler had a team-best 48 hits, three triples and 23 walks. For his efforts, Van Sickler received First Team All-Conference honors as a utility player. Finally, Van Sickler was named a Rookie of the Week seven times this spring.

A freshman from Graham, North Carolina, Pike posted a team-best 1.32 ERA in 14 appearances, all in relief. Pike tossed 13.2 innings, giving up just two earned runs on 16 hits with 12 strikeouts. In addition, Pike earned USA South Rookie Pitcher of the Week honors once this spring.

In his eighth season at Christopher Newport, Head Coach John Harvell collects his second Coach of the Year honor as he last won the award in 2001. Harvell has led Christopher Newport to a 22-8 overall record, a 9-2 conference mark and its second-ever USA South regular season title. The Captains' only other league regular season crown came in 2001.

Player of the Year
Trae Bailey - Chris. Newport

Pitcher of the Year
Kenny Moreland - Chris. Newport

Rookie of the Year
Greg Van Sickler - Shenandoah

Rookie Pitcher of the Year
J.R. Pike - Greensboro

Coach of the Year
John Harvell - Chris. Newport


The 2008 USA South All-Conference Baseball Teams follow:

First Team 1B - Dan Poindexter - Greensboro 2B - Alex Owen - Chris. Newport 3B - Seth Kivett - Methodist SS - Trae Bailey - Chris. Newport C - Nick Baker - Ferrum DH - Ryan McDougal - Chris. Newport Util - Greg Van Sickler - Shenandoah OF - Matt Smith - N.C. Wesleyan         Chris Pecora - N.C. Wesleyan         Eric Cole - Chris. Newport P - Kenny Moreland - Chris. Newport       Ben Moore - N.C. Wesleyan RP - Torrey Poholsky - Greensboro	Second Team 1B - Chris Despins - Chris. Newport 2B - Travis Beausoleil - N.C. Wesleyan 3B - Eric Harrell - Ferrum SS - Scott Russell - Methodist C - Ted Williams - N.C. Wesleyan Util - Justin Batts - N.C. Wesleyan OF - Adam Higgins - Averett          Tyler O’Neill - Greensboro         Michael Carter - Methodist P - Chris Toth - Methodist       Kit Mock - Greensboro RP - Jonathan Shearon - N.C. Wesleyan
Honorable Mention 1B - Ken Kellum - Averett 2B -  Eric Sibrizzi - Averett 3B -  Parker Neal - Chris. Newport SS - Josh Simons - Shenandoah C - Jeff Guerrie - Greensboro Util - Kenly Locklear - Methodist OF - Scott Lambert - Shenandoah         Daniel Moore - N.C. Wesleyan         Mike Giarrizzi - Chris. Newport P - Ben Hildreth - Averett        Jordan Dorsett - Greensboro       Taylor DuFrene - Shenandoah RP - Josh Simons - Shenandoah	All-Sportsmanship Team Justin Brown - Averett  Parker Neal - Chris. Newport Dustin Howell - Ferrum Alex Guerra - Greensboro Scott Russell - Methodist Daniel Moore - N.C. Wesleyan Jesse Henry - Shenandoah