Honeycutt named to preseason All-SAC First Team, Lions selected ninth

ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – The Catawba College Indians have been picked as the 2019 South Atlantic Conference baseball preseason favorite for the seventh consecutive season, the league office announced today. The Indians received eight first place votes from the conference's head baseball coaches and 108 total points.

Reigning SAC Tournament Champions, Lincoln Memorial, were voted in at No. 2 with 97 total points and three first place votes, while Wingate earned the No. 3 spot with 93 points.

Carson-Newman placed fourth in the poll with 78 points, followed by Newberry at No. 5 with 70 points and Lenoir-Rhyne at No. 6 with 68 points.

Tusculum earned the No. 7 slot with 65 points, while Anderson earned 47 points in eighth and Mars Hill placed ninth with 36 points. Rounding out the preseason poll were Coker at No. 10 with 30 points and first-year program Queens at No. 11 with 23 points.

In addition to the preseason coaches' poll, the SAC announced its 2019 Preseason All-Conference teams. Lincoln Memorial's Ethan Elliott, along with Lenoir-Rhyne's John Grigg and Wingate's Austin Turgeon were named first team starting pitchers. Catawba's DJ Laxton was named the first team reliever and teammate Heath Mitchem was named to the first team as the designated hitter.

Mars Hill's Matt Honeycutt earned first team honors at catcher and Anderson's Dillon Carpenter was named first team first baseman. Daulton Martin of Tusculum was named first team at second base, with Catawba's Jackson Raper at third base and Newberry's Colin Allman at shortstop.

Rounding out the first team selections are Newberry's Danton Hyman, Anderson's Chandler Castleberry and Tusculum's Jarel McDade in the outfield.

First pitch for the 2019 season will take place on Feb. 1. For a full schedule of games visit www.thesac.com.

2019 SAC Baseball Preseason Coaches' Poll

2019 SAC Baseball Preseason All-Conference

All-SAC First Team

OF – Danton Hyman, Newberry
OF – Chandler Castleberry, Anderson
OF – Jarel McDade, Tusculum
1B – Dillon Carpenter, Anderson
2B – Daulton Martin, Tusculum
SS – Colin Allman, Newberry
3B – Jackson Raper, Catawba
C – Matt Honeycutt, Mars Hill
DH – Heath Mitchem, Catawba
SP – Ethan Elliott, Lincoln Memorial
SP – John Grigg, Lenoir-Rhyne
SP – Austin Turgeon, Wingate
RP – DJ Laxton, Catawba 

All-SAC Second Team

OF – Seth Hunt, Lincoln Memorial
OF – Will Reddick, Lincoln Memorial
OF – Tanner Lane, Newberry
1B – Alex Reynolds, Lenoir-Rhyne
2B – McCann Mellett, Wingate
SS – Tyler Adams, Lincoln Memorial
3B – Tyler Schneider, Wingate
C – Ethan Goforth, Carson-Newman
SP – Joe Bobiak, Lincoln Memorial
SP – Charles Hall, Tusculum
SP – Ryan Harbin, Newberry
RP – Charlie Fessler, Newberry