College Baseball News – Guilford Places Three on All-State Teams

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Guilford College’s John Macon Smith (Greensboro, N.C./Western Guilford (Western Carolina)) earned First Team College Division All-State baseball recognition from the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) Wednesday. Teammates Kent Peterson (Albemarle, N.C./Nation Ford (S.C.)) and Corey Wallace (Rockingham, N.C./Richmond Senior) were second-team selections.

The squads consist of NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA student-athletes from North Carolina colleges and universities. North Carolina sports information directors submitted nominees and NCCSIA members selected the team for the 10th straight year.

The lone NCAA Division III pick on the first team, Smith led the Quakers with a .392 batting average, 36 runs, 58 hits, 33 runs batted in and 13 stolen bases over 38 games. The 6-2, 200-pound outfielder also smacked eight doubles, two triples and four homers and earned Second Team All-South recognition from D3baseball.com. The First Team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) selection ranked fourth among ODAC batting average leaders, fifth in stolen bases and sixth in hits per game (1.61). Smith totaled a team-high 19 multiple-hit contests, nine multiple-RBI games and ended the year on a season-best eight-game hitting streak. He went 7-for-9 with a double and three RBI in Guilford’s doubleheader sweep of ODAC Tournament champion Randolph-Macon College Apr. 20.

After two seasons, Smith owns a .396 batting average at Guilford with 17 home runs and 84 RBI. He is a two-time All-ODAC honoree and ranks 23rd among the Quakers’ career leaders in RBI. Smith also received the ODAC’s 2013 Farm Bureau Insurance Baseball Scholar-Athlete Award and was named a Capital One Academic All-District® 5 selection. He was a Third Team D3baseball.com All-South pick in 2012.

Peterson, a senior third baseman, ranked second on the Quakers with a .391 batting average and earned Second Team D3baseball.com All-South and First Team All-ODAC recognition. He finished fifth in the league in batting and seventh in on-base percentage (.455). He had an ODAC-best .455 batting average in league games and was second in on-base percentage (.505) and hits (35) in ODAC competition. He hit safely in 31 of 34 contests and amassed a 20-game hit streak, which matched Guilford’s longest in 17 years. Peterson also reached base in the Quakers’ final 29 games of the season. He was 4-for-4 with a double and four RBI in an Apr. 16 win over Emory & Henry College. It marked one of his 15 games with two or more hits and one of his seven multiple-RBI games. The contest also helped Peterson claim a spot on the D3baseball.com Team of the Week for games of April 15-21.

A winner of Guilford’s 2013 Nereus C. English Athletic Leadership and Jack Jensen Ideal Student-Athlete Awards, Peterson concluded his career ranked eighth in school history with a .360 batting average. The 2012 D3baseball.com First Team All-South selection ranks fourth in school history with 1.35 hits per game and 18th with 0.8 runs per outing. The three-year starter had 25 doubles among his 159 hits, plus 94 runs scored and 73 RBI. He graduated with a degree in sport management.

Wallace, a 6-1, 185-pound second baseman, was a First Team American Baseball Coaches’ Association All-South honoree and a Second Team D3baseball.com All-South pick. The First Team All-ODAC selection finished third on the team with a .389 batting average and topped the Quakers with seven homers, five triples and a league-high .687 slugging percentage. His slugging percentage ranked 22nd among NCAA Division III leaders and his five triples were 34th. The junior added 31 RBI, 26 runs and eight doubles in his first Guilford campaign. Wallace hit .405 in ODAC action and ranked second among the league’s best in slugging (.703) and triples (3). He had 18 multiple-hit games and six contests with at least two RBI. Wallace drove in a season-high six runs against Emory & Henry Apr. 16 and smashed two of his seven homers in Guilford’s 12-10 win over Stevenson University Mar. 12. He twice earned D3baseball.com Team of the Week commendation.

The trio helped coach Nick Black’s ’02 club to a 20-18 overall record, 10-10 in the ODAC. Black could have as many as 32 returning letter winners next season, including Smith and Wallace.