College Baseball News – Guilford Pair Lands All-Region Honors

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Guilford College senior John Macon Smith (Greensboro, N.C./Western Guilford (Western Carolina)) earned First Team D3baseball.com All-South Region recognition Monday. Smith was honored with classmate Corey Wallace (Rockingham, N.C./Richmond Senior (Southeastern C.C.)), who received Second Team All-South laurels.

John Macon-Smith 2014

John Macon-Smith 2014 by Greensboro Sports

John Macon Smith (Greensboro, N.C./Western Guilford (Western Carolina))

The all-region team honorees are among the 774 NCAA Division III baseball players nominated by sports information directors. D3baseball.com staff and contributors, plus select sports information directors, selected the teams for the third straight season.

Smith, a 6-2, 205-pound first baseman, earned his third straight all-region commendation from D3baseball.com. He was a third-team pick in 2012 and a second-team honoree last spring. The two-time First Team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) selection led the Quakers with a .459 batting average, a .531 on-base percentage, 44 runs, 68 hits, and 13 stolen bases in 38 games. Smith also smacked eight doubles, four triples and six homers. He finished second to Wallace on the team with 40 runs batted in (RBI) and a .689 slugging percentage. Smith ranks seventh among NCAA Division III batting average leaders, ninth in on-base percentage, 28th in slugging percentage, 33rd in runs per game, and 36th in hits. He totaled a team-high 23 multiple-hit contests, 10 multiple-RBI games and accumulated a 14-game hitting streak in 2014. He reached base in all 38 games.

In three Guilford seasons, Smith recorded a .417 batting average with 23 home runs and 124 RBI. He set the school’s career record for hits per game (1.63). Smith ranks second in school history in batting average, sixth in runs (125), and sixth in RBI. He is a three-time All-ODAC honoree and two-time winner of the league’s Baseball Scholar-Athlete Award.

Corey Wallace 2014

Corey Wallace 2014 by Greensboro Sports

Corey Wallace (Rockingham, N.C./Richmond Senior (Southeastern C.C.))

Wallace, a 6-1, 185-pound third baseman, finished second on the team with a .421 batting average and topped the Quakers with nine homers, six triples, 11 doubles, and 49 RBI. Through games of May 18, Wallace ranks 10th in NCAA Division III with 117 total bases. He also stands among the nation’s best in home runs (14th), RBI per game (16th), triples (21st), and hits (44th). His .736 slugging percentage leads the ODAC and is 11th nationally.

Wallace had 21 multiple-hit games and 11 contests with at least two RBI. He drove in a season-high eight runs against league-foe Virginia Wesleyan College March 1 and smashed two homers, both grand slams, in Guilford’s 15-4 win. His performance yielded the ODAC Baseball Hitter of the Week Award and a spot on the D3baseball.com Team of the Week.

After transferring from Southeastern Community College in the fall of 2012, Wallace finished his Guilford career with a .407 batting average, 80 RBI, 16 home runs, 11 triples, 19 doubles, and a .714 slugging percentage. He received First Team All-South honors last spring from the American Baseball Coaches’ Association and Second Team All-South recognition from D3baseball.com. He was also First Team All-ODAC honoree in 2013 and 2014.

Smith and Wallace helped coach Nick Black’s ’02 club to a 19-20 overall record, 9-11 in the ODAC. Black could have as many as 27 returning letter winners next season.