College Baseball News – Guilford Trio Lands All-State Baseball Honors

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Guilford College seniors John Macon Smith (Greensboro, N.C./Western Guilford (Western Carolina)) and Corey Wallace (Rockingham, N.C./Richmond Senior (Southeastern C.C.)) joined junior Avery Rogers (Salisbury, N.C./East Rowan) as College Division All-State baseball selections according to the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) Monday. The announcement marks the first time Guilford had three first-team honorees.

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 teams for the 11th straight year. Smith joins Rob Bittner ’06 and Kyle Wooden ’11 as the Quakers’ lone two-time, first-team all-state baseball honorees.

The news marks one more laurel for Smith, who capped perhaps the most decorated baseball season in school history last April. He became the fifth baseball performance all-American in school history with his selection to the American Baseball Coaches Association’s (ABCA) Third Team NCAA Division III All-America squad. He earned First Team All-ODAC baseball recognition and was named the league’s Farm Bureau Insurance Baseball Scholar-Athlete according to a vote of the league’s sports information directors.

Smith earned All-South honors from the ABCA and from D3baseball.com for the second time in his career this spring. The two-time First Team All-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 smacked eight doubles, four triples and six homers. He finished second on the team with 40 runs batted in (RBI) and a .689 slugging percentage. Smith ranked seventh among NCAA Division III batting average leaders, ninth in on-base percentage, 28th in slugging percentage, 33rd in runs per game, and 45th in hits. He totaled a team-high 23 multiple-hit contests, 10 multiple-RBI games and accumulated a 14-game hitting streak in 2014. Smith reached base at least once in all 38 games.

In 115 games over 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 was named to five all-region teams, three All-ODAC squads and twice received the league’s Baseball Scholar-Athlete Award in his illustrious career.

A Second Team College Division All-State pick in 2013, Wallace earned first-team laurels this past spring. The 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. Wallace ranked 11th in NCAA Division III with 117 total bases. He also stood among the nation’s best in home runs (14th), home runs per game (15th), RBI per game (15th), triples (21st), and hits (44th). His .736 slugging percentage led the ODAC and was 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 ABCA and Second Team All-South recognition from D3baseball.com. He was also First Team All-ODAC honoree in 2013 and 2014.
Rogers, a 6-3, 165-pound pitcher, appeared in 12 contests out of the bullpen in his third season, his first as Guilford’s closer. The right-hander posted a 1-2 record with two saves in 13 and one-third innings. Rogers posted career-best totals in earned run average (2.70) and walks (3) and matched his best single-season performance in strikeouts (17). He collected his lone victory of the season April 10th against Lynchburg College, by throwing the contest’s final inning and striking out one batter while yielding an unearned run. His longest outing came March 27th against Greensboro College when he tossed two shutout innings with three strikeouts. Rogers averaged 11.48 strikeouts per nine innings and notched his first two college saves, which both ranked second on the team.

The trio 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, including Rogers.