NCCSIA Announces 2015 North Carolina College Division All-State Baseball Team

The North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) announced its selections for the 2015 College Division All-State Baseball Teams on Wednesday. Twenty-six players representing 10 different North Carolina College and Universities were named to the 2015 NCCSIA College Division All-State Teams.

Catawba College, the 2015 NCAA Division II national runner-up, highlighted the field with four first-team All-State selections while the University of Mount Olive and UNC Pembroke both had three selections and Wingate University had two.

Craig Brooks of Catawba and Mount Olive’s Gunnar Kines were selected as the first-team starting pitchers. Brooks finished 9-1 on the year with a 1.45 earned run average, 158 strikeouts and three saves on his way to being named the National Pitcher Of The Year and Gold Bat Player Of The Year by ABCA/Rawlings. Brooks, who also played third base and batted .300 with six home runs and 43 runs batted in, earned First-Team All-American honors by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and won the Brett Tomko and Josh Willingham Awards this spring. In addition, Brooks was named the South Atlantic Conference and Southeast Region Pitcher Of The Year. Kines was named the Conference Carolinas Pitcher Of The Year and an honorable mention All-American after going 9-2 on the season with a 3.26 earned run average and 121 strikeouts (third in the nation).

Catawba’s Ryan McClintock and UNC Pembroke’s Alex Britt both made the first-team as relief pitchers in 2015. McClintock was 6-0 with a 2.90 earned run average and eight saves while being named an honorable mention All-SAC performer and was selected to the SAC Baseball Championship All-Tournament squad. Britt was a second-team All-Peach Belt Conference selection and a semifinalist for the Brett Tomko Award after fashioning a 5-3 record this year with a league-best 2.12 earned run average and 57 strikeouts.

Will Albertson joined his Catawba teammates on the first-team after being selected as the All-State catcher. Albertson ranked first in batting average (.467), third in home runs (26) and second in runs batted in (91) nationally this year and was named the National Position Player Of The Year by the ABCA and the National Player Of The Year by the NCBWA for D-II. Additionally, Albertson earned 2015 South Atlantic Conference and Southeast Region Player-Of-The-Year honors.

The All-State infield includes two players out of UNC Pembroke in Collins Cuthrell and Zade Denton along with Wingate’s Shane Billings and Mount Olive’s Justin Manning.

Cuthrell earned All-American honors by three publications – NCBWA, Daktronics and ABCA – and was named the Peach Belt Conference Player Of The Year. The senior led the league in 10 different offensive categories including batting average (.438), doubles (22), home runs (25), runs batted in (75) and total bases (188). Denton earned All-American accolades by the NCBWA and All-Region and All-Conference honors after hitting .363 for the year with 59 runs scored, 10 home runs and 65 runs batted in. Denton, who started all 51 games, was also a 2015 Capital One Academic All-American.

Billings was an NCAA Division II First-Team All-American (NCBWA and Daktronics) thanks to a season which saw him rank second in the country in runs scored (79) and hits (104). Billings also batted .408 with 10 home runs, 43 RBI and 26 stolen bases. Manning was a first-team All-Conference Carolina’s selection after hitting .400 with 54 runs scored and 57 RBI. The senior hit 15 doubles and seven home runs for the Trojans.

Wingate’s Thomas Spitz, Mount Olive’s Jason Morozowski and UNC Pembroke’s Drew Cole combined to form the first-team outfield for 2015. Spitz was a second-team All-American and first-team All-League and All-Region selection this spring. He batted .372 with a national-leading 80 runs scored in addition to 17 home runs, 77 runs batted in and 22 stolen bases. Morozowski was a first-team NCAA Division II All-American by the ABCA, Daktronics and NCWBA after finishing third in the nation in RBI (82) to go along with a .424 batting average, 78 runs scored and 21 home runs. Morozowski was also named the 2015 Conference Carolinas Player Of The Year. Cole was an All-League and All-Region pick after starting all 51 games for the Braves and finishing with a .375 batting average, 63 runs, six home runs, 41 RBI and 21 stolen bases.

Catawba’s T.J. Wharton is the fourth and final player from Catawba to be named to the first-team after being selected at designated hitter. Wharton started all 62 games for the Indians and finished with a .349 batting average, 10 home runs and 58 runs batted in. He was a 2015 First-Team All-SAC and Second-Team All-Southeast Region pick.

Nominees were submitted by North Carolina sports information professionals and selected by the NCCSIA members.

The NCCSIA All-State second-team is comprised of UNC Pembroke’s Andy Sullivan, Wes Helsabeck, Ben Schmucker and Dalton Knight, Lenoir-Rhyne’s Ryan Perkins and Brantley Rumford, Belmont Abbey’s Anthony Dimino, Brevard’s Bennett Hixson, Catawba’s Blake Houston, Guilford College’s Justin Morrison, Mar Hill’s Evan Rogers, Pfeiffer’s Izzy Perez and Wingate’s Bradley Brown.

Founded in 2002, the NCCSIA is comprised of sports information professionals from NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA and independent institutions from the state of North Carolina. The purpose of the organization is to promote collegiate athletics at all schools. Membership is open to anyone affiliated with a college, university or conference located in North Carolina, and whose area of responsibility lies within sports information.

NCCSSIA selects all-state teams in the University (Division I) and College (Division II, III, NAIA) divisions for men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, softball and baseball.

North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association
2015 College Division All-State Baseball Teams

First Team

Pos.  Name                       Class  School                       Hometown
SP    Craig Brooks &             Sr.    Catawba College              Monroe, N.C.
SP    Gunnar Kines               Sr.    University of Mount Olive    Myrtle Beach, S.C.
RP    Alex Britt                 So.    UNC Pembroke                 Lumberton, N.C.
RP    Ryan McClintock & %        Sr.    Catawba College              Matthews, N.C.
C     Will Albertson             Jr.    Catawba College              Sophia, N.C.
IF    Collins Cuthrell           Sr.    UNC Pembroke                 Rocky Mount, N.C. 
IF    Zade Denton %              Sr.    UNC Pembroke                 Dallas, N.C. 
IF    Shane Billings             So.    Wingate University           Kernersville, N.C.
IF    Justin Manning             Sr.    University of Mount Olive    Apex, N.C.
OF    Thomas Spitz %             Sr.    Wingate University           West Chester, Pa. 
OF    Jason Morozowski           Jr.    University of Mount Olive    Pembroke Pines, Fla. 
OF    Drew Cole &                Sr.    UNC Pembroke                 Peachland, N.C. 
DH    T.J. Wharton &             Sr.    Catawba College              Lutz, Fla.

Second Team

Pos.  Name                       Class  School                       Hometown
SP    Andy Sullivan &            Sr.    UNC Pembroke                 Lakewood, N.J.
SP    Wes Helsabeck              Sr.    UNC Pembroke                 Rural Hall, N.C.
RP    Justin Morrison            Sr.    Guilford College             High Point, N.C.
RP    Bennett Hixson             Sr.    Brevard College              Greensboro, N.C.
C     Anthony Dimino             Jr.    Belmont Abbey College        Cumming, Ga.
IF    Ryan Perkins               Jr.    Lenoir-Rhyne University      Woodruff, S.C. 
IF    Dalton Knight &            Sr.    UNC Pembroke                 Morehead City, N.C. 
IF    Brantley Rumford &         Sr.    Lenoir-Rhyne University      Rock Hill, S.C. 
IF    Evan Rogers                Sr.    UNC Asheville                Kernersville, N.C. 
OF    Blake Houston              Sr.    Catawba College              Mount Ulla, N.C.
OF    Ben Schmucker              Sr.    UNC Pembroke                 Greensboro, N.C.
OF    Izzy Perez                 Sr.    Pfeiffer University          Miami, Fla. 
DH    Bradley Brown              Fr.    Wingate University           Rockingham, N.C. 

& – Named to 2014 All-State Team
% – Named to 2013 All-State Team