College Baseball News – Guilford Trio Named Second Team All-Region

FOREST, Va. — Guilford College’s Kent Peterson (Albemarle, N.C./Nation Ford (S.C.)), John Macon Smith (Greensboro, N.C./Western Guilford (Western Carolina)) and Corey Wallace (Rockingham, N.C./Richmond Senior) each earned a spot on D3baseball.com’s Second Team All-South Region squad Tuesday. The all-region selections were nominated and selected by region sports information directors as well as website staff.

Kent Peterson 2013
Kent Peterson

Peterson, a senior third baseman, ranked second on the Quakers with a .391 batting average and earned First Team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) recognition. He finished fifth in the league in batting and seventh in on-base percentage (.455). Peterson collected three triples and six doubles among his 52 hits and stood third on the team with 29 RBI. Peterson 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 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.

John Macon Smith 2014
John Macon Smith

Also a First Team All-ODAC pick, 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 this year and finished second on the team with a .554 slugging percentage. He ranked fourth among ODAC batting average leaders, fifth in stolen bases, sixth in hits per game (1.61) and ninth in on-base percentage (.443). 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.

Corey Wallace 2014
Corey Wallace

Wallace, a 6-1, 185-pound second baseman, 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 ranks 27th among NCAA Division III leaders through games of May 12. The junior added 31 RBI, 26 runs and eight doubles in his first Guilford campaign. He ranked second in the league in triples, sixth in hitting and fourth in home runs and total bases. 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.