Three Earn Preseason Honors, Baseball Voted Third in Coaches’ Poll
Southern Conference Announces Preseason Coaches Poll and Teams
Greensboro, N.C. -The defending Southern Conference (SoCon) tournament champions, UNCG Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team was voted to finish third in the SoCon Preseason Coaches Poll.
UNCG earned one vote for first place in the Coaches’ Poll, while earning 34 votes for third place, the defending regular season champions Wofford earned five votes for first place.
The Spartans were voted to finish fourth in the SoCon Preseason Media Poll, earning two first-place votes and 102 total points.
Two Spartans were named to the preseason first team, sophomore Kennedy Jones and redshirt junior Mitchell Smith. Senior Dallas Callahan was named to preseason second team.
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
Team (first-place votes) Points Wofford (5) 46 Mercer (2) 41 UNCG (1) 34 Samford 33 ETSU 25 Western Carolina 20 VMI 13 The Citadel 12
Preseason Media Poll
Team (First-place Votes) Points Wofford (9) 130 Mercer (6) 122 Samford (1) 103 UNCG (2) 102 ETSU 68 Western Carolina 60 The Citadel 35 VMI 28
Coming off a 34-30 record last season, the Spartans went to the NCAA Regional Tournament for the first time in Head Coach Billy Godwin’s three years leading the team. The Spartans, who started the conference slate 0-7, defied the odds and fought their way through the Southern Conference Tournament to win their second SoCon Championship. The last time the Spartans won was back in 2017.
Kennedy Jones
Preseason All-SoCon First Team
Sophomore | Outfield | Norfolk, Virginia
Named SoCon Wald Nadzak Most Outstanding Player (following SoCon Tournament)
Named to SoCon All-Tournament Team
Named SoCon Player of the Month February
Named to SoCon All-Conference second team
Named to SoCon All-Freshman Team
Selected to SoCon Sports Media Association Baseball All-Conference second team
Earned National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Freshman All-America second team recognition
Named to Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America Team honors
Earned ABCA/Rawlings Atlantic All-Region second team honors
First in the conference in hits (92, RBI (73) in 2022
Tied for second in the SoCon in at bats (251), third with total bases (149), tied for third in triples (4), fourth in batting average (.370), and runs scored (62), tied for sixth in total plate appearances (276), 10th in slugging percentage (.594)
His five home runs in the SoCon Tournament matched a tournament record.
Mitchell Smith
Preseason All-SoCon First Team
Redshirt Junior | 3rd Base | Pickerington, Ohio
Selected to SoCon Sports Media Association Baseball All-Conference second team
Named to SoCon Baseball Coaches All-Conference second team
Played in 60 games last season
Had a career high of 12 putouts in
Went 77-for-238 at the plate for a .324 batting average, which was fifth on the team.
Totaled 23 doubles, three home runs, and 45 RBI last season.
His 45 RBI were fourth on the team
Among the SoCon, first in doubles (23) and runners caught stealing (24), fifth in total plate appearances (278), tied for sixth in at bats (238), and ninth in total hits (77).
Dallas Callahan
Preseason All-SoCon Second Team
Senior | Catcher | Inman, South Carolina
Played in 32 games in 2021 and 57 in 2022 season
Fielding percentage of .984
Had career best numbers in multiple categories including: batting average, on-base percentage, runs scored, at bats, hits, doubles, triples, total bases, RBI, walks, sacrifice flies, and runners caught stealing
Among the SoCon, he was fourth in chances (455), sixth in putouts (396), and tied for eighth in doubles (17) and walks (34).
The Spartans begin the 2023 next week with a match up against Northeastern at the UNCG Baseball Stadium starting Friday, February 17 at 4 p.m. UNCG will face the Huskies on Saturday and Sunday for its first three-game series of the season.
Preseason Player of the Year
Pascanel Ferreras, Jr., SS, Western Carolina
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Matthew Marchal, Sr., RHP, Wofford
Preseason First-Team All-SoCon
SP – Michael Ross, Jr., Samford
SP – Matthew Marchal, Sr., Wofford
RP – Luke Stephens, Sr., Wofford
C – Noah Webb, Jr., ETSU
1B – Ryan Galanie, Sr., Wofford
2B – Brice Martinez, Jr., Wofford
SS – Pascanel Ferreras, Jr., Western Carolina
3B – Mitchell Smith, Jr., UNCG
OF – Tommy Barth, So., ETSU
OF – Treyson Hughes, So., Mercer
OF – Kennedy Jones, So., UNCG
DH – Brett Cook, Jr., VMI
Preseason Second-Team All- SoCon
SP – Josh Harlow, Sr., Mercer
SP – Jacob Cravey, Jr., Samford
RP – Alex Goff, Sr., Samford
C – Dallas Callahan, Sr., UNCG
1B – Stephen Klein, Sr., Samford
2B – Garrett Staton, R-So., Samford
SS – Zac Morris, R-Jr., VMI
3B – Justin Starke, R-Jr., VMI
OF – Jozsef Rohrbacher, Sr., Mercer
OF – Nate Stocum, Jr., Western Carolina
OF – Trey Yunger, Sr., Wofford
DH – Garett Wallace, Sr., ETSU
Courtesy of Kelly Couse
Strategic Communications Coordinator
UNC Greensboro