SPARTANURG, S.C. – Wofford baseball player Konstantine Diamaduros been named to the Preseason All-Southern Conference team as selected by the coaches. Diamaduros earned second team honors at first base. The Terriers were picked to finish tenth in both the coaches and media preseason polls that were also released today.
Diamaduros, a senior from Spartanburg, S.C., started all 55 games last season at first base for the Terriers and led the team with a .332 batting average. He also was the team leader with 72 hits and was second with 90 total bases and 36 RBIs. His batting average was 12th in the SoCon and he was tied for third in the conference with five triples. Diamaduros shares the school record for triples at 13 with Mac Doyle.
The Southern Conference baseball coaches have selected Victor Roache as Preseason Player of the Year and Chris Beck as Preseason Pitcher of the Year, both of Georgia Southern. Ten of the 11 SoCon baseball teams have at least one representative on the team led by Georgia Southern and Samford with three first-teamers and Appalachian State with five overall.
Other pitchers joining Beck on the first team are College of Charleston starter Christian Powell and Samford reliever Lex Rutledge. UNCG’s Trevor Edwards was chosen as the first-team catcher while Samford’s Saxon Butler was tabbed at first base and Western Carolina All-American Ross Heffley earned the nod at second base.
Rounding out the first-team infield are Georgia Southern shortstop Eric Phillips and The Citadel third baseman Drew DeKerlegand. Other first-team selections include designated hitter Daniel Kassouf from Appalachian State, outfielder Phillip Ervin from Samford and College of Charleston outfielder Daniel Aldrich. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.
The College of Charleston received six of the 11 possible first-place votes and 93 points in the coaches’ balloting, narrowly edging Georgia Southern by a single point. Georgia Southern was the clear preseason favorite of the league’s media, earning 20 of 25 first-place votes and 269 points overall.
In the coaches’ poll, GSU grabbed 92 points and four first-place votes while Samford placed third with 83 points and the remaining first-place nod. Elon (76 points), the 2011 regular season champion, was selected to finish fourth, followed by Appalachian State (62), Western Carolina (51) and UNCG (50) in the fifth through seventh spots, respectively. The Citadel (33) edged Furman (32) for eighth spot while Wofford (18) and Davidson (15) concluded the rankings.
With 246 points and three first-place tallies, Charleston placed second in the media balloting, directly ahead of Elon (220) which recorded the final two first-place votes. Samford (198), UNCG (150), Appalachian State (149), Western Carolina (130), The Citadel (112), Furman (86), Wofford (55) and Davidson (35) rounded out the poll.
The 2012 Southern Conference baseball season begins on Friday, February 17 with all 11 league teams in action. The 2012 Southern Conference Baseball Championship will be held from May 23-27 at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.
