WILSON, N.C.—Four Limestone College baseball players garnered All-Conference Carolinas honors on Thursday night at the league tournament banquet, hosted by Barton College. Outfielder Aldo Mendez (Cidra, Puerto Rico) was named to the First Team, while first baseman Drew Lydon (White Plains, Md.), pitcher Jordan Barnett (Richlands, Va.), and outfielder Greg Dailey (Baltimore, Md.) received Second-Team honors.
In his first season as a Saint, Mendez set a new school record for most triples in a season with 10. Mendez batted .384 this year as he hit 17 doubles, 10 triples, and 5 homeruns. He posted 55 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. He hit an impressive .486 against league opponents while he posted 58 total bases, 8 doubles, 4 triples, and 2 homeruns. He leads Conference Carolinas in runs scored, triples, and total bases. He is also ranked top 10 in the league statistics in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, hits, RBIs, doubles, and stolen bases.
Lydon boasts a fielding percentage of .994 as he played in every game for Limestone this spring. He has an overall batting average of .362, 17 doubles, a triple, and 8 homeruns. He has also driven in 66 runs. He leads the conference in RBIs, and is ranked top 10 in the league stats for hits, slugging percentage, doubles, and total bases.
Dailey has had an impressive senior season, as he leads the Saints with a .413 batting average. He has scored 52 runs and recorded 81 hits, 10 doubles, 6 triples, 1 homerun, and 30 RBIs. Dailey also has 27 stolen bases. He is No. 1 in the conference in hits and stolen bases, and is ranked top 10 in the league in batting average, triples, runs scored, and total bases. Dailey also had a 29-game hitting streak from February 22-April 10.
Barnett had a solid season as a freshman. He recorded saves against Augusta State, Anderson, North Greenville, and Mars Hill. He also posted wins against Coker, Belmont Abbey, Barton, Anderson, and North Greenville on his way to a 5-2 record. Barnett had a season-high 10 strikeouts in Limestone’s victory over Coker on February 15. He also helped the Saints to a win against then-ranked No. 9 Erskine in February as he struck out nine Fleet batters. Barnett has pitched 59 innings in his 15 appearances, and has struck out 62. He is ranked top 10 in the conference stats for innings pitched, strikeouts, wins, and saves.
The All-Conference teams were determined by vote from each head coach of participating league institutions. Nominations were collected and then voted upon by ballot and tallied to determine Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Coach of the Year, All-Conference First Team, and All-Conference Second Team.
Co-Player of the Year:
Rich Racobaldo - Mount Olive College
Bryan Fogle – Erskine College
Pitcher of the Year:
Nick Fogelman –Pfeiffer University
Freshmen of the Year:
Cody McElhaney – Erskine College
Coach of the Year:
Kermit Smith – Belmont Abbey College
All-Conference First Team:
Daniel Kassouf - Belmont Abbey -1B
Chas Anthony - Erskine -2B
Rich Racobaldo – Mount Olive -SS
John Bolding – Erskine -3B
Alex Vertcnik – Mount Olive -C
Kevin Kearney – Mount Olive -DH
Aldo Mendez – Limestone -OF
Bryan Fogle - Erskine -OF
Zach Boyette - Barton -OF
Greg Huff – Erskine -OF
Andrew Oliver - Pfeiffer -Relief Pitcher
Nick Fogelman – Pfeiffer -P
Tyler Powell – Belmont Abbey-P
BJ Dial – Mount Olive –P
Andrew Morton – Belmont Abbey -P
Blair Carson - Anderson -Utility
All-Conference Second Team:
Drew Lydon - Limestone -1B
Ryan Saxon - Anderson -2B
Cody McElhaney - Erskine -SS
Aaron Watkins - Barton -3B
Trent Still - Anderson -C
Spencer Sobol – Belmont Abbey -DH
Keith Hill - Erskine -OF
Jonathan Nichols - Barton -OF
Jesse Lancaster – Mount Olive -OF
Tyler McKenzie – Belmont Abbey -OF
Atlee Pearson - Erskine -Relief Pitcher
Ryan Kussmaul – Mount Olive -P
Brandon Brinson - Barton -P
Jordan Barnett - Limestone -P
William Buzhardt - Erskine -P
Greg Dailey - Limestone -Utility