LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- The All-West Region team was released by D3baseball.com on Thursday and seven Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) athletes were recognized, highlighted by a pair of first team honorees in Austin College’s Brett Taff and Southwestern’s Daniel Montgomery Jr.
Taff, a senior shortstop from Amarillo, led the SCAC with a .413 batting average on his way to being named First Team All-Conference. He also paced the SCAC with a .503 on-base percentage and a .686 slugging percentage. Taff had 11 doubles, two triples, and six home runs and drove in 33 runs on the year while scoring 38 more. He was also among the SCAC leaders with 13 stolen bases and boasted a .969 fielding percentage with just five errors in 33 games played.
Montgomery Jr., a First Team All-SCAC selection, was named the First Team All-West Region third basemen after leading the conference in runs (48) and triples (four) while tying for the league lead in home runs (nine). The junior also finished second in the SCAC in total bases (110), doubles (15), slugging percentage (.667) and on base percentage (.485) and was third in hits (60) and RBI (45) with a .354 batting average.
In addition, the SCAC had three athletes land on the All-West Region Second Team in Texas Lutheran’s Tyler Cauley, Trinity’s Jake Martin and Southwestern’s Austin Smith.
Cauley is making his second-straight appearance on an All-West Region squad after earning first team accolades as season ago. The junior outfielder is coming off a First Team All-SCAC year in which he finished in the top three of multiple offensive categories including RBI (47), walks (42), home runs (8), triples (4), runs (47) and plate appearances (214) after hitting .329 on the season.
Martin, who was tabbed with All-SCAC First Team honors and named SCAC Player-of-the-Year, was second on Trinity's team with a .343 batting average. He led the Tigers with 72 hits and 45 runs scored, as well as posting team highs of 15 doubles and seven home runs. A senior leader for the Tigers, Martin helped Trinity capture its 12th SCAC Championship and advance to the NCAA Div. III Playoffs for the 12th occasion.
Smith, the 2019 SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year, was named to the All-West Region Second Team after compiling a 7-2 record. In his sophomore season, Smith finished No. 13 in Div. III in strikeouts per nine innings with 12.48 and sixth in total strikeouts with 110, leading the SCAC in both categories.
Rounding out the SCAC All-West Region selections were Southwestern junior Byron Dowdell II and Trinity junior Rafe Chaumette who each earned third team accolades.
Dowdell II, the All-SCAC First Team designated hitter, designated finished the regular season tied for the league lead in home runs with nine and RBI (47) while batting .320 with a .547 slugging percentage, scoring 35 runs.
The 2019 season marks the eighth year that D3baseball.com has named All-Region teams, with more than 800 players nominated. The ballot was then made available to SIDs, who voted for a predetermined number of players in their region, as well as D3baseball.com staff and contributors.
For each of the eight regions, there is a regional player of the year (a batter), a pitcher of the year, a rookie of the year (must be a freshman) and a coach of the year.
To view the entire D3Baseball.com All-Region selections, click here.