LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Trinity University, which won or shared nine of the last 15 conference titles, and brought home the league’s first-ever national championship in the sport in 2016, was recognized with a league-high 12 honorees among the 32 impressive student-athletes selected to the Southern College Athletic Conference’s 30th Anniversary baseball team. Complete Release
Among current membership and following behind Trinity’s 12 selections was Centenary College with four honorees while Texas Lutheran University had three former student-athletes named to the squad. Austin College and Southwestern University had one selection each.
Millsaps College paced former league members with four selections and Birmingham-Southern College and Rhodes College had three honorees each. Centre College had one representative named to the all-anniversary team.
The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference announced 30th Anniversary teams in 19 sports throughout the 2020-21 academic year. The league selected 15th Anniversary teams during the 2005-06 academic year – those selections can be found here.
The SCAC's 30th Anniversary teams were selected by present coaches, administrators and/or conference office personnel. Athletes who participated in conference competition between the fall of 2005 through the spring of 2020 and had been named to at least two All-SCAC teams and/or were a selected as a Player-of-the-Year in their respective sport were eligible for selection.
SCAC BASEBALL – 30TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM
- Drew Butler, Trinity University – Catcher
- Bruce Maxwell, Birmingham Southern College – Catcher
- Chris Zapata, Centenary College – Catcher
- Evan Jones, Trinity University – First Baseman
- Eric Moore, Centre College – First Baseman
- Daniel Vanaman, Rhodes College – First Baseman
- Conner Moore, Trinity University – Second Baseman
- Brandon Ricco, Birmingham-Southern College – Second Baseman
- J.R. Bizzell, Rhodes College – Shortstop
- Christian Muscarello, Trinity University – Shortstop
- Garner Wetzel, Millsaps College – Shortstop
- Hunter Abrams, Millsaps College – Third Baseman
- Will Hawkins, Millsaps College – Third Baseman
- Brett Taff, Austin College – Third Baseman
- Will Cates, Southwestern University – Outfielder
- Tyler Cauley, Texas Lutheran University – Outfielder
- Rafe Chaumette, Trinity University – Outfielder
- Pat Hirschberg, Trinity University – Outfielder
- Drew Leachman, Birmingham-Southern College – Outfielder
- Hunter Owen, Millsaps College – Outfielder
- Riley Schaefer, Texas Lutheran University – Outfielder
- Michael Schimpf, Centenary College – Outfielder
- Jeremy Wolf, Trinity University – Outfielder
- Kyle Felix, Trinity University – Designated Hitter
- Evan Bronson, Trinity University – Pitcher
- Matthew Devillier, Centenary College – Pitcher
- Robert Flanagan, Rhodes College – Pitcher
- Ryan Gray, Trinity University – Pitcher
- Kaleb Kirk, Centenary College – Pitcher
- Ben Klimesh, Trinity University – Pitcher
- Ryan Lucero, Trinity University – Pitcher
- Nathan Malinovsky, Texas Lutheran University – Pitcher
Earning 30th anniversary recognition at catcher was Drew Butler of Trinity and the only two catchers in conference history to earn Player-of-the-Year honors – Bruce Maxwell of Birmingham-Southern and Chris Zapata of Centenary.
Butler was a three-time First Team all-SCAC selection, capping his career by earning tournament MVP honors at the 2016 NCAA Division III Baseball Championships when he led Trinity to the national championship by sweeping Keystone College in the final best-of-three series. He batted .378 in his three years in San Antonio, including a league-leading .398 in 2015, and was part of SCAC championship teams each of those seasons. He was named to the all-Tournament team at the conference championship as a junior and a senior.
Maxwell, the league’s 2012 Player-of-the-Year, led BSC to its first and only conference baseball title that same season when he hit .471 (the seventh-highest single-season batting average in league history) and led the nation with 15 home runs and 25 doubles, despite being walked a DIII-leading 59 times. His career .430 batting average is the second highest in league history as his 0.49 doubles per game (61 in 124 games). His 1.34 runs driven in per game (166 in 124 games) is the third highest in league history. A three-time all-SCAC First Team Selection and consensus First Team all-American in 2012, Maxwell was the named both D3baseball.com and ABCA Division III National Player-of-the-Year his junior season and was selected in the second round (62nd overall selection) of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Oakland Athletics. His selection represented the highest draft selection in SCAC history and the highest a Division III student-athlete had been selected since 2003.
Zapata earned all-conference honors each of his four years at Centenary, including his junior season in 2017 when he was named the league’s Player-of-the-Year after leading the Gents to both the SCAC regular season and tournament titles. He was a consensus First Team all-American that season, earning recognition from D3baseball.com and the ABCA as he led the SCAC in hits (70), doubles (17), home runs (12) and runs driven in (71), with the later total also leading all of NCAA Division III. Zapata was a three-time all-tournament selection and finished his career with 225 hits (tied for 19th all-time in the SCAC).
First basemen earning all-Anniversary recognition were Evan Jones of Trinity, Eric Moore of Centre, and Daniel Vanaman of Rhodes.
A three-time First Team all-SCAC selection, Jones culminated his career with SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors as a senior in 2010 as he led the league in batting average (.480 – the third-highest single-season batting average in league history), slugging percentage (.865), on-base percentage (.579), and runs batted in (67). He also earned d3baseball.com Second Team all-American recognition that season. A two-time all-tournament selection, Jones helped the Tigers to two conference titles and ended his career with 221 hits (23rd in SCAC history), 189 runs driven in (fifth all-time) and a .406 batting average (11th all-time).
Moore was a First Team all-conference selection at first base each of his four years in the league, one of just 16 baseball players in conference history to earn First Team all-conference accolades four times. Moore batted .413 over his career at Centre (the fifth-best mark in SCAC history) with 208 hits (33rd all-time). He never finished lower than eighth in batting in his four years in league, including a runner-up finish for the 2006 conference batting title when he finished with a .421 average. Moore cracked 50 doubles among his 69 career extra base hits.
Like Moore, Vanaman is one of 16 four-time First Team all-SCAC honorees, picking up recognition for his time at third base in 2005 and 2006 before moving to first in 2007 and 2008. A 2007 ABCA Second Team all-American, Vanaman finished his career with 241 hits (12th in SCAC history) and a batting average of .395 (19th in SCAC history) and led the league in batting in both 2006 (.433) and 2007 (.422) – making him one of just two players in league history to win multiple batting titles. As a senior, he led Rhodes to a 14-2 conference mark and the 2007 SCAC Eastern Division title – the program’s first-ever divisional baseball championship.
Two second basemen earned SCAC all-anniversary recognition: Connor Moore of Trinity and Brandon Ricco of Birmingham-Southern College.
Another four-time First Team honoree, Moore earned all-SCAC honors in 2013 and 2014 as a second baseman before moving to shortstop as a junior where he received two more First Team accolades. He finished his career with 239 hits (tied for 14th all-time in SCAC history) and 200 runs scored – making him one of just six players in league history to achieve the 200+ runs scored career milestone. His 92 career stolen bases is good for second all-time. Moore was a three-time all-Tournament selection as Trinity won the SCAC championship each of his four seasons, culminating with a National Championship his senior season in 2016.
BSC’s Ricco was a three-time First Team all-SCAC selection (2009-2011), helping guide the Panthers to Eastern Division conference titles each of those seasons. He finished his career with 213 hits (31st all-time in SCAC history), batting .399 for his career (17th in SCAC history). As a junior in 2010, Ricco hit a school-record .473 (sixth highest single-season average in SCAC history) with 15 doubles, 56 runs driven in and a league-leading 79 hits. He earned ABCA Second Team all-American honors as BSC finished the season ranked eighth in the nation.
Shortstops earning all-Anniversary recognition were J.R. Bizzell of Rhodes, Christian Muscarello of Trinity, and Garner Wetzel of Millsaps.
Bizzell piled up 233 hits over his four-year career at Rhodes (19th in SCAC history), earning First Team all-SCAC honors each of those seasons (2006-2009). Along with fellow 30th anniversary honorees Moore and Muscarello of Trinity, he is one of just four middle infielders in league history to amass four First Team all-conference accolades. His arrival in Memphis coincided with a revival of the Rhodes baseball program as the Lynx qualified for the SCAC tournament each of his four seasons, including for the first time ever his freshman season in 2006, and won the Eastern Division title in 2007 after posting a school-record 36 wins.
Another four-time all-SCAC First Team selection, Trinity’s Muscarello, who received all-conference nods each year from 2011 to 2014, is the only member of that elite group of 16 to earn all four of his accolades for his play at shortstop. The league’s Freshman-of-the-Year in 2011, Muscarello finished his career with 246 hits which is currently ninth on the league’s all-time list for that category. He led the SCAC in both hits and runs scored as a junior in 2013 with 68 and 52, respectively, when Trinity became just one of six teams in league history to post 40 or more wins in a season. A two-time all-Tournament selection, Muscarello played on three conference championship squads.
Millsaps’ Wetzel is one of just four players in conference history to earn multiple Player-of-the-Year honors, having taken the league’s top honor in both 2005 and 2006. He fell just short of winning the league’s triple crown in 2006, leading the SCAC in both home runs (14) and runs driven in (91) while batting .400, which was good for fourth in the conference. His 91 RBIs in 2006 remains the league’s single season record and his 180 career RBIs ranks 11th on the conference’s all-time list. A two-time all-Tournament selection on three SCAC championship winning teams, Wetzel was selected in the 10th round by the Colorado Rockies in the 2005 MLB Draft but chose to return to Millsaps after a torn ligament was discovered in his throwing elbow. He earned ABCA First Team all-American status as a senior and was drafted a second time – this time by the San Diego Padres in the 18th round.
Three third basemen earned SCAC all-anniversary recognition: Hunter Abrams and Will Hawkins, both of Millsaps, and Brett Taff of Austin College.
A three-time all-SCAC First Team selection (2006-08), Abrams finished his career with 240 hits (13th all-time in league history) – more career hits than any Millsaps College player during the institution’s time in the conference. He led the SCAC in total hits in 2006 with 85 (fifth-most in a SCAC single season) when the Majors won their second straight conference title and advanced to the NCAA Central Region title game. A three-time SCAC all-Tournament selection, Abrams’ career .361 batting average was fifth best in school history during the SCAC era.
Hawkins, a three-time First Team all-SCAC selection (2009-11) and the league’s Player-of-the-Year in 2009, was a two-sport star for Millsaps, also earning a slot on the SCAC 30th anniversary team as a linebacker and making him one of just three student-athletes (exempting cross country and track) to appear on two different teams (Mary Cardone of Southwestern was named to the all-anniversary teams for both soccer and tennis and Liz Bondi of DePauw was selected to the 15th anniversary team for tennis and the 30th anniversary team for basketball). Hawkins, who finished his career with 217 hits (27th all-time in SCAC history), batted .406 and led the conference in hits (73), doubles (17) and RBIs (67) during his POTY season.
A three-time all-SCAC selection from 2017 to 2019, including two First Team nods, Taff completed his career at Austin College with 139 hits and a .396 batting average (18th all-time in the SCAC), which included the program’s only individual batting title when he led the league in hitting with a .413 average as a senior in 2019. He was a First Team ABCA/Rawlings All-Region player that season – the only conference player to earn First Team accolades.
Nine outfielders were selected to the 30th anniversary squad, including seven former Players-of-the-Year: Drew Leachman of Birmingham-Southern, Hunter Owen of Millsaps, Will Cates of Southwestern University, Tyler Cauley and Riley Schaefer of Texas Lutheran and Jeremy Wolf and Pat Hirschberg of Trinity.
Leachman was a three-time First Team selection, earning SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors as a senior in 2011 when he batted a league-best .451 with 44 runs driven in and 60 runs scored. A decade after playing his last game, he remains ranked in the top 10 in the league in career hits (254; fifth-most in conference history), runs scored (211; third-most in conference history) and batting average (.411; sixth best in conference history). A 2011 First-Team all-American, Leachman became the SCAC's 10th MLB draft pick since 1987 when he was selected in the 37th round of the 2011 draft by the Minnesota Twins.
One of the most prolific power hitters in conference history, Owen, the two-time SCAC Player-of-the-Year (2007 and 2008), finished his career at Millsaps with 41 home runs (tied for second in SCAC history) among his 201 hits and 186 runs driven in (seventh in SCAC history). One of just four players to earn multiple POTY awards, Owen was a three-time all-SCAC First Team selection and received all-American accolades each of those seasons – earning ABCA First Team honors in 2007, Second Team in 2008 and Third Team in 2009 and Third Team honors from D3baseball.com in 2007, 2008 and 2009. He is one of just two players in league history – along with Southwestern’s Matt Gelotti (who was named to the 15th anniversary team) – to receive AA honors across three consecutive seasons.
One of the more athletic players to play in the SCAC, Southwestern’s Cates is one of just four players in conference history to finish in the top five in both home runs and stolen bases in two different seasons, accomplishing the feat in 2015 and 2016 which earned him First Team all-SCAC recognition. He hit 13 home runs and stole 59 bases across those two seasons, earning SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors in 2015 when he was also tabbed a D3baseball.com Honorable Mention all-American. His 17 career triples are tied for the third-most in league history and his 0.57 stolen bases per game career average (71 in 124 games) is the seventh best in conference history.
The league’s 2021 Player-of-the-Year and one of 16 players to earn First Team all-SCAC recognition four times, Cauley finished his career tied with Millsaps’ Owen for second on the league’s all-time home runs list with 41. He had 218 career hits (26th all-time in SCAC history) with 14 triples among those hits (ninth in SCAC history) and drove in 199 runs (fifth all-time in SCAC history). He led the league in both home runs and runs driving in twice during this career and finished second this past season in both categories with 13 and 48, respectively. Along with Southwestern’s Gelotti, he is one of just two players in SCAC history to win both multiple single-season home run and RBI titles in a career. Cauley was a Third Team all-American in 2018 when he helped lead the Bulldogs to the National Championship finals.
TLU’s Schaefer was the 2018 SCAC Player-of-the-Year and another key cog in the Bulldogs’ historic march to the National Championship final series where they finished as runner-up to UT-Tyler. He earned First Team D3baseball.com and Second Team ABCA/Rawlings all-American honors that season when he led the league and the nation in hits (95) and was either first or second in batting average (.413; second in the SCAC), runs scored (63; first) runs driven in (48; second), doubles (16; tied for second), home runs (8; second) and total bases (141; second). His 237 career hits rank 16th all-time in SCAC history, and he became just the second student-athlete in league history to earn the prestigious NCAA Elite 90 award when he received the honor at the 2018 NCAA Baseball Championships.
Wolf was a major part of Trinity’s 2016 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship squad and earned SCAC Player-of-the-Year as a run-up to that national title run. He hit .408 that season (fourth in the SCAC) and led the league in hits (82), runs batted in (70), doubles (28), home runs (11) and total bases (149). His 28 doubles led all of Division III and his career 72 two-baggers is just one off the conference mark in that category. Wolf is eighth on the league’s all-time hits list with 248. He capped his senior season with All-America First Team accolades from both the ABCA and D3baseball.com and was named the West Region Player of the Year by both associations. That summer, he was selected in the 31st round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by the New York Mets – becoming the 15th player in SCAC history to be drafted.
Trinity’s Hirschberg was the league’s Co-Player-of-the-Year in 2013 as he produced the only triple crown season in SCAC history – leading the conference in batting average (.385), home runs (nine) and runs driven in (54). He led the league in home runs in back-to-back seasons (2013 and 2014), becoming one of just five players in league history (and the most recent) to accomplish that feat. A two-time all-SCAC First Team and two-time all-Tournament selection, he played on two SCAC championship teams (2013 and 2014) and earned Second Team all-American honors from both D3baseball.com and ABCA following the 2013 season.
Rounding out the remaining outfielders who earned a slot on the exclusive team are Michael Schimpf of Centenary and Rafe Chaumette of Trinity.
Schimpf is one of just two players in league history to lead the conference in batting more than one season, posting SCAC-best averages in both 2016 (.425) and 2017 (.405). He was a four-time all-SCAC performer, earning First Team accolades in 2014, 2016 and 2017 and his 223 career hits ranks 23rd in SCAC history. Schimpf was selected a D3baseball.com Second Team all-American his senior season when he helped lead the Gents to the program’s first-ever SCAC baseball tournament title at the 2017 championships. Along with fellow 30th anniversary honoree and former teammate Chris Zapata, he is one of just two Centenary players to earn all-Tournament recognition three times in a career.
With the release of the 2021 all-SCAC team, Trinity’s Chaumette joined TLU’s Cauley as one of the 16 players to earn First Team recognition four times in their career. He led the league in batting in ’21, averaging a career-high .406, with a conference-high 67 hits. Chaumette became one of just seven players in league history to amass 250 or more hits when he notched No. 250 with his leadoff homer in the fifth inning of a May 7, 9-7, victory over Centenary. He finished his career ranked in the top five in both hits (265 – fourth) and triples (16 – tied for fifth) and added 46 doubles and 16 home runs with a .367 career batting average to go along with 163 runs scored and 162 runs driven in.
Earning the final offensive slot on the 30th anniversary squad is designated hitter Kyle Felix of Trinity. A four-time First Team all-SCAC selection (2008-2011), Felix posted 245 career hits – the 10th-most in league history – while batting .390 (23rd in SCAC history). He is one of just four players in league history with 200+ runs driven in, posting 201 for his career, and is also ranked on the SCAC career list in hits per game (1.49 – 10th), home runs per game (0.23 – seventh), RBIs per game (1.23 – eighth), doubles (63 – fourth) and doubles per game (0.41 – fifth). A two-time all-Tournament selection, Felix played on three Trinity conference championship teams, capping his career with Second Team all-American honors from both D3baseball.com and the ABCA following the 2011 season.
Eight pitchers were recognized as 30th anniversary honorees, including three who earned multiple Pitcher-of-the-Year awards during their career: Robert Flanagan of Rhodes, Ben Klimesh of Trinity, and Nathan Malinovsky of Texas Lutheran.
Flanagan became just the second pitcher in conference history to earn multiple Pitcher-of-the-Year honors – and the first to do it in back-to-back years – when he took home the league’s top prize in 2006 and 2007. He led the SCAC in wins both of those seasons (10 and 12) and became just the sixth pitcher (at the time) to record 100 or more strikeouts when he hit the century mark in 2007. He ended his career with a 30-17 record and 3.69 ERA for Rhodes – working 324.1 innings and striking out 277. His 30 wins are fifth all-time in league history and the 277 strikeouts are good for sixth. He was selected Third Team all-American following the 2007 season.
The 2011 and 2012 SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year, Klimesh was one of the more dominant pitchers in conference history, recording what remains a SCAC record 365 career strikeouts over 303.1 innings of work. He finished his four years at Trinity with a 31-12 mark (tied for third in SCAC history in wins) and a 3.53 ERA and a .218 opponents’ batting average. His 10.83 strikeouts per nine innings is third all-time on the conference career charts. He is the only pitcher in league history to lead the SCAC in strikeouts three consecutive seasons and the only pitcher to earn three all-Tournament selections. A consensus First Team all-American selection in 2012 when he led the nation with 13 victories, Klimesh was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 15th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft.
The league’s winningest pitcher with 33 career victories, TLU’s Malinovsky earned SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year honors in 2016 and 2018, becoming just the fourth hurler in conference history to garner multiple POTY accolades. In 2018, he posted 12 wins (which is tied for the third-most in a single season in league history) as he led the Bulldogs to the championship round of the NCAA Division III national tournament. Malinovsky finished his career with a 2.84 ERA (ninth best in SCAC history) in 371.0 innings, winning 33 games against just 13 losses. He struck out 348 batters (second in SCAC history) and allowed hitters just a .239 batting average against. He is a two-time all-American, earning Third Team honors from D3baseball.com in 2016 before achieving consensus First Team AA recognition following the 2018 season.
Other pitchers selected to the 30th anniversary team include: Matthew Devillier and Kaleb Kirk of Centenary, and Evan Bronson, Ryan Gray and Ryan Lucero of Trinity.
Centenary’s Devillier was named the 2017 SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year following a season where he posted an 11-1 mark (tying for the league lead in wins along with teammate Kaleb Kirk) as the Gents went on to claim the program’s first SCAC tournament championship. Despite having his senior season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Devillier finished his career with a 19-6 record, a 2.82 ERA (eighth in SCAC history) and struck out 176 batters in 223.2 innings of work. A two-time all-SCAC First Team selection, he allowed opponents to bat just .207 over his final two seasons on the mound for the Gents.
Kirk is Centenary’s all-time career leader in wins, accounting for 31 victories against just 12 losses from 2015 to 2018. The 31 wins is tied for the third-most in league history, and he led the league in that category in 2017 with 11 victories. That same season, he picked up the decision in the Gents’ conference title clinching victory over Trinity and the team’s only postseason win in the NCAA regional tournament. Kirk was a three-time all-SCAC starter, including First Team nods in 2016 and 2017, and posted a 2.75 ERA (seventh in SCAC history) over 314.1 innings while striking out 257 batters (10th in SCAC history).
A two-time all-SCAC First Team selection (2007 and 2008), Bronson went 21-11 with a 3.06 ERA (13th in SCAC history) and secured five saves in 57 appearances for Trinity. He worked 250.1 innings and struck out 271 batters (eighth in SCAC history) during his career, averaging 9.74 strikeouts per nine innings (fifth in SCAC history). One of only two players in league history to be drafted twice, Bronson was selected in the 36th round of the 2008 Major League Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers, but, after electing to return to Trinity for his senior season, was picked by the Washington Nationals in the 29th round in the following year’s amateur draft.
Trinity’s Gray was a three-time all-SCAC pitcher, receiving First Team recognition in both 2014 and 2015. He posted a 21-3 mark (.875 winning percentage) in his four years with the Tigers – the fourth-best winning percentage in league history among pitchers with 15 or more decisions. He is also fourth on the league’s all-time ERA chart, allowing just 55 earned runs over 200.0 innings for a career earned run average of 2.47. His strikeouts per nine innings rate of 9.40 is good for ninth all-time in SCAC history. Gray was named a D3baseball.com First Team all-American in 2015 when he held opponents to a .134 batting average – the lowest single-season number in conference history. He picked up a pair of wins during Trinity’s 2016 postseason run that ultimately ended with the program’s first national championship.
Lucero, the 2013 SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year, posted a 29-3 mark for his career, working 260.0 innings with 239 strikeouts and an earned run average of 2.35. His 29 wins are good for sixth on the SCAC’s all-time list and both the .906 winning percentage and the 2.35 ERA rank second on those respective all-time conference listings. Lucero led the league in opponents’ batting average in both 2012 and 2013 – the only pitcher in league history to lead that category in back-to-back seasons. The left-hander limited hitters to marks of .172 and .209, respectively, and earned all-America honors both seasons – taking Second Team D3baseball.com in 2012 and First Team honors from the same organization the following season.
The SCAC was formed in 1991 after a reorganization of its predecessor, the College Athletic Conference (CAC). The CAC dates to 1962 with four charter members: Centre College, Southwestern @ Memphis (now Rhodes College), Sewanee-The University of the South, and Washington & Lee (Va.) University. Washington (Mo.) University joined the CAC later that same year.
The SCAC was formed to provide an association through which the member institutions may encourage organized competition in intercollegiate sports among teams representative of their respective student bodies. Members of this conference share a commitment to priority of the overall quality of academic standards and quality educational experiences.
