SUWANEE, Ga. - Trinity senior catcher Kyle Felix was named the 2011 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Division III West Region Player of the Year the organization announced. Felix headlined the SCAC's 17 selections to the ABCA All-Region teams.
Felix earned West Region Player of the Year honors after helping to guide the Tigers to their second consecutive Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) championship and a berth in the NCAA Division III West Regional. Trinity finished the season with a 34-13 overall record.
He earned All-SCAC first team and SCAC All-Tournament team honors after he hit .365 with 14 home runs and 61 RBI's. Felix was a first-team All-West selection and was one of six Trinity Tigers to earn all-region honors and was the only West Region first-team selection.
Earning West Region second-team laurels include Trinity junior Nick Pappas (.351 average, eight home runs and 50 RBI's, 46 runs), senior Kevin Calbick (.407 average, five home runs, 28 RBI's, 41 runs), junior pitcher Ben Klimesh (10-2, 3.42 ERA, 103 strikeouts in 81 innings pitched) and Hendrix College junior Clark Sims (.316 average, 1 home run, 16 RBI's, 41 runs).
Rounding out the West third-team was Trinity senior outfielder Kevin Jackson (.351 average, 23 RBI's, 55 runs, 59 hits) and first-year shortstop Christian Muscarello (.333 average, one home run, 29 RBI's 43 runs, 59 hits). Muscarello was also named the 2011 SCAC Newcomer of the Year.
Birmingham-Southern College placed five players on the ABCA All-South region teams, led by three first-team selections. Senior catcher Sam Hill, senior outfielder Drew Leachman and senior pitcher Clay Malcolm were the Panthers' first-team selections.
Hill, who earned All-SCAC first-team honors as well, hit .396 with four home runs and 44 RBI's. Leachman, an All-SCAC first-team honoree and the 2011 SCAC Player of the Year, hit .451 with four home runs and 44 RBI's to go along with 60 runs scored. Malcolm earned first-team All-SCAC honors as well after finishing 8-0 with a 2.89 ERA with two complete games and 52 strikeouts in 65 1/3 innings of work.
All-South second-team selections included Birmingham-Southern first baseman Bruce Maxwell, Oglethorpe University outfielder Brendan Pilger and Rhodes College pitcher Hunter Chandler.
Maxwell hit .388 with eight home runs, 57 RBI's and 18 doubles. Pilger hit .325 with 12 home runs, 50 RBI's, 12 doubles and scored 43 runs. Chandler, who pitched 10 2/3 innings in relief and gave up just one earned run in Rhodes' 8-7 21 inning win over Oglethorpe in the SCAC tournament, finished the season 5-2 with a 1.48 ERA, five saves and struck out 48 in 61 innings pitched.
Oglethorpe senior shortstop Matt Cornwell, Sewanee: University of the South senior outfielde Joe Reilly and Birmingham-Southern senior pitcher Clay Jones all earned third-team All-South laurels.
Cornwell hit .345 with 26 RBI's, 57 hits and 43 runs scored. He also struck out 42 batters in 40 2/3 innings of work while averaging 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Reilly hit .425 with one home run, 21 RBI's, 10 doubles and 35 runs scored for the Sewanee Tigers. Jones finished the season 3-0 with a 2.30 ERA in 17 appearances. He tallied six saves while stirking out 37 in 27 1/3 innings of work while averaging 12. strikeouts per nine innings pitched.
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