LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- The American Baseball Coaches' Association (ABCA) released the 2017 All-Region teams Tuesday and 10 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) student-athletes were recognized.
After a historic season, Centenary placed seven on the teams, while Trinity University had two players recognized. Southwestern University rounded out the honorees with one.
Centenary's Chris Zapata earned first team honors for the second All-Region team of the spring, after being named to the D3Baseball.com First team.
Zapata, a catcher from Saratoga, Calif., dominated the SCAC offensively, leading the conference in total hits (70), doubles (17), home runs (12), runs batted in (71) and slugging percentage (.732).
Six players earned second team honors, led by three from Centenary. The Gents' honorees are Michael Schimpf, Aaron Quintanilla and Kaleb Kirk. Trinity's Walters and Tate were also on the second team, joined by Southwestern's Ben Little.
Schimpf, an outfielder from Shreveport, La., finished the season with a league-leading .405 batting average, totaling 60 hits, 12 doubles, four triples, four home runs, as well as 47 RBI. His on base percentage of .547 led the conference.
Kirk, a starting pitcher from Nacogdoches, Texas, led the team with 95.1 innings pitched, striking out 90 batters on the season and posting an earned run average of 2.83.
Quintanilla, a short stop from Houston, Texas, led the conference with 56 runs, while tallying 55 hits. Those included 12 doubles, five triples and five home runs. He finished with a batting average of .320 for the season and a slugging percentage of .535.
Walters, a designated hitter from Tomball, Texas, held a .400 batting average which was second among SCAC players. He totaled 45 runs, 64 hits, and 30 RBI. He also had 23 extra base hits for the season.a
Tate, a relief pitcher from Chandler, Ariz., posted a 5-3 record with three saves in 2017. He recorded an ERA of 1.73 in 52.0 innings. He also averaged 13.5 strikesouts per nine innings, totaling 78 for the season.
Little, a utilityman from Bellaire, also was an honorable mention All-SCAC selection last month. He led the Pirates with a .364 batting average (64 for 176) with eight doubles, seven triples, four home runs and 32 RBIs. Little also slugged .557, scored 33 runs and stole seven bases.
Third team featured Centenary's Cody Crowder, Cole Lavergne and Matthew Devillier.
Crowder, a designated hitter from Shepherd, Texas, hit .382 in his first collegiate season, recording 65 hits and scoring 45 runs. He also drove in 41 RBI.
Lavergne, a utility player from Sulpher, La., dominated both at the plate and on the mound for the Gents. He hit .305 for the season with 37 runs and 29 RBI. He also recorded a conference high of eight saves for the season, while also tallying 54 strikeouts in 60.1 innings pitched. He finished with a 4-2 record in 20 appearances.
Devillier is also a starting pitcher and previously earned the SCAC Pitcher of the Year award. The Lake Charles, La. native posted an 11-1 record for the season. He recorded a 2.98 ERA and struck out 59 in 87.2 innings.
