AUGUSTA, GA – The Peach Belt Conference has announced the
11-member baseball preseason All-Conference team from the league
office in Augusta. The team was selected by the conference head
coaches and features players from eight of the 12 baseball-playing
schools in the Peach Belt. North Georgia leads the way with three
honorees while UNC Pembroke has two.
UNC Pembroke’s Seth Kivett is the preseason choice at first
base. A senior from Bear Creek, N.C., he was named first-team
All-Conference and All-Region last year after hitting a
school-record 16 home runs. Kivett hit .343 with 50 RBIs and 27
extra-base hits for the Braves and was also received a Rawlings
Gold Glove for his defensive work.
Andre Airich was named first-team All-Conference at second base
last season. A senior from Roswell, Ga., he hit .386 with 10 homers
and 63 RBIs. He was ranked in the PBC top 10 in hits, runs scored,
RBIs, total bases, doubles and slugging percentage. Airich had
multiple hits in 28 games last season and was second in the PBC
with 20 doubles.
Jordan Erisman hit .326 as a true freshman for North Georgia last
season. Returning for his sophomore year, the Lawrenceville, Ga.,
native had nine home runs and 36 RBIs while starting all 58 games
for the Saints. He had seven games with three hits or more and held
a 15-game hitting streak during the season.
Francis Marion shortstop Barrett Kleinknecht was named the 2009 PBC
Tournament MVP, first-team All-Conference and All-Region. The
senior from Florence had a monster year for the Patriots, hitting
.372 with nine home runs and 64 RBIs. Kleinknecht finished fifth in
the PBC in RBIs and sixth in total bases.
Daniel Pettiti established himself as one of the top defensive
catchers in the country last year and also brought some power with
his bat. The senior from Roswell, Ga., received a Rawlings Gold
Glove award after committing only three errors for a .992 fielding
percentage. He also hit .258with six home runs, seven doubles and
31 RBIs.
Bud Lanier was named second-team All-Conference in the outfield for
Lander in 2009. Back for his senior year, the Rocky Point, N.C.,
native was ranked in the PBC top 12 in batting average at .379,
slugging percentage (.604) and home runs (10). He was also ranked
third in the conference with a .992 fielding percentage.
Columbus State’s Alex Montes was ranked sixth in the PBC in
2009 with a .389 batting average from the leadoff spot. Named
second-team All-Conference in the outfield, the senior from Phenix
City, Ala., led the team with 45 runs scored and was second with 33
RBIs. He struck out just 13 times in 211 at-bats.
Alex Wyche was named first-team All-Conference in the outfield for
Armstrong Atlantic State in 2009. He also received All-Region
honors from the ABCA and Daktronics after hitting .398, fourth-best
in the PBC. The senior from Macon, Ga., led the Pirates with 58
RBIs and was the conference leader with seven triples.
Travis Howard was named a first-team All-American for USC Aiken
after tying the PBC single-season record for RBIs with 103 last
year. A senior from Bonneau, S.C., Howard led the nation in RBIs
and was ranked in the PBC top 10 in 10 different categories. He hit
.384 with 19 home runs and a .694 slugging percentage.
Matt McGovern was a second-team All-American after being named the
PBC Pitcher of the Year in 2009. The senior from Ottowa, Ontario,
was 9-0 for the Braves with a 2.63 ERA in 75.1 innings pitched. He
tossed two complete games, including a shutout, while holding
opponents to a .260 batting average with 59 strikeouts.
Martin Dewald set a school record with 14 saves as the GCSU closer
in 2009, the third-highest single-season save amount in PBC
history. A senior from Mannheim, Germany, Dewald was named
first-team All-Conference with a league-best 30 appearances, going
5-3 with a 4.20 ERA. He had 11.7 strikeouts per nine innings.
2010 Peach Belt Baseball
Preseason All-Conference Team
1b – Seth Kivett, UNC
Pembroke
2b – Andre Airich, North Georgia
3b – Jordan Erisman, North Georgia
SS – Barret Kleinknecht, Francis Marion
C – Daniel Pettiti, North Georgia
OF – Bud Lanier, Lander
OF – Alex Montes, Columbus State
OF – Alex Wyche, Armstrong Atlantic State
DH – Travis Howard, USC Aiken
SP – Matt McGovern, UNC Pembroke
RP – Martin Dewald, GCSU
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