SEWANEE, Ga. - Garner Wetzel of Millsaps College was named the league's Offensive Player-of-the-Year and Brock Hewitt of Trinity University was selected the Pitcher-of-the-Year in exclusive 2005 all-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) voting by the conference's head coaches. In that same balloting, Millsaps head coach Jim Page was named the SCAC Coach-of-the-Year - the sixth time that the Majors' skipper has received the honor - more than any other baseball coach in conference history.
Wetzel, a junior shortstop from Gulfport, Miss., and two-time all-SCAC selection, hit .422 this season (second in the SCAC) and slugged a league-best .773. He also led the SCAC in home runs (12) and walks (34) and finished in the top five in the league in on-base percentage (.531 - third), runs scored (47 - tied for third), hits (65 - tied for second), runs batted in (51 - second) and total bases (119 - second).
At the 2005 Baseball Championships, Wetzel hit .600 (9-15) with two home runs, three doubles, five RBI and five runs scored to lead the Majors to the title. Wetzel is the seventh Millsaps baseball player to earn SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year honors - the most such awards for any SCAC program.
Hewitt, a sophomore right-hander from Boerne, Texas, was selected as SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year - the sixth second-year hurler to receive the honor. Hewitt finished the regular season with seven wins (tied for second in the SCAC) against just one loss and posted an ERA of 2.30 (second in the SCAC). He appeared in 12 games, threw 54.2 innings, struck out a 54 batters (tied for sixth in the SCAC) and allowed opposing hitters a .215 batting average (second in the SCAC). Hewitt is the second consecutive SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year from Trinity, third in the last four years and fourth total for the program.
Millsaps head coach Jim Page, in his 17th season as the Majors' skipper, was named the SCAC Coach-of-the-Year for a record sixth time. Page led his squad to a 13-7 Western Division mark, 29-15 overall record, and the SCAC tournament championship. Page, who is just two wins short of 400 for his career with a 398-252-1 career record, has led the Majors to seven Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference titles and four trips to the NCAA Division III National Championships - including this year's NCAA tournament-bound team. At the 2005 Spring Sports Festival, Millsaps became just the second school since the tournament field expanded to six teams in 1999 to sweep through the SCAC Baseball Championships undefeated.
2005 SCAC Player-of-the-Year
Garner Wetzel Millsaps College Junior SS Gulfport, Miss.
2005 SCAC Pitcher-of-the-Year
Brock Hewitt Trinity University Sophomore SP Boerne, Texas
2005 SCAC Coach-of-the-Year
Jim Page Millsaps College 29-15 Overall / SCAC Tournament Champions
2005 All-SCAC Baseball Team
Catchers
Adrian Norris DePauw University Junior Crawfordsville, Ind.
&Will Paton Southwestern University Sophomore Houston, Texas
First Basemen
Ryan Bellomy Southwestern University Sophomore Dallas, Texas
&Eric Moore Centre College Sophomore Bowling Green, Ky.
Second Basemen
&\#\$Ryan Sipe DePauw University Senior Indianapolis, Ind.
&\#\$Lane Shackleton Sewanee-Univ. of the South Senior Atlanta, Ga.
Ben Jeffers Centre College First-Year New Albany, Ohio
Shortstops
&Garner Wetzel Millsaps College Junior Gulfport, Miss.
Josh Nash Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. Junior Elizabethtown, Ky.
Third Basemen
&Matt Deahl DePauw University Junior Indianapolis, Ind.
Blake Holman Trinity University Sophomore Austin, Texas
&\#Brad Sims Oglethorpe University Senior Alpharetta, Ga.
Daniel Vanaman Rhodes College First-Year Cordova, Tenn.
Outfielders
&Jason Hadley Millsaps College Sophomore Perdido, Ala.
&Matt Salisbury Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. Sophomore Fort Wayne, Ind.
&Ryan Skertich Millsaps College Senior River Ridge, La.
&Tim Ernst Oglethorpe University Sophomore Atlanta, Ga.
Brad Jones Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. Senior Jeffersonville, Ind.
&\#Patric Mascorro Southwestern University Senior Houston, Texas
&\#Matt Odom Southwestern University Senior Westfield, Texas
Designated Hitters
Teddy Kreder Southwestern University First-Year Grapevine, Texas
\#Shawn Smith Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. Senior Wabash, Ind.
Pitchers
\#+Doug Garner Millsaps College Senior Mobile, Ala.
Brock Hewitt Trinity University Sophomore Boerne, Texas
\$Joe Brown Trinity University Senior Friendswood, Texas
Todd Kindler Millsaps College Junior DeRidder, La.
&\#P.J. Mitchell DePauw University Junior Clarendon Hills, Ill.
&Mark Alson DePauw University Senior Rensselaer, Ind.
Rob Elling Millsaps College Senior Dallas, Texas
&Nathan Soyer Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech. Senior Norwalk, Iowa
&Jordan Wooley Hendrix College Sophomore Argyle, Texas
& 2004 All-SCAC | \# 2003 All-SCAC | \$ 2002 All-SCAC | + 2001 All-SCAC
Honorable Mention
Centre - Chris Bennett (OF), Mike Pangallo (SS); DePauw - Kyle Dobbs (OF), Chris Newman (OF), John Tschantz (P); Hendrix - Brian Narjes (SS); Millsaps - Derrik Boland (DH), Ben Wilson (1B); Oglethorpe - Anthony Sabala (C); Rhodes - Matt Beesley (C); Rose-Hulman - Matt Pepelea (OF); Sewanee - Casey Cook (C), Matt Woods (P); Southwestern - Luke Crum (2B), Clint DeCuir (3B), Andy Morrison (P), Travis Sartain (P); Trinity - Russell Madison (2B), Nick Vera (1B)
