Bluefield College Athletics issued the following announcement on July 7
Bluefield College baseball players David Meech and Ozzie Millet were named to the 2021 Virginia Sports Information (VaSID) College Division All-State Baseball Second Team.
Meech, a sophomore from Douglas, Mass., led the Rams in batting in 2021 with a .398 average. He had five home runs and 33 RBIs. Millet, a senior from Miami, Fla, batted .328 with 11 doubles and 40 RBIs. Both Meech and Millet were first team Appalachian Athletic Conference.
Three of the four major awards were dispersed to Lynchburg Hornets and 11 players were recognized All-State selections between the University of Lynchburg and Shenandoah University as the two ODAC programs highlighted the College Division All-State Baseball Team. Lynchburg right-hander Brandon Pond was named Pitcher of the Year and his head coach Lucas Jones was tabbed Coach of the Year while Shenandoah second baseman Colby Martin garnered Player of the Year accolades.
Rounding out the major award winners was Christopher Newport University utility man Jay Cassady collecting Rookie of the Year plaudits after a successful year playing both first base and pitching for the Captains.
Lynchburg established a season-high with six overall All-State selections while Marymount, Randolph-Macon and Shenandoah each collected five picks between the first and second teams. For the second consecutive year, Lynchburg featured the most first team picks with five selected in 2021.
Pond's selection as State Pitcher of the Year ended a three-game run by R-MC arms winning the award. This year, Pond was tabbed ODAC Pitcher of the Year and first team All-Conference before also being selected an ABCA first team All-Region honoree. He tied the Division III lead with 15 starts and pitched to a 9-4 overall record with a 2.81 ERA. Pond led the conference and ranked among the nation's elite with 90 strikeouts over the 2021 season.
Earning Player of the Year plaudits in his first year in the Commonwealth, Martin enjoyed a breakout season for the nationally-ranked Shenandoah Hornets. For his efforts, the ODAC Player of the Year was named a first team All-American by both D3baseball.com and the ABCA while also earning South Region Player of the Year honors for both organizations. Martin ranked fourth nationally with a .482 average while rapping 82 hits on the season, ranking third overall. His 60 runs scored ranked ninth while he added 55 RBI, also ranking in the top-15 nationally. On top of ranking fourth nationally in total bases with 134, the sophomore swiped 25 bases to lead the conference and rank 16th in the country.
Leading the way for Christopher Newport, freshman Jay Cassady put together one of the finest rookie campaigns in program history. Offensively, Cassady led the team in nearly every statistical category with a .358 average, four home runs, 12 doubles, and 17 extra-base hits. He ranked second on the team in RBI with 29 and reached base in 20 straight games to close out his first collegiate campaign. On the mound, Cassady earned his first career win against nationally-ranked N.C. Wesleyan and struck out 50 in 44.2 innings of work. The Captain was named a third team ABCA All-Region selection and was tagged the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year.
Lynchburg head coach Lucas Jones earns his first career VaSID Coach of the Year recognition after guiding the Hornets to the team's first conference championship since 2012. Lynchburg posted a program-record 36 wins and led Division III in walks and sacrifice flies while ranking in the top ten in runs, hits, doubles and triples. Jones was named the ODAC Coach of the Year after guiding Lynchburg to a program-record 18 wins in conference play.
VaSID names 44 all-state teams in 23 sports each year, as well as an Academic All-State squad and an all-sports champion in both the University and College Divisions. Membership in VaSID is open to all media relations professionals working at a university or conference in the state of Virginia.
2021 VaSID All-State Baseball College Division Awards
Player of the Year
Colby Martin (2B) – Shenandoah University
Pitcher of the Year
Brandon Pond (RHP) – University of Lynchburg
Rookie of the Year
Jay Cassady (UTIL) – Christopher Newport University
Coach of the Year
Lucas Jones – University of Lynchburg
First Team
SP – Matt Nickles (Randolph-Macon College)
SP – Brandon Pond (University of Lynchburg)
SP – Zack Potts (University of Lynchburg)
RP – Jake Andrews (Marymount University)
RP – Grayson Thurman (University of Lynchburg)
C – Jacob Selden (Randolph-Macon College)
1B – Keegan Woolford (Shenandoah University)
1B – Reece Yeargain (Randolph-Macon College)
2B – Colby Martin (Shenandoah University)
3B – Pearce Bucher (Shenandoah University)
SS – Alex Lemery (Marymount University)
OF – Josh Greenway (Ferrum College)
OF – Jaylon Lee (Eastern Mennonite University)
OF – Avery Neaves (University of Lynchburg)
DH – Carter Plunkett (Roanoke College)
UTIL – Kinston Carson (University of Lynchburg)
Second Team
SP – Ryan Bergenhagen (Marymount University)
SP – Tad Dean (Shenandoah University)
SP – Josh Husby (Christopher Newport University)
SP – Will Turner (Roanoke College)
RP – William Flanagan (Bridgewater College)
RP – Clint Wheeler (Marymount University)
C – James DiGiulian (Marymount University)
1B – Garrett Jackson (University of Lynchburg)
2B – Chapin Bassi (Washington & Lee University)
3B – Ozzie Millet (Bluefield College)
SS – Frankie Ritter (Shenandoah University)
OF – Ethan Iannuzzi (Randolph-Macon College)
OF – David Lambertson (University of Mary Washington)
OF – David Meech (Bluefield College)
DH – Chandler Kezele (Emory & Henry College)
UTIL – Jay Cassady (Christopher Newport University)
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up