COLUMBIA, Tenn. — The Tennessee Community College Athletic Association announced its annual baseball awards Monday afternoon at the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Baseball Tournament at Columbia State, and regular season champion Walters State was well represented.
The Senators had five players named to the All-TCCAA Team, with all collecting First Team accolades, while sophomore pitcher Alex Haynes was named the league's Pitcher of the Year and sixth-year head coach Dave Shelton took home the league's Coach of the Year award for the second straight year and third time overall.
During his six seasons as head coach of the Senators, Shelton has guided the program to a 297-75 record, including a 46-9 mark this season and the No. 4 ranking in the nation. Walters State was ranked as high as No. 1 in the country for several weeks this season.
In TCCAA play, the Senators were 20-4 this season, and they have gone 19 straight weekends in conference play without losing a series dating back to late April 2017. During his six seasons, Shelton has led the Senators to a 125-30 record in league action, including 44-7 the last two seasons.
Haynes was named the league's top pitcher after a sparkling sophomore campaign. The Knoxville native racked up a 9-2 record with a minuscule 1.21 earned run average, and his two losses were both complete-game efforts on the road in a 2-1 loss to two-time defending national champion and then No. 1 ranked Chipola and a 1-0 loss at Georgia Highlands. In those two losses, he surrendered just one earned run on eight hits while striking out eight in 12 innings.
Haynes did not allow more than three runs in a game this season, and in his last nine starts, eight of which came in TCCAA play, he has allowed just four earned runs in 46 innings pitched. For the year, he has scattered 35 hits in 67 innings, allowing 12 runs (nine earned) while fanning 90 batters and walking just 21. He has tossed six complete games, including a shutout of Motlow State with 14 strikeouts in his last start to sew up the regular season TCCAA title.
Named to the All-TCCAA First Team from Walters State were first baseman Brayden Combs, second baseman Jerry Hammons, outfielder Braydon Runion, designated hitter Bryce Hodge and starting pitcher Corey Stone.
Joining Combs and Hammons on the First Team infield were Dyersburg State's Drew Reckart at third base and Fitzgerald at shortstop. Joining Runion in the outfield were Chattanooga State's Sean Cheely, Dyersburg State's Evan Gilliam and Roane State's Theron Powell, while Columbia State's Alex Carignan was the catcher and Motlow State's Dallas Bryan was the top reliever. Joining Stone as starting pitchers were Motlow State's Kobe Foster and Chattanooga State's Landon Walker.
Combs led the Senators in home runs with 13 and RBIs with 72 entering the postseason, while batting .387 for the season. He had 63 hits, including 15 doubles, while scoring 53 runs and posting a .487 on-base percentage and scoring 53 runs.
Hammons tied for second on the team in home runs with 11, while driving in 47 runs, smacking a team-high 73 hits, scoring 67 runs and roping a team-best 18 doubles on the year. He batted .401 and his on-base percentage was .458 for the year while also stealing nine bases.
Runion was second on the team in batting average at .412, collecting 49 hits, nine home runs, 10 doubles and a triple and driving in 37 runs. His .530 on-base percentage was tops on the team, and he scored 41 runs.
Hodge tied Hammons for second in homers with 11, while driving in 59 runs, batting. 405 for the season and posting a .474 on-base percentage. He scored 49 times, had 68 hits, which included 14 doubles.
Stone put together an 8-2 worksheet with a 2.04 ERA, tossing 61 2/3 innings and allowing 26 runs (14 earned) on 42 hits while fanning 51 batters and walking 16 in starts. He had one complete-game this season.
The Second Team consisted of Motlow State's Sam Stohr at first base, Chattanooga State's Ty Delancey at second base, Chattanooga State's Bass Cooper at third base, Jackson State's D.J. Wright at shortstop, Cleveland State's Tucker Mendenhall and Lance Dockery and Dyersburg State's Christian Martin in the outfield, Chattanooga State's Jacob Holton as the designated hitter, Volunteer State's Zeke Lecomte behind the plate, Dyersburg State's Jonathan Alexander, Motlow State's Logan Walters and Volunteer State's Cory Wilson as starting pitchers and Roane State's Nate Payne as the relief pitcher.