Big South Announces 2022 Baseball Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Campbell infielder
Zach Neto (Miami, Fla.) and teammate hurler
Thomas Harrington (Sanford, N.C.) have been voted the 2022 Big South Baseball Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively, by the league’s head coaches, it was announced this afternoon. In addition, Camels’ head coach
Justin Haire was voted Coach of the Year, while USC Upstate’s
Noah Sullivan (Orlando, Fla.) was selected Big South Freshman of the Year. Harrington was also voted Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the Big South’s sports information directors.
Neto is the first back-to-back Big South Player of the Year honoree since
Mike Costanzo in 2004 and 2005. He finished the 2022 regular-season as the Big South’s leading hitter with a .394 batting average, and was tops with 19 doubles, a .502 on-base percentage, a .776 slugging clip and a 1.278 OPS. Neto also ranks among the league’s top five in runs (56 – 4th), hits (67 – 5th), home runs (14 – T-3rd) and total bases (132 – 2nd). He is currently on a 26-game hit streak and has reached base safely in 44 of 45 games played this season. Neto posted 20 multi-hit games -- including six 3-hit efforts, along with 11 multi-RBI games (three games with four). He also made three pitching appearances this season, recording two saves and a win. A three-time Big South Player of the Week honoree this season, Neto batted .423 with six home runs, 20 RBI, a .817 slugging percentage, .527 on-base average and was 11-11 in stolen bases in 17 Big South games. He received 10 first-place votes and 31 points repeating as Big South Player of the Year, ahead of UNC Asheville’s
Dominic Freeberger (10 points).
Harrington is the third Camel in four seasons to be voted Pitcher of the Year. He concluded the regular-season with an 11-1 record -- the national win leader and the league’s only 10-game winner, and was the conference leader with a 1.72 earned run average and 12.06 strikeouts per 9.0 innings. Harrington is second with 105 strikeouts and a .189 opponents’ batting average, and has allowed just 53 hits in 78.1 innings pitched. A five-time Big South Pitcher of the Week honoree this season, he was a perfect 7-0 in Big South play with 59 strikeouts and a 2.18 ERA in 45.1 innings. Named a Semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, Harrington ranks in the top 10 in the country in ERA and WHIP (0.87), and has pitched at least six innings in every start (with one exception due to weather delay). In the classroom, Harrington owns a 3.814 GPA studying Kinesiology Pre-Physical Therapy and was recently named a CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 selection. Harrington received nine first-place votes and 31 points in the Pitcher of the Year voting, ahead of UNC Asheville starter
Jacob Edwards (two first-place votes and 22 points).
Haire is now a three-time Big South Coach of the Year recipient after leading the Camels to their fourth consecutive Big South regular-season championship. Campbell finished first in the conference with a 20-3 record, and is 36-16 overall. The Camels enter this week’s Ingles Big South Baseball Championship as the league leader in on-base average (.407), slugging (.549), runs scored (462), doubles (106), home runs (105), RBI (423) and stolen bases (118), while ranking second with a .298 batting average. Campbell’s pitching staff is also first in ERA (4.56), lowest batting average allowed (.234), strikeouts (501), saves (18), fewest home runs allowed (36) and fewest hits allowed (408). Campbell scored 10+ runs in a game 19 times this season, had a 12-game win streak, batted .352 and hit 69 home runs in the Big South season, and finished the year with a 28-6 record ( =82.3 winning percentage) after an 8-10 start. Haire received seven first-place votes and 26 points in the Coach of the Year voting, ahead of UNC Asheville’s
Scott Friedholm (18 points, four first-place votes).
Sullivan is USC Upstate’s first Big South Freshman of the Year honoree since the Spartans became Big South members in 2019. A two-way threat for the Spartans, Sullivan enters the postseason ranked third in the Big South in HBP (18) and sixth in hits (65) at the plate, as well as sixth in the league in pitching victories (six). He’s hitting .307 (65-for-212) on the year with 13 extra-base hits (nine doubles, a triple, and three homers) while driving in 40 runs and scoring 41 runs. Sullivan led all Big South freshmen in hits (65), RBI (40), and pitching victories (six), and owns 23 multi-hit games and nine multi-RBI games. He crafted the second-longest reached base streak in the conference at 34 games this season. On the mound, Sullivan owns a 6-0 record with a 3.46 ERA in eight appearances, making four starts. He picked up a win in each of his first three career appearances, all in relief, and won each of his last three starts to close the season, earning a quality start against UNC Asheville on May 13. He received two Big South Freshman of the Week plaudits (March 7 and April 18) and one Big South Starting Pitcher of the Week nod (May 16). Sullivan received three first-place votes and 17 points in the Freshman of the Year voting, ahead of UNC Asheville’s
Robbie Burnett (one first-place vote and 11 points) and Charleston Southern’s
Ryan Waldschmidt (two first-place votes and 11 points).
The Conference also announced the 2022 All-Conference, All-Freshman and All-Academic teams on Tuesday afternoon, which are listed below. The All-Conference and All-Freshman teams are voted by the head coaches, while the All-Academic Team consists of one student-athlete from each institution that meets the criteria and is nominated and selected by the league’s sports information directors.
2022 BIG SOUTH CONFERENCE BASEBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
FIRST-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OF Noah Myers, Sr., USC Upstate
OF Tyler Halstead, R-Jr., Campbell
OF Noah Rabon, Soph., USC Upstate
INF Zach Neto, R-Soph., Campbell
INF Drake Pierson, R-Jr., Campbell
INF Jarrod Belbin, R-Jr., Campbell
INF Eric Toth, Sr., Presbyterian (tie)
INF Hunter Gilliam, R-Jr., Longwood (tie)
C Ty Babin, R-Sr., Campbell
UTL Dominic Freeberger, Sr., UNC Asheville
DH Connor Denning, R-Sr., Campbell
SP Thomas Harrington, Soph., Campbell
SP Jacob Edwards, Sr., UNC Asheville
SP Sam Garcia, Soph., High Point
RP Ryan Chasse, R-Jr., Campbell
RP Justin Honeycutt, Soph., UNC Asheville
SECOND-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
OF Hayden Harris, Soph., Charleston Southern
OF Curtis Robison, Gr., Gardner-Webb
OF Logan Jordan, R-Soph., Campbell
INF Eliot Dix, R-Soph., Longwood
INF Ty Dooley, Fr., Radford
INF Alec Burns, Jr., Gardner-Webb
INF Dillon Morton, Sr., Winthrop
C Devin Buckner, Sr., USC Upstate
UTL Dalton Reeves, Soph., Presbyterian College
DH Noah Sullivan, Fr., USC Upstate
SP Joe Simeone, Gr., Gardner-Webb
SP Cade Kuehler, Soph., Campbell
SP Duncan Howard, Soph., Presbyterian College
RP Ty Cummings, Soph., Campbell
RP Sean Duffy, Soph., High Point
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-CONFERENCE
Michael Peterson, OF, R-Jr., Longwood
Adam Stuart, INF, R-Soph., High Point
Jacob Marcos, OF, Jr., Gardner-Webb
Robbie Burnett, INF, Fr., UNC Asheville
Khyree Miller, OF, Soph., Winthrop (tie)
Canyon Brown, C, Fr., North Carolina A&T (tie)
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Noah Sullivan, DH/P, USC Upstate
Ty Dooley, INF, Radford
Ryan Waldschmidt, 3B/OF, Charleston Southern
Canyon Brown, C, North Carolina A&T
Robbie Burnett, INF, UNC Asheville
Everett Vaughan, RP, High Point
Cameron Pittman, OF, Radford
ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Thomas Harrington, P, Soph., Campbell
Krishna Raj, P, Jr., Charleston Southern
AJ Jones, 2B, Soph., Gardner-Webb
Adam Stuart, INF, R-Soph., High Point
Andrew Potojecki, P, R-Soph., Longwood
Daniel Carter, P, Jr., North Carolina A&T
Kyle Decker, OF, Sr., Presbyterian College
Peyton Reesman, P, Gr., Radford
Blake Little, P, Jr., UNC Asheville
Jacob Curry, P, Sr., USC Upstate
Jonathan Strauss, OF, Jr., Winthrop
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Zach Neto, R-Soph., Campbell
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Thomas Harrington, Soph., Campbell
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Noah Sullivan, DH/P, USC Upstate
COACH OF THE YEAR
Justin Haire, Campbell
SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Thomas Harrington, P, Soph., Campbell