Wolves baseball collects SAC honors

ROCK HILL — Redshirt junior Braylin Marine (Freeport, N.Y.) was named the 2022 South Atlantic Conference (SAC) Player of the Year on April 27, while six other members of the Newberry College baseball team were named to the All-Conference squad as announced by the league. Four of those student athletes were also named to the All-Defensive team.

Marine was one of the top offensive threats in the SAC this season. He finished the regular season as the league leader in batting average (.437), hits (87), doubles (20), triples (6), and RBIs (72). He is second in the conference in total bases (125) and stolen bases (33), while being ranked in the top-10 in on-base percentage (.471) and slugging percentage (.628). In addition to being named Player of the Year, Marine was a first team All-SAC selection at shortstop and was named to the All-Defensive Team.

“Player of the Year is a tremendous accomplishment for Braylin and for our program,” said Head Coach Russell Triplett. “No one deserves this award more than him and it is a true testament to the work he has put in. He is a special player and an even better person.”

Joining him on the First Team was sophomore first baseman Henry Gibson (Walterboro) and senior outfielder Zane Tarrance (Odessa, Fla.). Gibson was ranked second on the team and in the conference in batting average, posting a .423 on the year. He also led the team in slugging percentage with a .635 while knocking in 44 runs.

Tarrance currently ranks second in the league in runs scored while leading the country in sacrifice bunts with 19. He also leads the league and team in stolen bases with 34, third in the country. He also had the second highest on-base percentage in the league with a .486. He was also named to the All-Defensive team.

Sophomore outfielder Jacob Lebron (Lexington) was joined by three freshmen in second baseman Jomar Lugo (San Sebastian, Puerto Rico), third baseman Jonathan Velez (Mayaguez, Puerto Rico) and starting pitcher Ethan Lebron (Lexington) on the Third Team to round out the honorees for the Wolves.

Jacob Lebron had a fantastic year at the plate, batting .362 on the season while tallying 37 RBIs. He recorded a pair of triples on the year and only struck out 17 times. He also chipped in 20 stolen bases to his credit. Jacob was also named to the All-Defensive team. His brother, Ethan, had an impressive first season with the Wolves as he posted an 8-2 record on the year with a 4.32 ERA. He recorded 48 strikeouts throughout the season and was the only pitcher on the staff to record a complete game, which he did twice.

Lugo posted an overall .324 batting average on the season while notching 23 RBIs after playing 44 games. He was a perfect six-for-six in stolen bases, which helped him score 27 runs. He only struck out 10 times on the season while drawing and equal number of walks and hit by pitches with 12 each. His fellow infielder, Velez, also turned in impressive numbers in his freshman season with a .305 batting average with 25 RBIs. He recorded nine doubles, two triples and a home run on the year while scoring 41 runs. Velez was second on the team in hit by pitch with 13 on the year while he also posted eight stolen bags.

In addition to the All-Conference teams, the league also released their statistical champions. Marine picked up top honors in batting average, RBIs per game, doubles per game and triples per game. Tarrance was named the statistical champion in stolen bases per game while Gibson got the nod for highest on-base percentage. As a team, the Wolves earned the title in team batting average, team on-base percentage and team stolen bases per game.