ATLANTA – The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) announced its 2016 preseason baseball all-conference teams on Tuesday as voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
Highlighting the preseason first team are third baseman
Damien Bivens (Claflin), outfielder Jared Maner (Morehouse), and
Joseph Holmes II (Clark Atlanta).
Benedict leads the preseason teams with six selections followed by Spring Hill with four second team honorees.
Bivens, the 2015 SIAC Player of the Year finished last season’s campaign with 51 hits, 48 RBIs, and 27 runs. The 5-9 junior from Wingate, N.C. recorded a .321 batting average including a league leading nine homeruns and 11 doubles. He also recorded a slugging percentage of .560 and was recently named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II Preseason All-South Region Second Team.
Maner was selected as the 2015 SIAC Freshman of the Year and led Morehouse in almost every offensive category last season. His .412 batting average in 2015 ranked in the top 10 of the conference. Maner, a 5-11 sophomore from Atlanta led Morehouse in hits (35), home runs (four), RBIs (23), total bases (50), slugging percentage (.588), and on-base percentage (.545).
Holmes, the 2015 SIAC Utility Player of the Year, played four different positions for Clark Atlanta last season including second base, shortstop, and catcher. The 5-7 sophomore from Stone Mountain, Ga. also appeared on the mound where he recorded 19 strikeouts. Holmes recorded a .893 fielding percentage with 58 putouts and 50 assists, while catching 14 runners trying to steal from behind the plate. Offensively, Holmes led the team in runs (13), hits (27), and stolen bases (13), while finishing near the top of the team rankings in doubles (three), runs batted in (10), and total bases (30). Last year he recorded a .270 batting average and a .327 on-base percentage.
First Team
| Jazhiel Morel |
Sr. |
Paine |
C |
| Keland Smith |
Jr. |
Miles |
1B |
| Jabari Brown |
Sr. |
Claflin |
2B |
| Terrence Worthy |
Jr. |
Albany State |
SS |
| Damien Bivens |
Jr. |
Claflin |
3B |
| Jared Maner |
So. |
Morehouse |
OF |
| Kendrick Elder |
Jr. |
Paine |
OF |
| Nick Vitale |
Sr. |
Stillman |
OF |
| Joseph Holmes II |
Jr. |
Clark Atlanta |
UT |
| Evan Krenz |
So. |
Paine |
SP |
| Yaniel Delgado |
Jr. |
Benedict |
RP |
Second Team
| Alex Jones |
Sr. |
Spring Hill |
C |
| Willie Floros |
Sr. |
Spring Hill |
1B |
| Armando Valentin |
So. |
Benedict |
2B |
| Thomas Smith |
Jr. |
Spring Hill |
SS |
| Shomarii Thomas |
So. |
Claflin |
3B |
| David White |
So. |
Benedict |
OF |
| Reise McDaniel |
Jr. |
Albany State |
OF |
| Alex Henderson |
Sr. |
Tuskegee |
OF |
| Daniel Young |
Sr. |
Benedict |
UT |
| James Roman |
Jr. |
Benedict |
SP |
| Johnathan Billings |
R-Jr. |
Spring Hill |
RP |