ATLANTA, Ga. (May 6, 2024) – The Southern Athletic Association has named its baseball All-Conference teams and major award winners for the 2024 season.
 
After leading Centre to its first SAA regular season and tournament titles, Ben Prather was voted the Athlete of the Year while Drew Briese was named the Coach of the Year. Berry hurler Charles Stephenson is the Pitcher of the Year and Charlie Banks of Birmingham-Southern the Newcomer of the Year.
 
Prather, the SAA Newcomer of the Year last season, was a jack-of-all-trades for the conference champion Colonels as an impact player at the plate and on the mound. He posted the second-best batting average in the SAA, hitting .421 in conference games, banging out 32 hits with 19 RBI and 18 runs scored in 21 games. Overall, he hit .384 with a league-leading 58 RBIs. Prather made seven SAA starts on the hill, posting a 6-1 record with a 2.93 ERA. In 46 innings of work, he allowed just 28 hits and 15 runs while racking up 41 strikeouts. Prather is the first Centre Colonel to be named the SAA Baseball Athlete of the Year.
 
Stephenson started seven conference games for the Vikings and went 5-0 with a 2.85 ERA. In 41 innings of work, the graduate student scattered 34 hits and 13 earned runs while racking up 19 strikeouts. In a winning effort against Birmingham-Southern, he threw six scoreless innings, surrendering three hits and striking out three. Stephenson also had a solid outing against Rhodes, allowing one run with two strikeouts in eight innings on the hill. Overall, he was 6-2 in 12 starts on the year with a 3.26 ERA and 29 strikeouts. Stephenson is the first Berry player to be voted SAA Pitcher of the Year.
 
Banks hit .341 with 15 runs scored and 17 RBIs during Birmingham-Southern’s conference season. Four times he had multi-hit games, including a 3-for-5, four RBIs day against Rhodes that was highlighted with a pair of homers. He drove in a season-high five runs a week later against Millsaps contributing to the Panthers late season 14 game winning streak. Overall, Banks was a .392 hitter with nine doubles, two triples, five homers and 25 RBIs. He is the second BSC player to be named Newcomer of the Year, along with Taylor McCraken in 2013.
 
Briese guided the Colonels to a historic 2024 season, culminating in SAA regular season and tournament titles. Centre was picked fifth in the conference preseason poll and went on to post a 34-11 overall record and 15-6 mark to win the league outright for the first time in program history. A 2000 graduate of Centre, Briese has been the Colonels head coach since 2016. This season he mentored the SAA Player of the Year in Ben Prather and 10 All-SAA honorees, including three on the first team.

 

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2024 Baseball All-Conference Awards
Athlete of the Year – Ben Prather, Centre
Pitcher of the Year – Charles Stephenson, Berry
Newcomer of the Year – Charlie Banks, Birmingham-Southern
Coach of the Year – Drew Briese, Centre
 

First Team All-SAA Pitcher: Bryson Bales, Hendrix Pitcher: Josh Leerssen, Birmingham-Southern Pitcher: Charles Stephenson, Berry Relief Pitcher: Zach Heavern, Centre Catcher: Evan Weyler, Centre First Base: Hunter Herndon, Sewanee Second Base: Joey Garcia, Berry Shortstop: Garrett Lang, Berry Third Base: Corbin Kinder, Rhodes Outfield: Adam Bland, Hendrix Outfield: Nick Brunswick, Berry Outfield: Ben Burkhart, Rhodes Designated Hitter: Ian Hancock, Birmingham-Southern Utility: Ben Prather, Centre

Second Team All-SAA Pitcher: Matt Munn, Sewanee Pitcher: Zac Sohosky, Rhodes Pitcher: Nick Tarantino, Millsaps Pitcher: Wil Wood, Millsaps Relief Pitcher: Nicholas Angelakos, Berry Catcher: Cooper Krause, Oglethorpe First Base: Riley Uhls, Berry Second Base: Andrew Dutton, Birmingham-Southern Shortstop: Conner Jackson, Centre Third Base: Charlie Teel, Sewanee Outfield: Charlie Banks, Birmingham-Southern Outfield: Quinn Blackman, Rhodes Outfield: Drake Job, Hendrix Outfield: Will Yarbro, Sewanee Designated Hitter: Sam Mills, Oglethorpe Utility: Nick Tarantino, Oglethorpe

Honorable Mention
Levi Cloud, Berry
Harrison Cowdrey, Centre
Jonathan Cruz, Oglethorpe
Josh Cunningham, Centre
Ben Daniel, Rhodes
Dylan Kalmus, Hendrix
David Kinsbrunner, Centre
Myles Kruger, Rhodes
Cooper Kuriger, Rhodes
Jamie LaFramboise, Centre
Drake Laroche, Birmingham-Southern
Thomas LeMaster, Rhodes
Ayden Lohr, Centre
Will Marquart, Berry
Will May, Rhodes
Dante Messina, Rhodes
Luc Morgan, Centre
Tams Mullins, Birmingham-Southern
Andrew Pendleton, Berry
Cole Porter, Berry
Charles Pulaski, Berry
Malcolm Rohfling, Rhodes
Jack Roode, Sewanee
Evan Scott, Millsaps
Nathan Silva, Hendrix
Eli Steadman, Birmingham-Southern
Colin Stewart, Oglethorpe
Ty Truett, Birmingham-Southern
Joseph Watts, Hendrix