Five student-athletes named All-American in baseball

Five members of the Pioneer baseball team, which enjoyed one of its most successful seasons ever, have garnered All-America honors.

Craig Goodman and Alexi Colon were named to the 2012 Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association Division II All-America Team. Cody Coffman, Aaron Guinn, Cade Stallings and Goodman were named to the Daktronics NCAA Division II All-America team.  Goodman and Stallings were also named to the 2012 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II All-America Team.

Craig Goodman

Goodman, who earned three All-American honors at the end of the season, graduated in May with a degree in business administration. The senior right-hander from Clearwater, Fla., was named the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) co-Pitcher of the Year and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association’s Southeast Region Pitcher of the Year in May.  The two-time All-SAC First Team standout posted a 10-0 record in his 13 starts, including three complete games. He accounted for a 2.00 earned run average, which is tied for the fourth lowest in school history.

He established a new school single-season record with 89 strikeouts.  Goodman was named a national semifinalist for the Tino Martinez DII National Player of the Year Award.

Stallings, a junior from Knoxville, Tenn., earned two All-America honors in his first season with the Pioneers.  The University of Louisville transfer batted .367 with 80 hits, including 16 doubles, 11 home runs and a team-best 63 RBI..  His 64 runs scored are tied

Cade Stallings

for the seventh most in school history.  He was hit by a pitch 17 times, which are the second most in Tusculum history and one shy of the school record.  He also recorded seven sacrifice flies, which are tied for the second most ever by a Pioneer.  He is a consensus All-Region selection at third base this year.

Coffman, a senior from Cape Coral, Fla., split time at first base and catcher this season, while also seeing action at second base and designated hitter.  The All-South Atlantic Conference Second Team catcher led the Pioneers with his .417 batting average.  Coffman is fourth in the country with his 90 hits, including19 doubles, a triple, nine home runs and 62 RBI.  He has scored 52 runs, while drawing 41 walks against just 17 strikeouts. During this season, Coffman posted a 26-game hitting streak, the second longest in school history.  He wrapped up his collegiate career reaching base safely in 39 consecutive games, including a home run in his final collegiate at-bat against eventual NCAA regional winner Catawba.

Cody Coffman

Colon, a senior outfielder from Vineland, N.J., is second in the nation this year with 21 home runs, which are tied for the second most in school history.  Colon batted .318, while leading the team with 69 runs scored and posted 61 hits, 11 doubles, three triples and 50 RBI.  His 67 base on balls this season are the most in school and South Atlantic Conference history and tied for the 11th most ever by a NCAA II player. Colon, a two-time All-Conference and All-Region selection, leaves Tusculum as its third-leading home run hitter, belting 33 over the last two seasons.

Guinn, a senior from Norris, Tenn., finished second on the team with his .398 batting average.  He amassed 92 hits in his final collegiate campaign, which are the third most in Tusculum history and currently the second-most in the country this year.  Guinn tallied 17 doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 51 RBI.  He made just one error in his 206 total fielding chances for a .995 fielding percentage, which is tied for the second highest in school history, earning him

Alexi Colon

a spot on the ABCA Southeast Region and SAC Gold Glove Teams.

Tusculum accounted for one of the best seasons in school history in 2012.  The Pioneers posted a sterling 48-10 record, including 24-3 in South Atlantic Conference play as Tusculum captured both the league’s regular season and tournament championships.  Tusculum advanced to the NCAA Tournament for a sixth time in school history where the Pioneers went 2-2 to finish third at the Southeast Regional.  Tusculum also earned the Pioneers its highest national ranking, being listed as the No. 2 team in the country.  They ended the season ranked ninth in the nation.

 

 

Aaron Guinn