ROCK HILL – Newberry claimed three of four major South Atlantic Conference awards, had eight all-conference selections, and placed two on the league's all-defensive team.
Senior center fielder
Danton Hyman won the league's top honor as Player of the Year, while starting pitcher
Josh Bookbinder earned the Freshman of the Year award.
Russell Triplett was named Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.
Danton Hyman - SAC Player of the Year, First Team Outfielder, All-Defensive Team Center Fielder
Newberry's center fielder and emotional leader was honored with the league's top award, the Player of the Year designation, along with a first-team selection and a spot on the All-Defensive team. The active Division II career leader in both hits (265) and stolen bases (63), Hyman's 84 hits this season are the most by any player in all three NCAA divisions and are four shy of the Newberry single-season record.
Hyman ranks in the top 10 in the SAC in a litany of categories that include: batting average (3rd - .418), on-base percentage (4th - .487), at-bats (1st - 201), hits (1st - 84), doubles (6th - 16), triples (1st - 5), runs (3rd - 58), total bases (5th - 113), sacrifice flies (4th - 5), and sacrifice bunts (8th - 6). He is a two-time conference player of the week.
Hyman has reached safely in all but one game this season and has been on base in 56 of his last 57 games overall dating back to April 2018. He leads the team with 28 multi-hit games, nine of which saw him collect three or more hits, and has a team-high 11 games with multiple RBI.
His defensive work has been stellar as well as he ends the season with a .978 fielding percentage and a number of highlight-reel plays. He has made a habit of flagging down line drives in the gaps and making diving catches. He also has four assists on the season, including becoming the first Newberry player in 14 years with outfield assists in consecutive innings when the Wolves downed Catawba on April 12.
Josh Bookbinder - SAC Freshman of the Year, First Team Starting Pitcher
Bookbinder quickly settled into his role as Newberry's Game 3 weekend starter. He has a 9-1 record in 13 appearances, 12 of them starts, and a 3.54 ERA that ranks sixth in the conference. He leads the team with 76.1 innings pitched, ranks second with 55 strikeouts, and has held opponents to a .260 batting average. His nine wins tied the Newberry single-season record set by Scott Butcher in 1993 and rank fifth in Division II, two off the national leader.
His finest performance came in a three-hit, complete-game shutout against Lincoln Memorial on Friday night that clinched the regular season conference championship for the Wolves and earned him SAC Pitcher of the Week honors. It was one of seven times this season he pitched at least six innings while allowing two runs or fewer.
Bookbinder's six complete games and nine wins rank third and fifth, respectively, in Division II. He is one of only five freshmen in all three NCAA divisions to have started at least 12 games this season.
Russell Triplett - SAC Coach of the Year
The ninth-year head coach was named SAC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career after winning the honors in 2015. He has led Newberry to unparalleled success: the Wolves' 38 wins are the most of any team in all three NCAA divisions, while its 21-3 record in conference games yielded the fourth-best winning percentage (.875) in SAC history.
Triplett surpassed 250 career wins in March and now stands at 265 victories, one shy of matching Gardner-Webb skipper Clyde Miller for eighth in league history. He skippered the Wolves to their first-ever SAC regular season title, winning streaks of 13 and 12 games this season, and a No. 3 national ranking, the highest in school history.
All of this was accomplished despite returning only one outfielder, losing two-thirds of the weekend rotation, moving a significant bullpen piece to a starting role, entering the season without an established designated hitter, and with question marks at multiple infield positions. The Wolves were picked fifth in the SAC preseason poll but outperformed expectations to become one of the nation's elite teams.
Quinton Driggers - First Team Relief Pitcher, All-Defensive Team Pitcher
In his first two collegiate seasons, Driggers averaged less than an inning per appearance and had a 7.15 ERA. As a junior, the left-hander became one of the nation's most dominant relievers.
Driggers finished the regular season with a 7-0 record in 24 relief appearances, collected six saves, had a sparkling 1.40 ERA that ranks eighth in Division II, and allowed opponents to hit .145 off him in 64.1 innings pitched. He was twice named the league's Pitcher of the Week and finished fourth in the conference with 79 strikeouts despite working exclusively out of the bullpen. Over the span of 26 days in March and April, Driggers had a streak of 21.1 consecutive scoreless innings.
In conference play, his statistics got even better. In 10 appearances against conference opponents, Driggers had a 0.00 ERA, allowing only three unearned runs, with a 2-0 record and six saves. Opponents hit .120 against him in 28.1 innings pitched with only eight singles and three doubles in 92 official at-bats.
In addition to his No. 8 ranking in ERA, Driggers finished the regular season second nationally with 4.34 hits allowed per nine innings, third with 24 appearances, and ninth with 0.90 walks and hits per inning pitched. He has the lowest career mark among all active Division II players in hits allowed per nine innings at 6.21.
Driggers was perfect defensively in 19 chances in the field. His quick move off the mound and penchant for lunging catches while keeping his foot anchored on first base helps him defend against weak grounders to the right side and bunt attempts. He also recorded two assists on appeal plays during the season.
Dalton Lansdowne - Second Team Second Baseman
A steady presence that has started all 98 games over the past two seasons, Lansdowne finished third on the team with a .335 batting average and went 18-for-22 on stolen base attempts. His 15 multi-hit games ranked second on the team, while his 17-game hitting streak that spanned almost all of March was Newberry's longest of the season and raised his batting average by 86 percentage points. His most impressive game in that stretch came in a win over Mars Hill, in which he went 3-for-4 with four RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base.
Lansdowne strung together five consecutive multi-hit games in March and had two separate streaks of nine or more games with at least one run scored, helping him to rank second on the team with 43 runs scored despite hitting in the No. 9 spot in the order in all but two games this season. His 35 RBI also rank second on the team.
Defensively, the sophomore fielded .965 overall and .971 in SAC games this season. He has been involved in 25 of Newberry's 33 double plays this season.
Colin Allman - Second Team Shortstop
Allman has made an impactful return to the lineup since being reinserted on March 5 after missing a month with injury. He appeared in 33 games overall this season with 31 starts, sporting a .291 batting average with a .403 on-base percentage and .455 slugging percentage. He has gone 12-for-13 on stolen base attempts and fielded .906 overall.
Allman's impact, however, is best measured through his 19 appearances with 18 starts in conference games as he worked his way back from injury. Against SAC opponents, his batting average rose to .323, his on-base percentage to .413 and his slugging percentage to .484. Nine of his 20 hits in league play went for extra bases and he recorded 14 RBI.
He had a 15-game hitting streak and a 23-game reached base streak that both ranked among the team's best in 2019 and has the second-most double plays turned this season with 17.
Nick Butler - Honorable Mention Outfielder
Butler has made a large impact in his redshirt freshman season, establishing himself as the starter in left field during the third weekend and breaking out with a 3-for-3 game that included a double, a triple, a stolen base, and three runs scored against Kentucky Wesleyan on Feb. 17. He ranks second on the team with both a .336 batting average and a .516 slugging percentage and has the fourth-most multi-hit games with 10.
In all, Butler has played in 40 of Newberry's 50 games and ranks fourth on the team with 37 games started. He has fielded .980 in 49 defensive chances and recorded an outfield assist at Carson-Newman on April 6.
Defensively, Butler has fielded .980 with one error in 48 chances this season.
Charlie Fessler - Honorable Mention Starting Pitcher
One of Newberry's four seniors, Fessler carved out an extremely effective niche as Newberry's primary eighth-inning relief pitcher a season ago but was forced into a starting role in 2019 by the significant attrition on the pitching staff.
Despite never making a collegiate start prior to Opening Day, Fessler is 6-4 on the season with a 3.99 ERA in 14 appearances, 12 of them starts. He is second on the team with 67.2 innings pitched and third with 53 strikeouts, 27 of which came during SAC play.
The Summerville native won four consecutive Friday starts against league opponents in March and April, pitching at least six innings in each and allowing three earned runs or fewer in three of the four contests. His best game of the season, however, was his complete game against Davis & Elkins on March 1 that saw him give up a run on two hits and record 10 strikeouts without a walk.
His 76 career pitching appearances rank second among active Division II players and he ranks in the top 10 in school history in a cornucopia of career categories.
Tomas Sorcia, Jr. - Honorable Mention Starting Pitcher
Sorcia was one of Newberry's most steady pitchers in the regular season after establishing himself as the Wolves' primary starter in Game One of Saturday's doubleheaders. He is 7-0 on the season, with six of his wins coming against conference opponents, with a 4.88 ERA in 62.2 innings pitched.
He was named SAC Pitcher of the Week for his start against Anderson, in which he took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and gave up one unearned run on two hits in a career-high eight innings. Newberry has won all 11 games that Sorcia has started on the mound. Left-handed batters have hit .194 against him in 72 official at-bats, one of two pitchers on staff with a mark below the Mendoza line in the category.
All-SAC First Team
OF – Danton Hyman, Newberry
OF – Tyler Thompson, Carson-Newman
OF – Jed Bryant, Wingate
1B – Chris Salvey, Lincoln Memorial
2B – Daulton Martin, Tusculum
SS – Jeremy Simpson, Catawba
3B – Tyler Adams, Lincoln Memorial
C – Ethan Goforth, Carson-Newman
DH – Nate Stinson, Lincoln Memorial
SP – Charles Hall, Tusculum
SP – Ethan Elliott, Lincoln Memorial
SP – Josh Bookbinder, Newberry
RP – Quinton Driggers, Newberry
All-SAC Second Team
OF – Seth Hunt, Lincoln Memorial
OF – Will Reddick, Lincoln Memorial
OF – Clayton Jeffries, Lenoir-Rhyne
1B – Noah Jones, Queens
2B – Dalton Lansdowne, Newberry
SS – Colin Allman, Newberry
3B – Jackson Raper, Catawba
C – Nate Montgomery, Tusculum
DH – Heath Mitchem, Catawba
SP – Bryan Ketchie, Catawba
SP – Greg Valentine, Carson-Newman
SP – Austin Turgeon, Wingate
RP – Hunter Dula, Wingate
Honorable Mentions
OF – Jarel McDade, Tusculum
OF – Nick Butler, Newberry
OF – E.J. Ranel, Lenoir-Rhyne
1B – Larry McCabe, Coker
2B – John Sharpe, Carson-Newman
SS – Casey Demko, Coker
3B – Bryson Ford, Tusculum
C – Andrew Llewellyn, Wingate
DH – Matthew Freeman, Lenoir-Rhyne???????
SP – Charlie Fessler, Newberry
SP – Tomas Sorcia, Jr., Newberry
SP - Alex Shirazi, Lenoir-Rhyne???????
SP - Riley Myers, Catawba
RP – Christian Carpenter, Anderson
All-Defensive Team
RF – Lee Poteat, Catawba
CF – Danton Hyman, Newberry
LF – Will Reddick, Lincoln Memorial
1B – Chris Salvey, Lincoln Memorial
2B – Lake Lybrand, Coker
SS – Jeremy Simpson, Catawba
3B – Jackson Raper, Catawba
C – Ethan Goforth, Carson-Newman
P – Quinton Driggers, Newberry
Player of the Year
Danton Hyman, Newberry
Pitcher of the Year
Charles Hall, Tusculum
Freshman of the Year
Josh Bookbinder, Newberry
Coach of the Year
Russell Triplett, Newberry
Statistical Champions
Team Batting Average – Lincoln Memorial (.315)
Team Slugging Percentage – Carson-Newman (.490)
Team On-Base Percentage – Lincoln Memorial (.417)
Team Doubles Per Game – Carson-Newman (2.40)
Team Triples Per Game – Newberry (0.50)
Team Home Runs Per Game – Wingate (1.30)
Team Stolen Bases Per Game – Newberry (2.20)
Team Earned Run Average – Catawba (4.26)
Team Strikeouts Per Game – Tusculum (10.70)
Batting Average – Tyler Thompson, Carson-Newman (.439)
On-Base Percentage – Daulton Martin, Tusculum (.532)
Slugging Percentage – Tyler Thompson, Carson-Newman (.768)
Home Runs Per Game – Jed Bryant, Wingate (0.40)
RBIs Per Game – Chris Salvey, Lincoln Memorial (1.23)
Doubles Per Game – John Sharpe, Carson-Newman (0.47)
Triples Per Game – Larry McCabe, Coker (0.12)
Stolen Bases Per Game – Zach Little, Wingate (0.74)
Earned Run Average – Quinton Driggers, Newberry (1.40)
Strikeouts Per Nine Innings – Charles Hall, Tusculum (15.10)
Pitching Victories – Ethan Elliott, Lincoln Memorial (10)
