ROCK HILL, S.C. – Preparing to enter the 2023 campaign that features matchups with two national championship squads, the Newberry College baseball team was selected to finish third in the South Atlantic Conference preseason poll as announced by the league on Tuesday, January 24th.
The Wolves were able to garner 123 points in the poll including one first-place vote. Wingate was selected to finish atop the league with 144 points and the remaining 12 first-place votes while Lenoir-Rhyne was slated for finish second with 125 points. Catawba, Carson-Newman and Lincoln Memorial occupied the four through six spots in the poll while Anderson, Mars Hill, Tusculum and Coker rounded out the top-ten. Limestone, UVA Wise and Emory & Henry brought the poll to a close.
In addition to the preseason poll, the league also announced their Preseason All-Conference squad which featured eight members of the Newberry team, including all three weekend starters from last season.
On the first team for the Wolves was senior Braylin Marine (Freeport, N.Y.) and junior Henry Gibson (Walterboro, S.C.). 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 as the shortstop.
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 throughout the year. Over half of those runs came within conference play.
The brothers LeBron (Lexington, S.C.), junior Jacob and sophomore Ethan, were each named to the second team after stellar seasons a year ago. 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.
Ethan had an impressive first season with the Scarlet and Gray as he posted an 8-2 record on the year with a 4.32 ERA. Solidifying himself as a weekend starter for Newberry, he recorded 48 strikeouts throughout the season and was the only pitcher on the staff to record a complete game, which he did twice, once in a shutout win over UVA Wise.
Sophomore Jomar Lugo (San Sebastian, P.R.), sophomore Jonathan Velez (Mayaguez, P.R.), sophomore Tyler Chinpire (Jupiter, Fla.) and senior Joe LaFiora (Philadelphia, Pa.) rounded out the selections for the Wolves as they each made the third team.
Lugo posted an overall .324 batting average on the season while notching 23 RBIs after playing 44 games on the season. He was a perfect six-for-six in stolen bases, which helped him score 27 runs. He would only strike out 10 times on the season while drawing and equal number of walks and hit by pitches with 12 each.
His fellow infielder in 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 himself. Another magnet for the ball, he was second on the team in hit by pitch with 13 on the year while he was also able to post eight stolen bags.
Chinpire posted the team's lowest ERA on the season last year among starters as he turned in a 3.07 allowing just 19 earned runs against his tabulations. He pitched 55 and two-thirds innings for the Wolves while fanning a total of 23 batters on his way to a 4-1 record.
The leader of the bullpen a season ago, shown by getting the opening day nod, LaFiora turned in a 7-3 record overall on the year while making 13 starts on the season. His 4.35 ERA ranked third on the team among pitchers that started more than five games while he led the team with 63 strikeouts on the year.
The Wolves look to open the season on February 3 as they welcome in Francis Marion to the Smith Road Complex for Opening Day of the 2023 campaign. First pitch is slated for 4:00 p.m.
