VIDEO: Ryan Addington Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – As the 2017 baseball season draws closer for Carson-Newman, the athletic communications department will preview the position groups for the Eagles beginning with a look at the outfielders with senior outfielder Ryan Addington.
As a team, the roster returns seven of nine regulars and seven of its nine top hitters in terms of batting average. The lone outfielder that is no longer with the team is Ian Pung who hit .298 while making 41 starts and driving in 17 runs.
Center fielder Ryan Addington (Cincinnati, Ohio) has started 84 games over the last two seasons as he prepares for the beginning of his senior campaign. An honorable mention All-South Atlantic Conference pick as a junior, the veteran hit 342 at the dish with three home runs and 25 RBI. Addington ranked ninth in the league with 52 runs scored as he has racked up a team-leading 23 multi-hit outings.
"As long as I have my legs under me, it helps me in the outfield," Addington said. "It helps me swipe bags so keep stretching and keeping my legs loose. [Coach] Griff tells us put down all of our goals on sheets and you have to set them high. You have to come down to work every day and put in your reps and put in your time. It will all translate to the field."
Addington ranked 24th in the country with 26 stolen bases, a mark that ranks sixth since the program joined Division II in 1994. In the last seven years, the junior is just the third player with double-digit steals in a season and has the most since Evan Patterson swiped 24 bags in 2009.
The left field spot should see junior Cade Snapp (Seymour, Tenn.) make the majority of the starts after being named to the SAC All-Tournament in 2016. He led the team with 16 home runs while hitting .304 with 49 RBIs in 49 starts to become the first C-N player since Kyle Koeneman (20) in 2012 to notch double-digit HRs in a season as his season total of 16 ranks sixth on the school's Division II record book.
Snapp piled up 15 multi-hit and a team-leading 15 multi-RBI affairs as a sophomore while making 21 starts in left field and 28 as the team's designated hitter.
Vying for time in left field after a solid first campaign is redshirt-sophomore Brendan Campbell (Yardley, Pa.) who started a total of 31 games, 28 in left. He notched six multi-hit and one three-RBI game with two outfield assists.
The right field spot is between a pair of seniors in right-handed hitting Trever Lee (Garner, N.C.) and left-handed batter Hunter Wood (College Grove, Tenn.). Wood was the opening day starter in right in 2016 but could not get rolling in league play after hitting .337 in 2015 at Columbia State Community College. Lee did not have a start in the outfield a year ago but started 16 times at second base compiling a .304 batting average in 46 at-bats.
"We have depth in the outfield," Addington said. "If someone goes down we have somebody that can step in their place. Depth is always huge on the baseball field. We have depth at every position so it's definitely a strength."
Listed as an outfielder Graham Warren (Franklin, Tenn.) does not expect to pick up a glove in the field but his bat proved to be valuable off of the bench a season ago. In 19 trips to the plate, the converted football player had six hits including his first career home run, a 3-run shot, pinch-hitting in the bottom of the sixth versus Newberry on April 2 to tie the game in a contest C-N would walk off on a Snapp base hit.
Junior Patton Grooms (Whitwell, Tenn.) and redshirt-freshman Konnor Ambrose (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) will provide depth and versatility to the group.
The positional outlook rolls along on Thursday with a glance around the infield with senior shortstop Jimmy Rice and a group that needs to replace all-region honoree at third base Brandon Roberts.
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