GREENSBORO, N.C. – Adding a sixth award of the year, Brayden Coe was named first-team All-Southeast Region by the American Baseball Coaches Association completing a sweep of all-region nods by various outlets in 2021.
A first-team All-South Atlantic Conference selection, the right-hander was named honorable metion All-American a week ago by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association after taking home regional nods from the NCBWA and the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association.
The Eagles have produced three Academic All-Americans in the last four years but Coe is the first to earn it solely for his work on the diamond since Kyle Koeneman in 2012. Overall he is the 24th player in C-N history to earn the top plaudit in the land and fifth pitcher. The senior right-hander is the eighth individual in the school's NCAA era to earn All-American honors fourth pitcher, the first since Brett Hontz in 2008.
Coe is the 28th pitcher in the history of the program to net all-conference honors and the 10th to get a spot on the top club. He piled up a wonderful season going 7-0 with a 2.23 ERA in 10 starts striking out 63 batters and walking just 17 in 64 2/3 innings pitched. The Eagles were 9-2 as a team in his outings this year. His seven victories are good for second in the league and 37th in the country while his four complete games top the SAC and are 13th in the country. His ERA is fourth in the conference while he ranks ninth hits per nine innings (6.26), eighth in strikeout to walk ratio (3.81) and walks per nine (2.63). His 63 strikeouts are second.
With seven wins on the bump, he moved into an 11-way tie for ninth on the program's single-season wins list most recently accomplished by Vince Apicella in 2015.
The Bridgeville, Pa. native hurled five quality starts on the year with one his gems coming on March 20 against Queens when he fanned 10 over nine innings giving up a run with two outs in the ninth inning. It is one of four times he has thrown at least eight frames along with March 5 against UVA Wise and April 17 at Coker. Each time he has only allowed one run.
Despite letting a lead-off batter reach at a .388 clip on the year, opponents hit .133 with runners on base, .186 with two outs and .175 as a right-handed batter. He did not yield more than seven hits in any game on the year with seven of nine netting four or fewer.
Putting the finishing touches on an historic season, Coe was named to the SAC All-Tournament team. The Bridgeville, Pa. native kickstarted the weekend as the Eagles faced elimination in the play-in game against Mars Hill on Thursday night with the best start of his impressive year. The Bridgeville Pa. native yielded three hits, one walk and one hit batter on the day fanning nine to become the first C-N hurler since Apicella on April 28, 2015, 268 games and 2,190 days ago, to fire a complete game, nine-inning shutout. The first-team All-SAC pick allowed only one man to reach scoring position stranding Austin Treadway in the third.
Three days later against eventual tournament champion Wingate he closed the door for his first-career save throwing 10 pitches in a 1-2-3 ninth. He finished his senior year with a 2.23 earned run average in 64 2/3 innings pitched, the best by a C-N pitcher in its NCAA history with minimum of 40 innings on the rubber.
Founded in 1945, the ABCA is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level honoring All-Americans since 1949. ABCA/Rawlings All-Region first-team selections are nominated for ABCA/Rawlings All-America honors. The ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. II All-America teams will be announced on Friday, June 4. The ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove teams for all divisions will be announced Wednesday, June 23.
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