ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the eighth year in a row, Carson-Newman has multiple All-South Atlantic Conference honorees announced by the league on Thursday. Catcher Mitchell Balint was named to the second team and reliever Jake Wright earned a slot on the third team.
Since 2015, the Eagles have placed at least two players on all-league units bringing the program's all-time total to 111 players to earn the league's distinction. This year is the fifth time that both a pitcher and position earn plaudits.
Balint is the 10th catcher in the history of the program to earn the postseason nod leading the team in hitting both overall for the year and against the league. The Avondale, Pa. native hit .347 with eight homers and 34 RBIs overall and posted a .350 margin with three blasts and 18 RBIs against SAC pitching. Fourteen of his 27 extra-base hits for the year came in league action as he is hitting .378 with two homers and 11 RBIs in April.
The junior produced a pair of nine-game hitting streaks for the year tallying knocks in 19 of 22 games from March 4 to April where he hit four homers and drove in 14 runs. Both hitting strings are the longest by any player on the roster this year. He finished the regular season with 14 multi-hit games, one shy of the team lead, and tied for the top effort with seven multi-RBI efforts.
Highlighting his effort against the league, Balint recorded nine of his multi-hit games in conference play blasting a pair of home runs driving in three to kickstart a series sweep of Lincoln Memorial on April 1.
Wright is the 30th pitcher to earn all-league laurels and the first reliever since Will Gardner in 2018 to earn the honor. The right-hander has been nearly lights out this season going 3-1 with a pair of saves in 12 appearances with a 2.70 ERA fanning 29 and walking seven in 20 innings on the rubber. The Eagles were 8-4 this year in games he pitched.
Despite not making his first appearance until Feb. 26, Wright continued his career success as he has a 3.73 ERA with 117 punch outs in 82 innings. Of his dozen outings, teams have failed to score on him nine times. He has multiple strikeouts in six games including eight over 3 2/3 scoreless innings against Mars Hill on March 4 and six in four shutout stanzas at ninth-ranked Newberry in a win on March 25.
The Ringgold, Ga. appeared in 10 games against SAC teams this year going 3-0 with two saves allowing just 12 hits and five walks in 18 2/3 innings striking out 28 posting a 1.45 ERA. Compare him to the relief pitchers on the top two teams, Wright allowed the same amount of earned runs but struck out more and walked less in more innings.
Carson-Newman is slated to start play in the 2023 SAC Baseball Championships on Friday at 3 p.m. against fifth-seeded Lincoln Memorial from Smokies Stadium with video coverage available with your paid subscription on FloSports.
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