Junior outfielder Will Cates garnered the much deserved SCAC Player of the Year honors as announced by conference commissioner Dwayne Hanberry in Shreveport Friday.
Cates joins three-time All-American Matt Gelotti as the only Southwestern baseball players to earn the honor. Gelotti earned the distinction in back-to-back years (1999, 2000) and was inducted into the Southwestern University Athletics Hall of Fame this fall.
Cates, a junior outfielder from Cy Fair, Texas, is currently leading the SCAC in nearly every offensive category. He is tops in batting average (.405), hits (64), triples (eight), total bases (104), slugging percentage (.658), runs scored (48) and stolen bases (29). He is also in the top 10 in the league in doubles (9 – seventh), home runs (5 – third), runs batted in (36 – third) and on-base percentage (.438 – fifth).
A two-time SCAC Player-of-the-Week during the 2015 regular season, Cates has had 20 multiple-hit games including an extraordinary seven game stretch in mid-May when he went 18 for 32 (.563) with nine RBIs, eight stolen bases and 15 runs scored. The highlight of that stretch was Cates' 4-for-5, three RBI and three runs scored performance that led the Pirates to a 13-7 victory over the then second-ranked team in the nation – St. Thomas (Minn.).
Joining Cates in the report are All-SCAC Second Team selections Ethan Luna and Austyn Laird. Luna has manned first base for the Pirates most of the season and is hitting .330 on the year. He ranks 12th in doubles with eight and 13th in homeruns with two. Laird secures the hot corner in his first season with the Pirates. He is hitting .284 on the season and is second in the conference in homeruns with six on the year. He also has nine stolen bases this season which puts him eighth in the conference.
Ben Little, Will Preston, Colten Shea and Robert Wehman round out Southwestern's representation in the report as Honorable Mention selections. Little is hitting .303 on the season and has 11 stolen bases to his credit. Preston has been SU's most consistent starter with a 3.12 ERA in 49 innings. He has allowed 43 hits and 17 earned runs while striking out 37 and walking just 19. Shea is batting .260 on the season with 11 RBIs and is second in the conference with 22 stolen bases. Wehman posted a .259 average at the plate and leads the conference in assists with 116 and is tops in double plays with 26.
Southwestern entered the SCAC Championship as the #4 seed and dropped their first round game 10-0 to host Centenary. SU moves to the elimination game against Texas Lutheran later this evening.