Wesleyan’s Poteat earns spot on MEC All-Conference baseball team

Sports Release
May 9, 2023

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The Mountain East Conference today announced its 2023 baseball award winners and all-conference teams following a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches.

The announcement comes one day prior to the 2023 MEC Baseball Tournament, presented by YES! Chevrolet and YES! Ford, which will be played May 10-14 at GoMart Ballpark in Charleston. Visit the MEC Championship Central page for complete tournament coverage and to purchase tickets for the event.

Charleston catcher Tyler Dellerman and Concord pitcher Andrew Neff headlined the All-MEC baseball award winners as the league’s Player and Pitcher of the Year in 2023. West Liberty infielder William Balgo was voted as the league’s Freshman of the Year. Concord head coach Kevin Garrett has been named the 2023 MEC Coach of the Year.

Dellerman, a graduate student catcher from Maineville, Ohio, batted .374 with 16 home runs and 57 runs batted-in this season for the Golden Eagles. He also scored 60 runs and racked up 15 doubles and four triples on the year. Dellerman had a .767 slugging percentage on the year.

Neff, a junior from Fredericksburg, Va., made 18 appearances for the Concord pitching staff this season and finished the year with an 11-2 record and 4.74 ERA. He recorded 86 strikeouts and allowed opposing batters to hit just .272 against him. He also recorded a pair of saves and gave up just 42 earned runs in 79.2 innings pitched this season.

Balgo, a freshman infielder from St. Clairsville, Ohio, batted .324 with six home runs and 32 runs batted-in for the Hilltoppers. He finished his first collegiate season with a .552 slugging percentage and a .398 on-base percentage. Balgo also tallied 19 runs scored and six doubles.

Garrett led Concord to a 27-19 record this season, including a 23-7 mark in MEC play to earn the league’s coach of the year accolade. The Mountain Lions enter this week’s MEC Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the south division. Garrett returned to the dugout this season and is in his 23^rd season with the Mountain Lions. He has over 500 career wins at Concord.

West Virginia Wesleyan had one player earn honors — catcher Thatcher Poteat.

The 5-11 sophomore from Shady Springs, W.Va. batted .281 with 39 hits, six doubles, and knocked in 21 runs in 42 starts this season. Poteat finished with a .969 fielding percentage with 189 putouts and 19 runners thrown out attempting to steal. He also pitched 1 2/3innings this year, earning a save and not allowing an earned run.

The MEC all-conference teams are listed below. Honorees were listed as first team, second team and honorable mention.

All-MEC First Team
Pos.	Name	School
C	Tyler Dellerman	Charleston
1B	Ethan Kiple	Frostburg State
1B	Kyle West	Charleston
2B	Randy Steen	Frostburg State
SS	Jacob Murray	Wheeling
3B	Zack Saryeldin	Concord
Utility	Chandler Ballenger	Alderson Broaddus
DH	Chris Satcher	Concord
OF	Josh Adkins	Concord
OF	D.J. Christian	Concord
OF	Fabian Escalante	Glenville State
OF	Danny Estrada	Frostburg State
OF	Giano Zuccaro	Charleston
SP	Tyler Lafferty	West Virginia St.
SP	Andrew Neff	Concord
SP	Max Proctor	Frostburg State
SP	Jacob Stretch	Frostburg State
RP	Cole Peschl	Charleston
x
All-MEC Second Team
Pos.	Name	School
C	Tyler Overaitis	West Virginia St.
2B	Daniel Layne	Concord
SS	Joe Alcorn	Alderson Broaddus
3B	Braden Killens	Wheeling
Utility	MJ Hunter	Concord
DH	Cam Sheets	Alderson Broaddus
OF	Ty Helmke	West Liberty
OF	Trevor Jones	Frostburg State
OF	Ryan Kay	West Virginia St.
SP	Kody McCarley	Wheeling
SP	Chase Norris	West Virginia St.
SP	Chase Swain	Glenville State
SP	Dane Sykes	Charleston
RP	Ethan Kiple	Frostburg State

All-MEC Honorable Mention
C: Thatcher Poteat (WVWC); 1B: Michael Huber (WVSU); 2B: Zach Morris (GSU); SS: Brendan Brady (CU); 3B: Connor Fizer (WVSU); Utility: Christian Boyles (WU); DH: Tommy Kegerreis (WU); OF: Christian Boyles (WU), Clay Hale (UC), Nathan Paulsen (WVSU), Jacob Sherman (WLU); SP: Eddie Blake (CU), Kenny Jinks (WU), Rylee Nicholas (CU), Ethan Soderna (UC); RP: Hunter Dyck (WU)
2023 MEC Baseball Top Honors
Player of the Year: Tyler Dellerman (Charleston) Pitcher of the Year: Andrew Neff (Concord) Freshman of the Year: William Balgo (West Liberty) Coach of the Year: Kevin Garrett (Concord)