January 25, 2016

Apicella tabbed preseason first-team All-SAC, second-team NCBWA All-Region

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Senior southpaw Vince Apicella (Dillsburg, Pa.) was honored by the South Atlantic Conference Monday morning as a preseason first-team all-conference selection. Apicella is the first Carson-Newman pitcher since Austin Bridgewater in 2011 to be named a preseason first-team honoree.

2016 NCBWA All-Southeast Region Teams

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Senior southpaw Vince Apicella (Dillsburg, Pa.) was honored by the South Atlantic Conference Monday morning as a preseason first-team all-conference selection. Apicella is the first Carson-Newman pitcher since Austin Bridgewater in 2011 to be named a preseason first-team honoree.

To go along with the league honor the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association put Apicella named the hurler a second-team All-Southeast Region honoree.

The senior is coming off of a campaign where he was a second-team All-SAC pick and All-Southeast Region picks by the American Baseball Coaches Association, second-team, and NCBWA, honorable mention.

"I just hope to carry them over into the season," Apicella said. "I don't expect anything less than out of the season from all of the guys. It's my last year so [I want] to improve all of my pitches and try to get better in all aspects of the game."

The left-hander hurled six complete games as a junior tying the program's NCAA record, since 1994, equalizing Ben Deaton (1998) and Brett Hontz (2008). Apicella ranked fourth in the nation with 111 strikeouts a year ago as he finished the season with the second-most punch outs by a Carson-Newman flamethrower since joining the NCAA ranks.

While striking out 10 or more batters seven times in 2015, he recorded a 7-5 overall record with a 3.70 earned run average.

Apicella was twice named the conference's pitcher of the week in 2015. His first honor came on Feb. 7 as he struck out 13 batters in a complete game, three-hit shutout of eventual national-runners up Catawba. In the game, the hurler outdueled the National Pitcher of the Year, Craig Brooks, and 2015 seventh-round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs.

His second plaudit came a week later as he two-hit Brevard on Valentine's Day punching out 13 in a complete game victory.

Opponents are hitting .233 against Apicella over his first two seasons at Mossy Creek as the lefty has 10 wins and needs 42 punch outs for 200 in his career.

Over the summer, the lefty was named a second-team All-American by Perfect Game for his work with the Geneva Red Wings of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. The Dillsburg, Pa. native went 7-0 with a 0.29 ERA in eight games racking up two shutouts with 77 strikeouts in 61 innings during the 2015 summer.

The Eagles hit the road for their first contest of the season when Carson-Newman travels to Gaffney, S.C. to challenge the Limestone Saints in a game scheduled for a 2 p.m. first pitch on Feb. 2. Broadcast coverage commences at 1:50 p.m. on cneagles.com/live on the Eagle Sports Network.

FIRST TEAM

C – Will Albertson	Catawba
1B – Steven Cooper	Anderson
2B – Shane Billings	Wingate
SS – Ryan Perkins	Lenoir-Rhyne
3B – Matthew De La Rosa	Lenoir-Rhyne
OF – JoJo Bradley	Newberry
OF – Rayshelon Carolina	Mars Hill
OF – Wes Niederland	Lincoln Memorial
DH – Bradley Brown	Wingate
RP – Devan Watts	Tusculum
SP – Shaefer Shepard	Catawba
SP – Placido Torres	Tusculum
SP – Vince Apicella	Carson-Newman

SECOND TEAM

C – Jack Leech	Coker
1B – Hunter Donaldson	Brevard
2B – Jeovanny Tolentino	Tusculum
SS – Evan Rogers	Mars Hill
3B – John Topoleski	Tusculum
OF – Colby Barnett	Wingate
OF – Bill Krebs	Wingate
OF – Marcus Shoemaker	Lenoir-Rhyne
DH – Dalton Eisenbath	Mars Hill
RP – Daniel Nations	Newberry
SP – Ethan Carpenter	Tusculum
SP – Hunter Hamilton	Wingate
SP – Brandon Jean	Lincoln Memorial