SFA Places Three On Preseason Team
1/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Jan. 25, 2011
FRISCO, Texas - The Southland Conference announced its annual preseason all-conference teams and polls on Tuesday with SFA picked to finish fifth in the 12-team league in both the Coaches' and SID polls, while Tyler Herriage, Darren Crabtree and Garrett Smith were selected to the preseason all-SLC teams.
The fifth-place tab is the highest preseason rank SFA has earned since the program's return in 2006 and comes on the heels of a historic 2010 season that saw the `Jacks put together a 34-20 record and finish fourth in the regular season, sitting as little as 1.5 games out of first place with two weeks remaining in the season.
The top five in both polls are identical with Texas State being the consensus pick in both polls to reel off its third consecutive league crown. Southeastern Louisiana is tabbed as the league's No. 2 team and Lamar, Northwestern State and SFA rounding out the top five.
Head coach Johnny Cardenas was named the league's coach of the year at the conclusion of the campaign in just his second season as skipper and is only dealing with the loss of three seniors from last year's squad. The `Jacks had the most potent offense in the SLC in 2010, leading the league in team batting average, slugging percentage and doubles.
Each of SFA's three preseason all-conference picks were automatic selections after earning all-league honors at the end of 2010. Senior lefty Tyler Herriage joins Texas State's Carson Smith and Northwestern State's Luke Irvine as the three pitchers on the first team after leading the SLC with a 2.89 ERA and going 8-4 in holding down the Friday slot in the SFA rotation. He was a second team all-SLC selection following the year and was subsequently also named to the all-Southwest Region second team by the ABCA.
Seniors Crabtree and Smith were each third team selections in 2010 and find themselves on the preseason second team at the opening of 2011. Crabtree led the `Jacks with 10 home runs last season, hitting .309 and driving in 49 runs with a .576 slugging percentage. His breakout weekend came in the conference-opening weekend at Central Arkansas when he went 7-for-12 with a pair of homers and 12 RBI in the sweep of the Bears. That weekend was anchored by a Saturday 6-for-6 performance that included eight RBI, setting SFA single-game records for both hits and RBI.
As for Smith, he was a steady presence in center field and for SFA all season long, making 52 starts and finishing seventh in the SLC with a .368 batting average. The everyday leadoff hitter for the `Jacks, he was one of four SFA hitters with better than a .430 on-base percentage and even slugged at a .500 clip in large part to 17 doubles for the year, just one shy of the SFA single-season record. A menace on the basepaths as well, Smith swiped 14-of-20 attempted bases and only committed two errors in more than 140 chances in center field.
The Lumberjacks open up the 2011 campaign on Feb. 18 when they open up a four-game weekend series at home against Arkansas-Little Rock.
-SFA-
