WISE - - A pair of baseball student-athletes at UVA Wise received recognition from the South Atlantic Conference when the league announced its end of the season awards Wednesday. Senior catcher Tyler Blaum was named to the SAC All-Defensive Team while also being named First-Team All-SAC. Fellow senior Gabe Wurtz earned Second-Team All-SAC accolades in the outfield.

A native of Mechanicsville, Va., Blaum is one of the more accomplished players in program history. The senior finished his career with the most hits by any catcher in school history with 206, the number ranks fourth overall. Meanwhile, his 50 career doubles rank third in program history and his 122 runs scored ranks fifth.

This season, Blaum led the Cavaliers with a .362 batting average while also posting a team-best 13 doubles and a team-high 42 hits; his 0.42 doubles per game were the most in the SAC

Behind the plate he was consistently the best defensive catcher in the league. The senior played error free ball in 2021 while throwing out 11-of-24 would be base stealers. His defensive work was highlighted by his play in a doubleheader against Coker when he threw out three base stealers in one game while throwing out four in the doubleheader.

This marks the second time Blaum has been named first-team all-conference, he also earned the award in 2019 when UVA Wise was a member of the Mountain East Conference.

Wurtz capped his collegiate career by being one of the better hitters in the SAC. The Deatsville, Ala. Product led the league in on base percentage (.519) and slugging percentage (.811) in a senior season that saw him post a .344/.519/.811 slash line with 12 homers and 29 RBI. One of the hardest outs in the league, Wurtz walked 30 times and was hit six more times against just 20 strikeouts this spring.

His .519 on base percentage is tied for the third best single-season performance in school history and his .811 slugging percentage is the second highest in program history. Both are the best for any Cavalier since the school joined NCAA Division II.

Overall, the centerfielder led the team in homers (12), RBI (29), total bases (73), runs (29) and walks (30) in addition to his league leading on base and slugging numbers.

Both Blaum and Wurtz are set to graduate from UVA Wise next month with both having already accepted a professional tryout.

The complete All-SAC Baseball Teams may be found below:

All-SAC First Team

OF – Drue Galassi, Lenoir-Rhyne

OF – Brandon Trammell, Tusculum

OF – Tyler Thompson, Carson-Newman

1B – Hunter Shepherd, Catawba

2B – Daulton Martin, Tusculum

SS – Jeremy Simpson, Catawba

3B – Cameron Mills, Catawba

C – Tyler Blaum, Virginia-Wise

DH – Trey Hinton, Tusculum

SP – Bryan Ketchie, Catawba

SP – Joshua Lanham, Lenoir-Rhyne

SP – Brayden Coe, Carson-Newman

RP – Brody McCullough, Wingate

 

All-SAC Second Team

OF – Gabe Wurtz, Virginia-Wise

OF – E.J. Ranel, Lenoir-Rhyne

OF – Lee Poteat, Catawba

1B – Benjamin Huber, Limestone

2B – Joe Butts, Catawba

SS – Bryson Ford, Tusculum

3B – Tyler Lala, Mars Hill

C – Cameron Morrison, Catawba

DH – Dylan Wilkinson, Catawba

SP – Andrew Patrick, Lenoir-Rhyne

SP – Hunter Dula, Wingate

SP – Greg Brown, Catawba
RP – Robbie Cowie, Catawba

 

Honorable Mentions

OF – Jack Harris, Newberry

OF – Alex Cornell, Limestone

OF – Josh Evans, Limestone

1B – Luke Orr, Newberry

2B – McCann Mellett, Wingate

SS – Michael Dansky, Wingate

3B – Aidan Baur, Newberry

C – Logan McNeely, Wingate

DH – Drew Klaserner, Coker

SP – Alex Shirzai, Lenoir-Rhyne

SP –Tomas Sorcia Jr., Newberry

SP - Gunner Becker, Tusculum

RP – Mitch McCain, Tusculum

 

All-Defensive Team

RF – Lee Poteat, Catawba

CF – Bryce Butler, Catawba

LF – Alex Cornell, Limestone

1B – Hunter Shepherd, Catawba

2B – Lake Lybrand, Coker

SS – Jeremy Simpson, Catawba

3B – Cameron Mills, Catawba

C – Tyler Blaum, Virginia-Wise

P – Bryan Ketchie, Catawba

 

Player of the Year

Hunter Shepherd, Catawba

 

Pitcher of the Year

Bryan Ketchie, Catawba

 

Freshman of the Year

Joshua Lanham, Lenoir-Rhyne

 

Coach of the Year

Jim Gantt, Catawba

Statistical Champions

Team Batting Average – Catawba (.334)

Team Slugging Percentage – Tusculum (.532)

Team On-Base Percentage – Tusculum (.449)

Team Doubles Per Game – Tusculum (2.08)

Team Triples Per Game – Limestone (0.36)

Team Home Runs Per Game – Lenoir-Rhyne (1.55)

Team Stolen Bases Per Game – Newberry (2.29)

Team Earned Run Average – Lenoir-Rhyne (3.55)

Team Strikeouts Per Game – Lenoir-Rhyne (10.3)

Batting Average – Benjamin Huber, Limestone (.439)

On-Base Percentage – Gabe Wurtz, UVA Wise (.519)

Slugging Percentage – Gabe Wurtz, UVA Wise (.811)

Home Runs Per Game – Drue Galassi, Lenoir-Rhyne (0.37)

RBIs Per Game – Brandon Trammell, Tusculum (1.50)

Doubles Per Game – Tyler Blaum, UVA Wise (0.42)

Triples Per Game – Alex Cornell, Limestone (0.13)

Stolen Bases Per Game – Nick Butler, Newberry (0.71)

Earned Run Average – Brody McCullough (1.31)

Strikeouts Per Nine Innings – Joshua Lanham (13.17)

Pitching Victories – Bryan Ketchie, Catawba (8)