Conference Carolinas Places Seven on NCBWA Division II All-America Teams
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The 2023 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) NCAA Division II All-America Teams have been announced and Conference Carolinas had seven student-athletes honored.
North Greenville led the way with four honorees while Erskine had two student-athletes recognized and Barton had one.
Barton’s Tanner Halvorson earned first team All-American honors as a starting pitcher. The 2023 Conference Carolinas Pitcher of the Year, Halvorson finished the season 11-2 in 14 starts with 10 complete-games and a 1.71 ERA in 95 innings pitched. The first team All-Conference, D2CCA, NCBWA and ABCA/Rawlings All-Region selection struck out 79 batters and allowed a .220 average this season. He led the league in ERA, opponent batting average, innings pitched and runs allowed (22) while he was second in wins and third in strikeouts. He also hit .339 in 50 games this season with a team-best 55 runs scored and 36 RBIs with 20 doubles. He was also named D2CCA third team utility (non-pitcher) All-American last week.
Pat Monteith of North Greenville earned NCBWA second team outfield honors while his teammate Reece Fields earned third team starting pitcher accolades. John Michael Faile was honorable mention catcher while David Lewis was named honorable mention utility.
Monteith, a second team ABCA/Rawlings All-American, first team All-Conference, NCBWA and ABCA/Rawlings All-Region selection, has helped lead the Crusaders to the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division II Baseball National Championship. A junior from Charleston, South Carolina, Monteith is hitting a team-best .381 with a league-leading 89 runs scored and 51 RBIs with 19 home runs and 12 doubles this season. He is also 17-for-22 stealing bases and went 2-for-3 in leading the Crusaders to a 4-1 win at the national championship.
A redshirt junior from West Columbia, South Carolina, right-handed pitcher Reece Fields has won a league-best 13 games and leads the league in innings pitched (96.1) and strikeouts (109) with a 4.58 ERA and a .239 opponent batting average. He started NGU’s first game of the national championship on Sunday night and allowed one run on two hits with three walks and eight strikeouts over seven innings.
Faile, a senior catcher from Boiling Springs, South Carolina, is hitting .342 with a league-leading 20 home runs and 86 RBIs. The NCAA Division II career home run (81) and RBI (339) leader was also a first team NCBWA All-Region and second team All-Conference and ABCA/Rawlings All-Region selection. He is second on the team with 59 runs scored and drove in the game-winning runs in Sunday’s world series opener.
A sophomore from Blue Ridge, South Carolina, Lewis is hitting .372 this season with 61 RBIs and 51 runs scored with 15 doubles and 18 home runs. He was also a first team All-Conference, NCBWA and ABCA/Rawlings All-Region selection and a third team ABCA/Rawlings All-American.
Erskine designated hitter Christian Rivera and second baseman Ashby Smith took home honorable mention accolades. Rivera, a junior from Winter Haven, Florida, hit .348 in 2023 and ranked second on the team with 55 runs and 51 RBIs with 16 home runs and 12 doubles. He was also a first team All-Conference, D2CCA, NCBWA and ABCA/Rawlings All-Region and third team ABCA/Rawlings All-American selection. A senior from Gaffney, South Carolina, Smith led the league with 24 doubles and finished second in hitting with a .398 average. He drove in a team-best 63 runs and scored 36 times for the Flying Fleet with 11 home runs. He also was a first team All-Conference, ABCA/Rawlings, D2CCA and NCBWA All-Region honoree.
The full NCBWA All-America teams are available here.