SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The 2019 Southern Conference regular-season baseball champion, Samford, was voted to win the 2021 SoCon title by the league’s eight coaches and media in this year’s preseason polls. The coaches voted Samford’s Brooks Carlson as preseason player of the year and Wofford junior Hayes Heinecke as preseason pitcher of the year, along with naming a pair of preseason all-conference teams.
All eight SoCon baseball schools were represented on the preseason teams. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams or players. There are 13 players on the first team and 14 players on the second team due to ties in voting.
The Bulldogs garnered 48 points and six first-place votes in the coaches poll and 83 points and seven first-place votes from the media to sit atop both polls. This season marks Samford’s third straight year as the media’s preseason favorite, after a 2020 season that was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bulldogs went 41-19 overall and 19-5 in SoCon action during the 2019 season and finished the shortened 2020 campaign 13-2 overall, atop the league’s standings.
Samford placed a league-high seven players on this year’s two preseason all-conference teams, which includes 2021 Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-American, SoCon Preseason Player of the Year and first-team preseason all-conference selection Brooks Carlson. The second baseman ranked second in the nation last season in batting with a .500 average and led the conference in the category. Carlson also led the conference in hits (25), walks (20) and on-base percentage (.644). He ranked third in the league in RBIs (19) and fourth in total bases (38). Joining Carlson on the first-team preseason all-conference squad are Samuel Strickland at starting pitcher and Sonny DiChiara at first base. Strickland maintained an impressive 1.17 earned run average and struck out 30 batters in 2020, while only allowing one walk on the season. He ranked fourth in the SoCon in fewest runs allowed (four), and tied for fourth in wins (three). DiChiara started in all 15 games of the Bulldogs’ COVID-shortened season with a .328 batting average. The sophomore from Hoover, Alabama, was second in the conference in RBIs (21). Samford placed four on the second-team preseason all-conference squad in Zach Hester (starting pitcher), Kaden Dreier (catcher), Ayrton Schafer (outfield) and Tyler McManus (designated hitter).
Mercer, the 2019 SoCon tournament champion, placed second in both polls, earning 43 points and one first-place vote from the coaches and 73 points and three first-place votes from the media. The Bears are represented on this year’s preseason second team by infielders Angelo Dispigna (first baseman) and RJ Yeager (shortstop) and outfielders Colby Thomas and Brandon Michie. Dispigna started in all 16 games last season and batted .328 average on the season with two home runs. Yeager finished third on the team with 11 RBIs and posted an on-base percentage of .434, while also tying for first in the SoCon in assists (46). Thomas, who is the only freshman that was voted onto a preseason team, earned Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American honors last season after starting in all 16 games and led the Bears with nine doubles, five home runs, 23 hits and 18 RBIs. The Valdosta, Georgia, native had at least one hit in 13 of 16 games in which he played. Rounding out the preseason team for Mercer is Michie, who led the team with a .339 batting average and on-base percentage of .443 with seven walks.
Wofford came in third with 65 points on the media poll and one first-place vote, and tied for third in the coaches poll with 32 points alongside UNCG, who received the coaches’ remaining first-place vote. The Terriers lead the conference with four first-team selections in starting pitcher Hayes Heinecke, shortstop Matty Brown, outfielder Colin Davis and designated hitter Lawson Hill. Heinecke, a left-hander and the 2021 preseason pitcher of the year, led Wofford with 25 2/3 innings pitched and 36 strikeouts, which was third in the conference during the shortened 2020 season. The junior from Fayetteville, Georgia, had a 1.75 ERA and allowed zero triples or home runs last season after being named to the 2020 preseason All-SoCon first team. In 2019, Heinecke was named freshman of the year and earned Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-America honors. This year’s preseason honor marks Brown’s second season being named to the All-SoCon first team, after batting a .233 average with seven hits and four runs scored last season. Davis had the second-most runs scored (20) and third-most home runs (four) in the SoCon in 2020, along with a team-high 23 hits. The Roswell, Georgia, senior started in all 17 games and slugged .591, which ranked fifth in the league. Senior Lawson Hill led the team with a .467 batting average, which ranked second in the SoCon. Hill also had 21 hits, 15 runs scored and 12 RBIs. Junior John Dempsey represents the Terriers on the second team at first base.
UNCG also placed third in the coaches poll with 32 points and one first-place vote and was slotted to finish fourth by the media with 54 points. The Spartans are represented on the preseason All-SoCon second team by Austin Koehn (starting pitcher), Zack Budzik (third base) and Greg Hardison (outfield).
ETSU and Western Carolina tied for fifth in the coaches poll with 23 points each, while ETSU took fifth in the media poll with 46 points and Western Carolina in sixth with 32 points. ETSU posted a 37-21 (14-12 SoCon) record in 2019 and finished with a 12-3 record last season. ETSU’s Jake Lyle (third base) and Jake Madole (designated hitter) were recognized on the all-conference first team, while senior relief pitcher Matt Mercer was named to the second team.
Western Carolina tied with Samford for the second-most preseason first-team all-conference selections with three players. 2020 Preseason All-SoCon Player of the Year Justice Bigbie (outfield) is joined by Zach Franklin (relief pitcher) and Luke Robinson (catcher) as the three Catamounts on the preseason team.
The Citadel was voted to finish seventh by both the media and coaches. Tyler Corbitt, who was a member of the 2019 SoCon All-Freshman team, landed on the second-team preseason squad at second base.
VMI rounded out the coaches and media polls in eighth, with redshirt sophomore outfielder Will Knight earning a spot on the preseason All-SoCon first team. Knight shared the SoCon lead last season with Samford’s Carlson in hits (25) and held the league’s fifth-highest batting average (.431).
The 2021 baseball opening weekend begins on Feb. 19 with all eight teams in action. The regular season ends the weekend of May 21, before the 2021 SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases takes place at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina, from May 27-29.
Preseason Coaches Poll
Team (First-Place Votes) Points
1. Samford (6) 48
2. Mercer (1) 43
3. UNCG (1) 32
Wofford 32
5. ETSU 23
Western Carolina 23
7. The Citadel 13
8. VMI 10
Preseason Media Poll
Team (First-Place Votes) Points
1. Samford (7) 83
2. Mercer (3) 73
3. Wofford (1) 65
4. UNCG 54
5. ETSU 46
6. Western Carolina 32
7. The Citadel 30
8. VMI 13
2021 Preseason All-Southern Conference
Preseason Player of the Year
Brooks Carlson, Jr., 2B, Samford
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Hayes Heinecke, Jr., Wofford
Preseason First-Team All-SoCon
SP Sam Strickland, Jr., Samford
SP Hayes Heinecke, Jr., Wofford
RP Zach Franklin, Jr., Western Carolina
C Luke Robinson, Sr., Western Carolina
1B Sonny DiChiara, So., Samford
2B Brooks Carlson, Jr., Samford
SS Matty Brown, Jr., Wofford
3B Jake Lyle, Sr., ETSU
OF Will Knight, R-So., VMI
OF Justice Bigbie, Jr., Western Carolina
OF Colin Davis, Sr., Wofford
DH Jake Madole, Sr., ETSU
DH Lawson Hill, Sr., Wofford
Preseason Second-Team All-SoCon
SP Austin Koehn, R-So., UNCG
SP Zach Hester, Sr., Samford
RP Matt Mercer, Sr., ETSU
C Kaden Dreier, So., Samford
1B Angelo Dispigna, So., Mercer
1B John Dempsey, Jr., Wofford
2B Tyler Corbitt, So., The Citadel
SS RJ Yeager, Jr., Mercer
3B Zack Budzik, R-So., UNCG
OF Brandon Michie, R-Sr., Mercer
OF Colby Thomas, Fr., Mercer
OF Greg Hardison, R-Jr., UNCG
OF Ayrton Schafer, Sr., Samford
DH Tyler McManus, Jr., Samford
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