The 2008 Southwestern Athletic Conference Baseball All-Conference team votes have been tallied and Prairie View A&M’s Myrio Richard was named Player of the Year while Jackson State’s Charles Williams was named Pitcher of the Year. Joel Del Grande of Alcorn State took both Newcomer of the Year and Outstanding Hitter of the Year honors and Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s Matt Pace was selected as Freshman of the Year
Richard, a 6-2, 190-lb sophomore infielder is ranked second in the SWAC in home runs with nine and third in runs scored with 49. He is also ranked fourth in RBIs with 43. The Lake Charles, La. native was named SWAC Player of the Week once this season after posting a .611 batting average on the week with 11 hits, seven runs and three doubles.
Williams leads the conference in wins (10) and batters struck out (72). The 6-2, 185 lb. junior also leads the SWAC in inning pitched (81.1) and has an earned run average of 4.32 (5th in the SWAC). He was named SWAC Pitcher of the Week during the week of March 18 where he pitched a full game and allowed four hits with eight batters struck out and an ERA of 1.60.
Del Grande, a 5-10, 185-lb junior has the second best batting average in the SWAC (.432) and is ranked second in doubles with 18. He has hammered 18 doubles (2nd in the SWAC) on the season and 42 RBI. The Scarborough, Canada native also has a slugging percentage of .636 and 42 RBIs.
Pace led the conference in doubles with 23. The 6-0, 190-lb freshman third baseman from Warren, Ark. compiled a .369 batting average on the season and knocked in 40 RBIs and blasted five home runs.
Jackson State led all teams with five first and second team selections. Grambling State and Alcorn State each had four while Prairie View A&M, Southern and Texas Southern have three players each. Arkansas-Pine Bluff finished out the group with two all-conference selections.
2008 SWAC Baseball All-Conference Team
FIRST TEAM
P – Mario Jefferson, Grambling (6-1, 170, Sr., Lancaster, TX)
P – Charles Williams, Jackson St. (6-2, 185, Jr., East St. Louis, IL)
P – Jarrett Maloy, Southern (6-1, 180, R-So., Tallahassee, FL.)
C – Michael Thomas, Southern (6-4, 220, So., Houston, TX)
1B – Myrio Richard, Prairie View (6-2, 190, So., Lake Charles, LA)
2B – Enrique Quintero, Jackson St. (5-7, 155, Sr., Miami Beach, FL)
SS – LaDerek Camper, Jackson State (5-10, 175, Jr., Jackson, MS)
3B – Romey Bracey, Southern (5-10, 180, Jr., 3B, Chicago, IL)
DH – Mychal Roby, Grambling (6-4, 215, R-So., Colorado Springs, CO)
OF – Jabari Graham, Alcorn State (6-0, 210, Jr., Tacoma Park, MA)
OF – Jerome McCollum, Ark.-Pine Bluff (5-9, 185, Jr., Pine Bluff, AR)
OF – Brent Smith, Grambling (5-11, 180, Jr., Shreveport, LA)
SECOND TEAM
P – Tony Gonzales, Alcorn State (6-0, 170, Jr., Littleton, CO)
P – Wrandal Taylor, Prairie View (5-11, 195, Sr., Beaumont, TX)
P – Rashad Ford, Texas Southern (6-1, 180, Sr., Wharton, TX)
C – David Reed, Alcorn State (6-0, 205, So., Chicago, IL)
1B – Earnest Rhone, Texas Southern (6-0, 190, Jr., Texarkana, TX)
2B – Brandon Williams, Grambling (5-6, 150, Jr., Chicago, IL)
SS – Reggie Barker, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (5-8, 175, Sr., Chicago, IL)
3B – Jerome Tyes, Jackson State (5-9, 190, Jr., Baldwyn, MS)
DH – Joel Del Grande, Alcorn State (5-10, 185, Jr., Scarborough, CAN)
OF – Cortez Cole, Jackson State (5-10, 180, So., Shannon, MS)
OF – Brandon Kendricks, Prairie View (6-3, 195, Jr., De Soto, TX)
OF – Deshaun Dilworth, Texas Southern (5-11, 175, Jr., Vallejo, CA)
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Matt Pace, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (6-0, 190, 3B, Warren, AR)
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Joel Del Grande, Alcorn State (5-10, 185, Jr., Scarborough, CAN)
OUTSTANDING HITTER OF THE YEAR
Joel Del Grande, Alcorn State (5-10, 185, Jr., Scarborough, CAN)
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Charles Williams, Jackson State (6-2, 185, Jr., East St. Louis, IL)
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Myrio Richard, Prairie View A&M (6-2, 190, So., Lake Charles, LA)
