Three Trojans on All South Alantic team

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on May 18, 2006 2:07 PM

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MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. -- Josh Carter was named to the first team, while David Cooper and Justin Staatz earned second team honors on the 2006 ABCA Division II All-South Atlantic Region Baseball Team, as selected by members of the American Baseball Coaches Association.

The All-Region Team was announced on the eve of the NCAA II South Atlantic Regional, in which Mount Olive is the No. 6 seed.

Carter and Staatz earned All-Region honors for the second year in a row.

By being named to the first team, Carter is eligible for All-America consideration.

Carter, a junior first baseman and graduate of Eastern Wayne, was named to the All-Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference First Team for the second consecutive year. Carter has a .397 batting average and is tied for 29th in the nation with 65 runs batted in. Carter recorded a team-high 16-game hitting streak during the season and earned CVAC Player of the Week honors in March.

Cooper, a sophomore shortstop from Edmonton, Alberta, earned All-CVAC first team honors in his first year as a Trojan. Cooper ranks second in the nation with 12 triples and ranks among the top 20 nationally with 39 stolen bases and 68 runs scored. Cooper, who was named to the All-CVAC Tournament Team, ranks second in the CVAC with a .405 batting average.

Staatz, a senior from Woodstock, Md., is also a two-time All-CVAC first team selection. Staatz (8-4) ranks second in the CVAC with a 2.87 earned run average. He has 82 strikeouts in 781/3 innings pitched this season. Staatz, who has won each of his last four starts, was the winning pitcher in the first round of the CVAC Tournament and pitched three scoreless innings of relief in the championship game.

Mount Olive (39-14) opens play today against top-seeded and tournament host Georgia College and State in the first round of regional. Game time is 3 p.m.

The Trojans are making their sixth appearance in the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship and first since 2000. Mount Olive, which is ranked No. 29 in this week's Collegiate Baseball Division II Top 30, reached the South Atlantic Regional five consecutive years from 1996-2000.

The South Atlantic Regional is the only one of the eight regionals in which all six teams are nationally ranked.

The double-elimination regional runs through Sunday, with the winner advancing to the national finals May 27-June 3 in Montgomery, Ala.