COLLEGE BASEBALL: Tar Heels' McGee named Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball

By Staff Reports
Published in Sports on June 8, 2017 6:56 AM

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CHAPEL HILL -- North Carolina rookie Ashton McGee earned a spot on the 2017 Freshmen All-American team selected by Collegiate Baseball on Wednesday.

The Pikeville native helped lead the Tar Heels to the Coastal Division title in Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season play, a runner-up finish in the ACC tournament and the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

UNC missed the postseason in 2015 and 2016.

McGee started 57 games at second base and designated hitter. He hit .327 with 10 doubles and seven home runs.

"It's a big honor to be recognized as a freshman All-American along with some of the greatest players in the country...is just a blessing," said McGee, who was named the ACC freshman-of-the-year.

"Coming into the season I wasn't thinking about any of these awards and just wanted to help my team win in any way possible."

Hitting in the 3-hole, McGee started all 30 games in ACC action and emerged as the team leader in nearly every offensive category. He posted the second-highest batting average (.333) on the team during conference play.

McGee's season-ending line -- .327 batting average, 73 hits, 46 RBI, .484 slugging percentage, 36 walks, .417 on-base percentage and a .943 fielding percentage with just two errors.

"Honestly, I don't think I'd be in this situation and have these awards if it wasn't for the leadership I had from Adam Pate, Logan Warmoth and Zack Gahagan none of this would be possible," said McGee, who enrolled in school in January. "Just watching them in practice and learning from them has helped me in my experience a lot."

Joining McGee on the Freshmen A-A squad were Tar Heel teammates Gianluca Dalatri and Josh Hiatt. Dalatri logged a 7-3 record and 3.34 earned run average (ERA) on the mound in 15 starts.

Hiatt, who hails from Charlotte, filed 13 saves that included a microscopic 0.29 ERA against ACC opposition. He secured all three saves during the Tar Heels' season-opening series sweep of Kentucky, which advanced to the super regional in the NCAA tournament.

UNC ended the year 49-14 overall.