Dodgers draftee Seager wins top honor

By Langston Wertz Jr.
lwertz@charlotteobserver.com

Posted: Friday, Jun. 22, 2012

More Information

Final 2012 Observer Sweet 16 baseball poll
2012 All Observer Baseball Team

First Team

P: Trent Thornton, Ardrey Kell, Sr.: UNC signee was 8-1 with 1.05 ERA with two saves and two complete games. Had 119 strikeouts in 73 innings and allowed opponents to hit .158. Co-Southwestern 4A player of the year.

P: Ty Buttrey, Providence, Sr.: Fourth-round MLB draft pick (Red Sox), Buttrey regularly throws at 97 mph.

C: Andrew MacLatchie, Providence, Sr.: Furman recruit was all-Southwestern 4A pick on team that was nationally ranked for much of the season.

INF: Corey Seager, NW Cabarrus, Sr.: No. 18 overall pick in MLB draft (Dodgers), Seager was the N.C. Gatorade player of the year. Hit .519 with 10 HR and 37 RBIs.

INF: Stephen Wallace, South Stanly, Sr: Hit .441 with 41 RBIs with eight home runs for the N.C. 1A state champs.

INF: Johnny Piedmonte, Hough, Sr.: 6-8 first baseman hit .402 with eight doubles, five homers and 23 RBIs for Western Regional 4A champions.

INF: Jeremy Schellhorn, Weddington, Jr.: Third baseman, a Charlotte 49ers commitment, helped his team win the N.C. 3A championship. Hit .435 with four HR and 27 RBIs

OF: Michael Herbert, Providence, Sr.: Co-Southwestern 4A player of the year was also Panthers’ No. 2 pitcher.

OF: Nick Triplett, Crest, Sr.: Hit .479 with 10 doubles, two triples, two home runs, 13 RBIs; 11-2 as pitcher with 1.00 ERA. Big South 3A player of the year.

UT: Alex Bostic, Weddington, Jr.: Clemson recruit led his team to 3A state title. Finished 11-0 as a 6-4 left handed pitcher; hit .400 with eight home runs, 30 RBIs and scored 26 runs.

Player of the Year: Corey Seager, NW Cabarrus

Coach of the Year: Jimmy Cochran, Hough

Second Team

P: Nathan Helvey, Fort Mill, Sr.

P: Brandon Gragilla, Hough, Jr.

C: Andrew Knight, Weddington, Sr.

INF: Tyler Chadwick, Marvin Ridge, Sr.

INF: Russ Weiker, South Stanly, Jr.

INF: Ryder Ryan, North Mecklenburg, So.

INF: Kirk Morgan, Mallard Creek, Jr.

OF: Chase Gehringer, Butler, Sr.

OF: Joe Bertone, Hopewell, Sr.

OF: Grayson Short, South Stanly, Sr.

UT: Bailey Ober, Charlotte Christian, Jr

Third Team

P: Sean Grant, West Iredell, Sr.

P: Brad Stone, Ardrey Kell, Sr.

C: Jamie Dey, Olympic, Sr.

INF: Matt Simmons, Charlotte Christian, Jr.

INF: Will Grier, Davidson Day, So.

INF: Jackson Campana, Providence, Sr.

INF: Eddie Hull, Charlotte Catholic, Sr.

OF: Andrew Loepprich, Charlotte Country Day, So.

OF: Travis Wall, Olympic, Sr.

OF: Tristan Baker, Hopewell, Fr.

UT: Reilly Hovis, Forestview, Sr.

This season, Northwest Cabarrus shortstop Corey Seager seems to be everybody’s All-American.

ESPN and Gatorade named him the top player in the state. The Los Angeles Dodgers picked him 18th overall in the Major League draft and will likely make him a millionaire soon.

Today, Seager wins another award: the 2012 Charlotte Observer All-Observer player of the year. That signifies him as the top player in the newspaper’s 131-school coverage area in North and South Carolina.

The Observer annually selects all-star teams in select sports throughout the season. Players must be nominated to earn a spot on the team by their coaches. A panel of Observer sportswriters selects the teams.

This season, Seager, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound senior, hit .519 with 10 home runs and 37 RBIs. He led his team to a 23-5 record and a second-round appearance in the N.C. 3A playoffs. He stole 13 bases.

• The All-Observer coach of the year is Hough’s Jimmy Cochran, who led the second-year school through an amazing playoff run in which Hough won four one-run games and advanced to the N.C. 4A state championship series.

• Cochran doubles as the Observer’s coach of the year in Mecklenburg County. The Mecklenburg player of the year is Ardrey Kell pitcher Trent Thornton, a North Carolina signee who was 8-1 as a pitcher with a 1.05 ERA. He struck out 119 batters and allowed opponents to hit .158 against him.

• Seager doubles as the all-region player of the year. The All-Region coach of the year is Travis Poole, whose team didn’t win a conference title but outscored playoff opponents 56-12 and won a N.C. 3A state championship. It was Weddington’s first and only the fourth state title for a Union County team in 51 years.

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