Wednesday, February 02, 2005

(Feb. 2, 2005) - East Tennessee State senior catcher/right-handed pitcher Caleb Moore (Knoxville, Tenn.) and junior first baseman Blake Church (Roswell, Ga.) were named to the preseason All-Southern Conference baseball team, announced Tuesday afternoon from Spartanburg, S.C.

            Moore is the first-team all-conference selection at catcher. He will be looking to repeat on one of the best seasons in Southern Conference history, as he led the nation with a .455 batting average and .60 doubles per game in 2004. Moore also led the SoCon in slugging percentatge (.752) and was second in on-base percentage (.509), third in total bases (152) and fourth in hits (92). In addition, Moore hit nine home runs with 45 RBIs and 59 runs scored. He also served as the Buccaneer closer last season, going 2-0 with six saves.

            Following the season, Moore was named SoCon Player of the Year by the league's coaches and media and was a second-team Louisville Slugger All-American. Caleb has been named a first-team preseason Louisville Slugger All-American for the 2005 season.

            Church was selected as the second-team All-SoCon first baseman. Blake had a breakout season in 2004, hitting .353 while leading the team with 53 RBIs. He also hit eight home runs and 15 doubles while scoring 40 runs. Church is also widely regarded as the best defensive first baseman in the conference after posting a .989 fielding percentage last season.

            The Bucs open their 2005 season on Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. as they host Niagara in the first of a three-game weekend series at Cardinal Park in Johnson City, Tenn. For ticket information, contact the Buccaneer ticket office at 423-439-ETSU (3878).

First-Team All-Southern Conference

P          Ryan Edell, College of Charleston

P          Reid Price, College of Charleston

RP       Brett Harker, College of Charleston

C         Caleb Moore, East Tennessee State

1B        Greg Dowling, Georgia Southern

2B        Gary Morris, Elon

SS        A.J. Davidiuk, Furman

3B        Jess Easterling, College of Charleston

OF       Byron Barber, College of Charleston

OF       Brett Gardner, College of Charleston

OF       Grant Rembert, Elon

DH       Brett Anderson, College of Charleston

Second-Team All-Southern Conference

P          Ken Egleton, The Citadel

P          Chris Mason, UNC Greensboro

RP       Jay Heafner, Davidson

C         Jared Greenwood, Western Carolina

1B        Blake Church, East Tennessee State

2B        Jon Aughey, The Citadel

SS        Matt Matulia, The Citadel

3B        Chris Davis, Western Carolina

OF       James Payne, Georgia Southern

OF       Josh Stackley, The Citadel

OF       Phillip Coker, College of Charleston

DH       Mark Egleton, The Citadel