Centre puts six on All-SCAC Baseball Team

For only the fourth time in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) era, the Centre College baseball team has had six players named to the All-SCAC Baseball Team with three earning first team recognition and three others named to the honorable mention team as announced by the SCAC Monday, May 21.

Seniors Eric Moore (Bowling Green, Ky.) and Andy Placido (Nicholasville, Ky.) and sophomore Jake Jones (Griffin, Ga.) each earned first team status, while senior Kyle Rakes (Ashland, Ky.), sophomore Jeffrey Williams (Knoxville, Ky.) and freshman Kai Leathers (Franklin, Ky.) were selected to the honorable mention team.

Moore, now a four-time first team All-SCAC selection, led the Colonels in average (.399), hits (57), doubles (16), runs batted in (42), total bases (86), slugging percentage (.601), on-base percentage (.480), putouts (315) and tied for the team lead in walks (19). The senior first baseman, arguably one of the best players in school history, is now fifth in conference history with a .413 career-batting average and became only the 16th player in SCAC history to record 200 career-hits.

He is only the ninth player in SCAC history to be named to the 1st team all four years and the first from a school in the Eastern Division. Moore leaves Centre holding seven school records. He was also recently named one of Centre's Co-Male Athlete's of the Year as well as being named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 1st Team.

Placido earned all-conference recognition for the first time in his career after hitting .365 and winning four games on the mound in 50.2 innings. The senior shortstop/pitcher posted career-highs in average (.365), hits (38), runs (24) and runs batted in (23). He was also 6-6 in stolen bases. His 50.2 innings pitched were a career-high, while his 4.97 earned run average was also a career-best.

Jones, a sophomore third baseman/pitcher followed up a strong freshman campaign with an even better sophomore season. Jones led the team in triples (3), home runs (5) and sacrifice flies (6) and was second on the team in average (.374), hits (52) and slugging percentage (.576). The sophomore dual player also posted a 0.93 earned run average on the mound recording 14 strikeouts in 9.2 innings.

Rakes also earned all-conference recognition for the first time in his career hitting .333 in 38 games as the Colonels starting right fielder. The senior outfielder had career-highs in average (.333), hits (41), runs (26), home runs (2) and runs batted in (27). Rakes was named the SCAC's Offensive Player of the Week after hitting .900 (9-10) and driving in 12 runs in a three-game sweep of Sewanee.

Williams, a sophomore designated hitter for the Colonels, was a full-time starter for the first time in 2007. He hit .352 in 38 games and scored a team-leading 37 runs. Williams also added 43 hits, 17 runs batted in, and also led the team in hit-by-pitches with 15. He appeared in six games on the mound for the Colonels posting a 4.26 earned run average with a combined shutout to his credit. Williams was also named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 2nd Team.

Leathers, the team's starting second baseman batted .336 and started all 42 games in his first college season. The freshman infielder was third on the team with 48 hits and scored 24 runs, while driving in 18 more. Leathers also proved valuable with the glove, making only six errors in 181 chances for a .967 fielding percentage.

Centre finished the 2007 season with a 17-25 overall record and a 7-8 mark in the SCAC. The Colonels qualified for the conference tournament for the first time in eight years and won only its second conference tournament game in the 16-year history of the SCAC.