Savannah State sends three Tigers to HBCU all-star baseball game in Atlanta
Three of Savannah State biggest baseball stars have been selected for the 2022 MBP HBCU All-Star Game on Friday, June 3, at Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves.
Pitchers Enrico Peele and Jose Santiago and outfielder Joe Smith are representing the Tigers on the Team Marquis Grissom roster. They will be playing with student-athletes from several NCAA Division I and II Historical Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU), including players from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The MBP HBCU All-Star Game is hosted by the Minority Baseball Prospects organization in collaboration with the Atlanta Braves' Henry Louis Aaron Fund. The all-star week of programming allows each player to receive an all-star experience and exposure.
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Honor roll: Savannah State's successful baseball season rewarded with All-SIAC conference honors
The Savannah State baseball team finished this spring with one of the best campaigns in the program's modern era. The Tigers (34-12) won the 2022 SIAC regular-season championship with a 28-2 conference record.
Peele, a veteran right-hander and one of the top pitchers in the SIAC and NCAA Division II, finished the season 11-3 overall with a 4.05 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. The redshirt junior led the SIAC and was fifth in Division II in victories.
Santiago, who transferred from Webber International to Savannah State this season, was one of the Tigers' key starters this season. The redshirt sophomore finished 9-1 with a 3.96 ERA and 1.39 WHIP and led the Tigers in strikeouts with 80. Santiago had the fourth-best ERA in the SIAC and was second in strikeouts. Both Peele and Santiago were named to the All-SIAC first team.
Smith, the 2022 SIAC Player of the Year, had an outstanding redshirt-junior season. The Brunswick native led the Tigers at the plate with a .441 batting average, 71 hits, nine doubles, triples and home runs, 41 RBI, and a .776 slugging percentage.
By the end of the season, Smith was the third-best hitter in the SIAC and sixth best in DII. He led the SIAC in hits per game and triples.
Former Jackson State Tiger and MLB pitcher Marvin Freeman will coach the road team at the 2022 HBCU All-Star game. Former Florida A&M Rattler and MLB center fielder Marquis Grissom will coach the home team, which includes all three Tigers.
First pitch for the all-star game is set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
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South All-Region honors for SSU's Smith
Savannah State slugger Joe Smith has been named to the ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division II South All-Region first team.
The teams are voted on by members of the American Baseball Coaches Association and led by a committee. The ABCA, founded in 1945, is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level.
Its over 13,000 members represent all 50 states and 25 countries, according to their website.
Registration open for Savannah City Amateur
The 2022 Savannah City Amateur championships will be played June 25-26 on the Donald Ross course at Bacon Park Golf Course. Online registration has been available since June 1 at www.baconparkgolf.com.
The men’s, women’s, senior and Legends classifications will feature gross score and net score divisions, and all divisions are open to any amateur golfer with a verifiable handicap. Handicap indexes will use the June 15 revision and PROGs will be converted to a handicap for the tournament.
The City Amateur championships are regarded as Savannah’s top amateur tournaments. The event is played as 36-hole stroke play in all divisions.
The entry fee for the men’s, senior and legends is $125, and the fee for the women’s City Amateur is $99.
Divisions in the men’s City Am will include Championship Division (played from the gold tees), Men's Flighted Division (net competition played from the blue tees), Senior Championship Division (age 50 and older played from the blue tees with no handicaps), Senior Men’s Net Division (division played from the white tees with handicaps), Legends Championship Division (age 65 and older and played from the white tees played with no handicaps) and Legends Net Division (played from the red tees with handicaps).
Gross and net competitions in the women’s City Amateur divisions will be played from the red tees.
Call 912-354-2625 or visit www.baconparkgolf.com to register.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah State Tigers baseball players selected for HBCU All-Star game
