FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gary Holden, Sports Information Director
(540) 365-4306
 
May 20, 2003
 
 
Baseball Players Named All-Region
Beale, Meeks First Team Selections, Pair Eligible for All-America
 
Ferrum, Va. -- Four Ferrum College Baseball players have been named to the 2003 ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division III All-South Region Baseball Team.  The team is voted upon by the American Baseball Coaches Association.

Senior Jason Beale (Charlottesville, Va./Western Albemarle) and junior Thomas Meeks (Rocky Mount, Va./Franklin County) have been named to the first team as utility players and are now eligible for All-America honors.  Beale pitches and plays DH, while Meeks pitches and plays first base.

Beale, pictured above right, batted .430 with nine doubles, seven home runs and 38 RBI this season.  He also went 9-2 on the mound this season with 77 strikeouts and a 2.59 ERA, earning Dixie Conference Pitcher of the Year honors.  Beale was a first team Dixie All-Conference selection as both pitcher and designated hitter this season.

Meeks, above left, batted .410 with six doubles, a triple, 12 homers, and 46 RBI.  He was 7-0 on the mound, with 59 strikeouts and a 3.92 ERA.  Meeks earned first team All-Conference at first base this season.
Senior second baseman Mickey Russell (Forest, Va./Jefferson Forest) and junior catcher Kevin Griffin (Roanoke, Va./Cave Spring) each earned a spot on the All-South Region Honorable Mention Team.
 
Russell, pictured at far left, batted .311 with nine doubles, two triples, two homers, and 14 RBI.  He was a first team All-Dixie selection this season.  Griffin, at near left, batted .361 with 10 doubles, two triples, three homers, and 28 RBI.  
 
Players named to the All-Region first team are now eligible for All-America honors.  Ferrum has placed 18 players on NCAA Division III All-America baseball teams since 1998, when Jim Sood was named to the first team.  The Panthers most recent baseball All-American was Doug Heagen, who made the first team last year.  Heagen is currently working in Boston Red Sox minor league system.  For more information, contact the sports information office at (540) 365-4306.
 
 
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