Three Diamond Gents Named All-Region
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Centenary junior Matthew Devillier and seniors Cole Lavergne and Kaleb Kirk received All-Region accolades this week from both D3Baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings.
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Centenary junior Matthew Devillier and seniors Cole Lavergne and Kaleb Kirk received All-Region accolades this week from both D3Baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings.
Devillier garnered Second Team Honors by D3Baseball.com and Third Team recognition as a starting pitcher. Lavergne as a relief pitcher from D3Baseball.com and Kirk as a starting pitcher from ABCA/Rawlings each picked up one All-Region recognition each.
Devillier finished the season 6-3 with a 1.91 ERA, more than a one-run improvement from his sophomore season. His ERA for the 2018 season also ranks second in the Gents career annals (non-scholarship era) among pitchers with more than 30 innings pitched. He proved even more dominant in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play. The First Team All-Conference starting pitcher went 4-1 with a 1.64 ERA, leading all starters and finishing third among all pitchers in ERA.
On April 20, Devillier threw the first Gents no-hitter in 25 years in a 7-0 win against Austin College. Devillier allowed just a pair of walks with a career best 12 strikeouts. He even struck out the side in the ninth to end the game. He was named the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Pitcher of the Week, appeared on the D3Baseball.com Team of the Week, was named SCAC Pitcher of the Week, and received national Honorable Mention Pitcher of the Week honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association following the no-hitter.
This is Devillier's third and fourth All-Region accolade, as he was named to the Second Team by D3Baseball.com and to the Third Team from the ABCA/Rawlings in 2017.
Lavergne finished with a 6-4 record, six saves, and a 2.02 ERA, the third-best season ERA for the Gents in the non-scholarship era. In earning First Team All-Conference recognition as a relief pitcher, Lavergne finished second in conference-only games with five wins and a 1.40 ERA. He also led the SCAC with three saves in conference play – none bigger than his five inning save in the Gents 9-3 win against top-ranked Trinity to wrap up the 2018 SCAC Regular Season title on April 29. He also picked up the win against Southwestern in an elimination game of the SCAC Tournament May 5, throwing the final 3.1 innings with just a hit and four strikeouts in the Gents 6-3 win.
After his junior season in 2017, Lavergne grabbed a pair of All-Region distinctions: First Team from D3Baseball.com and Third Team from the ABCA/Rawlings.
Kirk finished the season 8-3 and a 2.60 ERA, good for third and fifth in the SCAC. He did not allow a run in his first 14 innings pitched of 2018, going 3-0 in the month of February. He received Second Team All-Region distinction from both organizations in 2017 and Third Team All-Region laurels from ABCA/Rawlings in 2016.
In his four-year career, Kirk broke the Gents non-scholarship era career records for both wins (31) and ERA (2.75), finishing second in wins and eighth in the SCAC career annals. With 76 strikeouts in 2018 and 257 for his career, he also broke the career strikeout record and finished second in career strikeouts per nine innings (7.36).
