SHREVEPORT, La. - The #12 Centenary Gents baseball team received more good news this week when senior Chris Zapata and sophomore Cody Crowder were named Preseason All-Americans by D3Baseballl.com.
Zapata and Crowder were the only representatives from the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Of the four players who made the First or Second Team from the West Region, only Zapata grabbed First Team recognition.
"It's nice for them to get preseason recognition, but it will be a whole lot better if they get postseason honors," explained head coach Mike Diaz.
Zapata garnered First Team Preseason Accolades after finishing last season as a First Team All-American by both D3baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). The 2017 SCAC Player of the Year and two-time First Team All-Region catcher led the nation with 71 RBIs and narrowly came second in RBIs per game (1.58). He also led the conference and finished fourth in the nation with 131 total bases. He easily led the conference in both home runs (12) and slugging percentage (.732), and finished second on the team and third in the conference with a .391 batting average. Zapata broke the single-season Centenary record for RBI's while finishing fourth in slugging percentage and fifth in total bases in the season annals.
Receiving Second Team recognition, Crowder was one of only three sophomores named a Preseason All-American. Last season, he received Third Team All-West Region honors from both d3Baseball.com and the ABCA after finishing third on the team and fourth in the conference with a .382 average. He also finished second in the conference (to Zapata) and first among freshmen in the country with 65 hits. He finished the season with 45 runs, 14 doubles, five triples, and 41 RBI's.
