With the 2019 season less than two weeks away, preseason awards are rolling in for the Kentucky Wesleyan College baseball team. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) selected the Panthers 10th in the Midwest Region.
Cody Bridges and Joseph Burke both were named preseason Second-Team All-Americans and First-Team All-Region members.
The defending Great Midwest Athletic Conference South Division Regular Season Champions were selected second last week in the conference preseason poll, voted on by the head coaches. Wesleyan received seven points in the NCBWA All-Region poll to place 10th. The Panthers are one of two G-MAC schools represented. with Ohio Dominican slotted fifth.
Burke is coming off of a stellar sophomore campaign in which he was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Second-Team All-Region. The Jeffersonville, Ind., native ranked fifth in the nation in home runs at 23 and fifth in slugging percentage at .815. Burke boasted a batting average of .370 with 68 hits and a team-best 17 multi-RBI games.
Bridges had an impressive junior season last year, being selected to three All-Region teams. Bridges led the Panthers with a .429 batting average with 20 doubles, four triples and 35 RBIs. The Elizabethtown native was a threat on the bases, stealing a team-high 17 bases and scoring 57 runs.
The Panthers open the 2019 season next weekend, heading to Hartsville, S.C., for a four-game series at Coker College.
