ATLANTA - LaGrange College's Joe Ruth has been named the 2023 Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) Baseball Player of the Year as the conference released it's regular season awards and all-sportsmanship team today. Ruth helped lead the Panthers to the CCS regular season title and the right to host this weekend's CCS Championship. 

Joining Ruth as CCS major award winners were Belhaven's Brett Sanchez, who was named the conference's Pitcher of the Year. Additionally, three more Panthers were recognized as Curt Bonner and Eduardo Peralta were named CCS Rookie Player and Rookie Pitcher of the Year, respectively. Also honored was LaGrange's David Kelton who was selected by his peers as the conference's first-ever Coach of the Year recipient. 

Huntingdon and LaGrange lled the way with eight student-athletes earning All-Conference honors, while Piedmont had five and Belhaven had four.

The awards were selected and decided upon following a vote by the conference's head coaches. 

CCS Player of the Year | Joe Ruth, LaGrange 
Ruth was named the Conference Player of the Year as he is currently hitting .407 with three home runs and 49 runs driven in. He has a slugging percentage of .611 and is among the conference's leaders in a number of statistical categories. He helped lead the Panthers to the 2023 CCS Regular Season title and the top seed in this week's CCS Championship. Ruth was selected as the CCS Player of the Week three times during the season and currently has 66 hits heading into this week's conference championship. He was also a First Team All-Conference selection.

CCS Pitcher of the Year | Brett Sanchez, Belhaven
It's been another outstanding season for the junior right-hander as he has posted a 5-2 mark so far this season for the Blazers in helping lead them to the No. 2 seed in the CCS Championship. He has struck out 102 batters in 75.1 innings of work on the year, which is not only tops in the CCS, but is also third nationally. Sanchez was named the CCS Pitcher of the Week four times this spring and opposing batters are hitting just .190 against him and he has a remarkable 0.92 WHIP, which is also in the top-20 nationally. Sanchez was also a First Team All-CCS honoree. 

CCS Rookie Player of the Year | Curt Bonner, LaGrange
Bonner has been outstanding for LaGrange in his first year with the program as he's currently hitting .426 on the season. His average is eighth-best among all freshman in the country currently. Appearing in 34 games for the Panthers, he has posted 52 hits and was selected as the conference's Rookie of the Week five times this spring. He has three home runs so far this season and has driven in 33 runs. He was also named a First Team All-Conference selection. 

CCS Rookie Pitcher of the Year | Eduardo Peralta, LaGrange 
Peralta has been awesome for LaGrange in his first year on campus as the starter has posted a perfect 7-0 record on the mound in helping the Panthers claim the CCS Regular Season crown. He's made 10 starts on the season for the Panthers and has posted a 3.20 earned run average. in 56.1 innings of work, he has struck out 53 batters. Peralta was also named a Second Team All-Conference selection.  

CCS Coach of the Year | David Kelton, LaGrange
Kelton has been named the CCS Coach of the Year following a vote by the conference's head coaches as he led LaGrange to the CCS Regular Season title this spring. His group currently carries a 27-13 record into this weekend's conference championship play and the Panthers went 13-5 in league play. Eight of Kelton's student-athletes were named all-conference selections, including a conference-best five First Team honorees.

Major Award Winners 
CCS Player of the Year - Joe Ruth, LaGrange 
CCS Pitcher of the Year - Brett Sanchez, Belhaven 
CCS Rookie Player of the Year - Curt Bonner, LaGrange 
CCS Rookie Pitcher of the Year - Eduardo Peralta, LaGrange 
CCS Coach of the Year - David Kelton, LaGrange 

CCS First Team All-Conference Selections
C - David Smigelski, LaGrange
1B - Mac Barton, Piedmont 
2B - Kolton Hicks, Piedmont 
SS - Dawson Albin, Belhaven 
3B - Joe Ruth, LaGrange 
OF - Daniel Phillips, Huntingdon 
OF - Curt Bonner, LaGrange 
OF - Rhett Mixon, LaGrange 
OF - Carter Ballstadt, Piedmont 
DH - Hunter Thaxton, Maryville 
Util - Hall Billings, Huntingdon 
SP - Brett Sanchez, Belhaven 
SP - Ethan Fry, LaGrange 
SP - Bodie Eilertson, Piedmont 
RP - Seth Killam, Huntingdon 
RP - Chris Arbuthnot, Maryville 

CCS Second Team All-Conference Selections
C - Harrison Aldegren, Covenant 
1B - Hunter Estes, Belhaven 
2B - Nick Lucido, Belhaven 
SS - Cade Morgan, Huntingdon 
3B - Daniel Patton, Huntingdon
OF - Michal Vazquez, Berea  
OF - Noah Phillips, Huntingdon 
OF - Gabriel Lopez, Maryville 
OF - Cole Ellis, Piedmont 
DH - Matt Robinson, Huntingdon 
Util - Christian Carlton, Maryville 
SP - Parker Szush, Huntingdon 
SP - Eduardo Peralta, LaGrange 
SP - Mitchell Grannan, Maryville 
RP - Eli Folds, LaGrange 
RP - Ashton Shackelford, LaGrange

CCS All-Sportsmanship Team
Chase Kitchens, Belhaven
Peyton Hooper, Berea 
Joe Ridenour, Covenant 
Dawson Kuba, Huntingdon 
Christian Dyer, LaGrange 
Brandon Dean, Maryville
James Whitmer, Piedmont 

ABOUT THE COLLEGIATE CONFERENCE OF THE SOUTH
The CCS is an NCAA Division III athletic conference that began play during the 2022-23 academic year. The conference features nine members and sponsors championships across 14 sports. In addition to sharing the member institutions' geographic identity, the name 'Collegiate Conference of the South' is indicative of a shared commitment to academic excellence, which is commensurate with the NCAA Division III philosophy.

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