Bottom Line: Shepherd shines for Kennesaw golf team
Former Evans golfer Kris Shepherd is heating up at the right time.
Shepherd carded rounds of 70-72 for a 2-under 142 at the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional. The event was held at the Wilson Country Club in Wilson, N.C.
Shepherd finished regulation tied with former North Augusta standout Scott Brown of USC-Aiken.
Brown helped lead the Pacers to the team title as they edged Shepherd's Kennesaw State team by eight shots. Shepherd, however, claimed low medalist honors on the 3rd playoff hole. A week before the Regional Shepherd paced the Owls with a 12th place (individual) finish in the Peach Belt Conference Championships.
As a team, the Owls managed only a 5th place finish. KSU began the year as the 16th ranked team in the nation but unfortunately were not given an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships in Orlando, Fla.
Shepherd though, will be heading to Disney thanks to his regional victory he will compete for the national individual crown.
Key edged out for PBAC Player of the Year
Lately, I've written quite a bit about former Greenbrier star Bradley Key. And for good reason. The Junior slugger had a monster season at USC-Aiken.
Last week, he was named to the All-PBAC team for the first time in his career. He was the only Pacer to be named to the squad.
Key also garnered serious consideration for player of the year honors. Key really had an amazing season.
Amazingly, he finished in the top three in six offensive categories:
Hits - 2nd with 81
RBI - 2nd with 59
Doubles - 1st with 22
Triples - 2nd with 5
Home Runs - 3rd with 12
Total Bases - tie 1st with 149
He also finished 6th in Batting Average at .386 and 8th in runs scored with 48. It was on of those years a player dreams of. The big season has created some buzz among a few big league teams. His status for the draft in June went from being a long shot, to a real possibility.
Another Columbia County product headed to Aiken
This season USC-Aiken's Baseball Lineup was a who's who of Columbia County Baseball.
At one game this season five of the team's nine starters hailed from the county. Another former Evans star is joining the Pacer Baseball program.
Michael Holder has been hired to replace outgoing assistant coach Jackie Holt.
Holder got in to coaching following a brilliant career as a player at Evans and Georgia Southern. He spent two years working with his father, the legendary Terry Holder at Greenbrier.
He then moved on to Middle Georgia Junior College in 2001. While at Middle Georgia he was the hitting instructor for a Warrior squad that hit .335. He has spent the last three seasons at Vanderbilt. He is described by Vanderbilt Head Coach Tim Corbin as a tireless worker. With his coaching pedigree and that kind of work ethic, there is no doubt he will be a nice addition to the Pacer's program.