Tampa Places Four on NCBWA All-Region Team

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Four University of Tampa baseball players were named to the 2015 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II All-South Region Team. Nova Southeastern's Justin Garcia was named South Region Player of the Year, and coach Greg Brown was named Co-South Region Coach of the Year along with West Alabama's Gary Rundles.

Stephen Dezzi repeated as a first-team all-region selection as Brett Jones was named to the second team. Giovanny Alfonzo and Cody deNoyelles were also listed as honorable mention choices.

West Florida's Brandon Nagem was selected as the South Region Pitcher of the Year.

Garcia, a junior from Hialeah, Florida, led the SSC in Slugging Percentage (.901), On-base Percentage (.484), Home Runs (24), and Total Bases (164). He hit .390 and drove in 67 runs during the regular season to lead the Nova Southeastern Sharks to their first SSC title and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA South Regional.

Brown wins Nova Southeastern's first South Region Coach of the Year honor after leading the Sharks to a 38-11 regular season record and the 2015 conference title. This is the third time Coach Brown has led the Sharks into the postseason in his five seasons at NSU.

After being selected first team in 2014, Tampa's Stephen Dezzi returns as the first team designated hitter on this year's edition of the south region team.

SSC Pitcher of the Year Scott Ward (Florida Tech) also joins the list of 2015 first team selections. Ward went 9-2 during the regular season with a 2.04 ERA and 53 strikeouts. With the help of his work on the mound, the Florida Tech Panthers were able to return to the postseason as the No. 4 seed in the south region. The senior from Port Orange threw 83.2 innings during the regular season, holding his opponents to a .238 batting average while recording a 0.9920 WHIP.

2015 All-South Region Awards
South Region Player of the Year: Justin Garcia, Nova Southeastern
South Region Pitcher of the Year: Brandon Nagem, West Florida
Co-South Region Coach of the Year: Greg Brown, Nova Southeastern; Gary Rundles, West Alabama

2015 NCBWA Division II All-South Region First-Team
SP Fernando Gonzalez, West Alabama
SP Brandon Nagem, West Florida
SP Scott Ward, Florida Tech
RP Tanner Rainey, West Alabama
C Austin Allen, Florida Tech
1B Tanner Rainey, West Alabama
2B Hayden Jones, Valdosta State
3B Michael Gouge, Valdosta State
SS Terrence Worthy, Albany State
OF Justin Garcia, Nova Southeastern
OF Jhalan Jackson, Florida Southern
OF Colton Simbeck, Alabama-Huntsville
DH Stephen Dezzi, Tampa #
UT Chandler Brock, Alabama-Huntsville

2015 NCBWA Division II All-South Region Second-Team
SP Ryan Castellanos, Nova Southeastern
SP Mitchell Cody, Valdosta State
SP Daniel Koger, Alabama-Huntsville
RP Zachary Westcott, Nova Southeastern
C Bryant Hayman, Valdosta State $
1B Troy Sieber, Saint Leo
2B Brian Walker, Palm Beach Atlantic
3B Mitch Holgate, West Alabama
SS Tyler Doughty, Florida Tech
OF Jeremy Arrington, Albany State
OF John Borup, Lynn
OF Kevin Cruz, Valdosta State
DH Ryan Barnes, Alabama-Huntsville
UT Brett Jones, Tampa

2015 NCBWA Division II All-South Region Honorable Mention
SP Jorge Cruz, West Alabama
2B Cody deNoyelles, Tampa
3B Ricky Rodriguez, Florida Tech
SS Giovanny Alfonzo, Tampa

#=2014 NCBWA All-South Region First-Team
$=2014 NCBWA All-South Region Second-Team