Michael Paez Named All-Atlantic Region by ABCA
6/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
CONWAY - Coastal Carolina shortstop Michael Paez (Miami, Fla. / Sunset HS) was named second team All-Atlantic Region by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), the organization announced today.
Paez, who just completed his sophomore season with the Chanticleers, was one of 25 semifinalists for the 2015 Brooks Wallace Award, given annually to the top collegiate shortstop, as well as being a first team All-Big South selection and being named to the Big South All-Tournament team this season. Paez was additionally named Big South Player of the Week twice and was recognized as a National Player of the Day (Mar. 27) by D1Baseball.com.
Among the NCAA leaders, Paez ranks 11th in sacrifice bunts (16), 37th in runs scored (58), 69th in hit by pitches (14), 81st in stolen bases (19), 122nd in doubles (17), 160th in on base percentage (.436), 186th in total bases (113), 194th in home runs (8) and 214th in slugging percentage (.526). Paez just missed the NCAA leaderboard with his 42 RBI. However, it should be noted that of his 16 sac bunts , the runner Paez advanced went on to score 12 times and Paez was a key reason Anthony Marks, who eventually scored 14 times after advancing by sac bunt, ranked 37th nationally as well in runs scored (58). Paez also was part of 41 double plays as Coastal Carolina finished the season second nationally by turning 66 double plays.
Overall in the Big South, Paez, who led the league with his 16 sacrifice bunts and ranked fifth in hit by pitches (14), was the only player to rank among the league's top 10 in runs scored (2nd, 58); stolen bases (4th, 19), doubles (7th, 17); on base percentage (6th, .436), slugging percentage (7th, .526) and total bases (8th, 113). He additionally ranked second in the league in assists (177), 11th in RBI (42), 12th in walks (29) and 20th in batting average (.326).
Versus league foes only, he ranked first in slugging percentage (.678); first in runs scored (27); first in total bases (61); second in the conference in batting (.422); second in hits (38); second in on base percentage (.495); third in RBI (24); third in doubles (9); seventh in stolen bases (7) and eighth in home runs (4).
This season, Paez reached base safely (hit, walk, hit by pitch) in each of his last 13 games of the 2015 season and, overall this season, reached base safely in 54 of 59 games played with streaks of 14 games and 23 games as well. He was additionally "responsible" for a team-best 14 wins as he scored the game-winning run nine times and drove in the game-winner on five occasions.
Paez got off to a slow start in 2015, batting just .203 through the first 15 games of the season. However, after Marks took over as the leadoff hitter and with Paez batting second, Paez posted a team-best .372 batting average over the final 44 games of the season with a team-best 46 runs scored, 35 RBI, a team-best .590 slugging percentage and a team-best .471 on base percentage.
Paez finished the season in spectacular fashion, both offensively and defensively. First, he was named Big South All-Tournament as he batted .500 (6-for-12) with a tournament-best eight runs scored, tournament-best four stolen bases and tournament-best .667 on base percentage while adding three walks and three hit by pitches. He also produced a tournament-best 12 assists, making several highlight-reel plays in the field. Overall in the postseason (Big South and NCAA), Paez batted .381 (8-for-21) with nine runs scored in seven games.
Paez had a 10-game hit streak snapped by going 0-for-2 versus Cal in the NCAA Regional opener but finished the year with a hit in 12 of his final 13 games while batting .413 (19-for-46).
Paez was the Big South Player of the Week twice in a four-week period - a 16-game span. First, for games Mar. 10-15, Paez led Coastal to a 4-0 record, including a 13-2 win over #11 North Carolina, thanks to his .545 (6-for-11) batting average. He scored four runs and drove in six. He stole two bases, hit a double and a home run for a .909 slugging percentage and added a walk and three hit by pitches for a .625 on-base percentage for the week. His second honor came for games played Mar. 31-April 4 as he batted .571 (8-for-14) with eight runs, five RBI, three doubles, one home run (a grand slam) and three stolen bases. He also scored what proved to be the game-winning run in all three of CCU's wins as well as made an impressive defensive play to spur the win at Wake Forest. Overall during the 16-game span, Paez batted .469 with 21 RBI, 18 runs scored, seven doubles, four home runs, .557 on base percentage and a .857 slugging percentage.
Between the two Big South weekly honors, Paez was tabbed a D1Baseball.com National Player of the Day (March 27) as he went 5-for-5 and accounted for eight runs in a 19-4 win versus Winthrop. Paez collected six RBI, and scored three times thanks to his two doubles, a home run and a hit by a pitch.
Paez is the 17th Chanticleer (20 total honors) to be voted ABCA All-Atlantic Region and the first since Daniel Bowman in 2012.
| Atlantic-ABCA/Rawlings All-Region Teams | ||||
| NCAA Div. I Atlantic All-Region First Team | ||||
| Pos. | Player | Cl. | School | State |
| C | Zack Collins | So. | Miami | FL |
| 1B | Will Craig | So. | Wake Forest | NC |
| 2B | Blake Butler | Jr. | College of Charleston | SC |
| 3B | David Thompson | Jr. | Miami | FL |
| SS | Logan Ratledge | Sr. | North Carolina State | NC |
| OF | DJ Stewart | Jr. | Florida State | FL |
| OF | Ryan Cooper | Sr. | Elon | NC |
| OF | Lee Miller | Jr. | Davidson | NC |
| DH | Patrick Marshall | Sr. | Radford | VA |
| P | Taylor Clarke | Jr. | College of Charleston | SC |
| P | Mike Shawaryn | So. | Maryland | MD |
| P | Matthew Crownover | Jr. | Clemson | SC |
| RP | Ryan Meisinger | Jr. | Radford | VA |
| NCAA Div. I Atlantic All-Region Second Team | ||||
| Pos. | Player | Cl. | School | State |
| C | Chris Okey | So. | Clemson | SC |
| 1B | Nick Pappas | So. | College of Charleston | SC |
| 2B | George Iskenderian | Jr. | Miami | FL |
| 3B | Carl Wise | Jr. | College of Charleston | SC |
| SS | Michael Paez | So. | Coastal Carolina | SC |
| OF | Cole Hallum | Jr. | Campbell | NC |
| OF | Cedric Mullins | Jr. | Campbell | NC |
| OF | Reed Rohlman | Fr. | Clemson | SC |
| OF | Connor Walsh | Sr. | The Citadel | SC |
| DH | A.J. Murray | Sr. | Georgia Tech | GA |
| P | Jared Lyons | Sr. | Liberty | VA |
| P | Brandon Glazer | Sr. | College of Charleston | SC |
| P | Michael Boyle | Jr. | Radford | VA |
| RP | Josh Sborz | Jr. | Virginia | VA |
