NORFOLK, Va., Feb. 7, 2019—North Carolina Central junior Corey Joyce was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Baseball Preseason Player of the Year and
Bethune-Cookman junior Anthony Maldonado was named Preseason Pitcher of the Year, the conference announced today. In addition, Coppin State and North Carolina A&T State were selected as the preseason favorites to win the Northern and Southern Divisions, respectively.
All awards were voted on by the conference’s head coaches and sports information directors.
Joyce was the 2018 MEAC Player of the Year and led the conference in batting average (.358), hits (64) and walks (32) at the end of the regular season, and his 27 stolen bases were second in the league and ranked 23rd in the nation. He also ranked second in the conference in slugging percentage (.542), on base percentage (.456) and doubles (15), third in total bases (97) and fourth in runs scored (43). Joyce’s six home runs were tied for fifth in the MEAC, and he was ninth in the league with 37 RBIs.
Maldonado, the 2018 MEAC Pitcher of the Year, made 11 starts last season, tossing three complete games in compiling a record of 6-2 and a 2.81 ERA. The righthander led the MEAC in opponents’ batting average (.211) and was second in the MEAC in runs allowed (24), ERA and third in earned runs allowed (20). His 74 strikeouts ranked sixth in the conference, and he gave up just 50 hits – tied for best in the MEAC – in 64.0 innings pitched.
Coppin State won the Northern Division last season for the first time since 1996 and is expected to repeat the feat in 2019, picking up 13 first-place votes. Norfolk State, with four first-place votes, was picked to finish second, and Delaware State (one first-place vote) and Maryland Eastern Shore round out the Northern Division.
North Carolina A&T State is fresh off its first MEAC title in baseball since 2005 and the Aggies are the favorite to win the Southern Division, picking up 15 first-place votes. Bethune-Cookman (two first-place votes), entering its first season under head coach Jonathan Hernandez, was picked to finish second – followed by Florida A&M (one first-place vote), North Carolina Central and Savannah State.
The 2019 MEAC Baseball Championships will be held at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Daytona Beach, Fla. May 15-18. Only the top three teams from each division will qualify for the tournament.
Joining Joyce and Maldonado on the Preseason All-MEAC First Team are Bethune-Cookman first baseman Danny Rodriguez, shortstop Nate Sterijevski and outfielder Zach Spivey, Florida A&M reliever Dylan Carlson and catcher Brett Maxwell, Norfolk State outfielder Justin Hayes and utility player Stephen Baughan, North Carolina A&T State pitcher Michael Johnson, third baseman Perry “AJ” Hunt and outfielder Dawnoven Smith, and North Carolina Central outfielder Carter Williams.
The 2019 MEAC baseball season begins the weekend of Feb. 15-17, with all nine of the league’s baseball programs in action.