SPARTANBURG, S.C. (May 20, 2025) – A day before the 2025 SoCon Baseball Tournament gets underway, the Southern Conference announced its annual major award winners and All-Conference teams on Tuesday morning. The ETSU baseball team, which won the SoCon Regular Season Championship on Saturday, were well-represented. Overall, 12 different Buccaneers earned recognition from the SoCon on Tuesday and four garnered major awards. ETSU is the first school since the SoCon started awarding a Player of the Year, Pitcher of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year in 1989 to win all four honors in the same season.
 
Cooper Torres (SoCon Player of the Year, First Team), Brady Frederick (SoCon Pitcher of the Year, First Team), Axel Melendez (SoCon Freshman of the Year, All-Freshman Team) and Joe Pennucci (SoCon Coach of the Year) all earned major awards, while Carter Fink (First Team), Jace Hyde (First Team), Jamie Palmese (First Team), Derek McCarley (Second Team), Cody Miller (Second Team, All-Defensive Team), Grant Gallagher (Second Team), Lenny Montesano (Second Team) and Tristan Curless (All-Defensive Team) all garnered All-SoCon recognition as well.
 
Torres is the fourth Buccaneer to be named the SoCon Player of the Year and the second in as many seasons (Cameron Sisneros). The senior from Woodstock, Georgia was a fixture in the middle of the Buccaneer order hitting .370 with 22 home runs and 66 RBI. Torres also paced ETSU in multiple offensive categories including batting average (.370), slugging percentage (.774), runs scored (65), hits (77), RBI (66), doubles (14), home runs (22), and total bases (161). His 22 home runs are tied for third in Division I baseball and are just three shy of tying ETSU's single season record of 25 set by Paul Hoilman in 2010.
 
Frederick has put together one of the best seasons by a pitcher in ETSU history. The Knoxville native went 7-1 with a 2.10 ERA in 64.1 innings on the mound during the regular season. Frederick, who is the first ETSU pitcher to earn this honor since the award's inception, ranks sixth nationally with his 2.10 ERA, fifth in the country in hits allowed per nine innings (5.32), and is fourth in Division I baseball in terms of WHIP (0.85). Frederick has also picked up three saves and has tallied multiple SoCon Pitcher of the Week honors in 2025.
 
Pennucci becomes just the third ETSU coach to be named SoCon Coach of the Year joining Charley Lodes (1980) and Harold Stout (1986). Pennucci has helped coach ETSU to its third-most wins in a single season in 2025 (38) trailing only 1981 (44) and 1980 (39) teams. So far, the 2025 Bucs rank top five all-time in school history in runs scored (456 – 4^th), home runs (1^st – 111), slugging percentage (1^st - .569), on-base percentage (3^rd - .411), and walks (3^rd – 261).
 
Melendez becomes the second Buc in the past four seasons to be named the SoCon Freshman of the Year joining Tommy Barth. Melendez hit .300 with five home runs and 31 RBI during his first collegiate season. Serving as ETSU's primary leftfielder this spring, Melendez led the Bucs with eight sacrifice bunts. Melendez has been especially productive in SoCon play hitting .348 with one home run and 17 RBI.
 
Fink has made 14 starts so far during the 2025 campaign. The Macon, Georgia native is 6-4 this season with a 3.68 ERA in 63.2 innings pitched. Fink has been especially good against SoCon competition as he has a 2.95 ERA in eight starts in conference play. The senior righthander ranks among the top 10 in the SoCon in ERA (5^th – 3.68), starts (1^st – 14), strikeout-to-walk ratio (8^th – 3.50), wins (T-3rd – 6), walks allowed per nine innings (7^th – 2.26).
 
Along with Fink, Hyde was another main cog in ETSU's starting staff this season. Hyde, an All-SoCon Freshman Team pick last season, is currently 7-0 with a 3.72 ERA in 67.2 innings pitched. With that 7-0 record, Hyde has the most decisions without a loss during a single season in school history. Hyde, who has held opposing hitters to a .264 average in 2025, also has ETSU's lone complete game shutout this season when he threw a seven-inning complete game in an 11-0 victory at Mercer.
 
Palmese is one of two players to play in and start every game for the Bucs this season (Cody Miller being the other). ETSU's centerfielder hit .303 with 16 home runs and 45 RBI during the regular season. Boasting an OPS of .988, Palmese has also stolen 15 bases as a sophomore on 16 attempts and is one of four Bucs that have scored 50 or more runs this season (51).
 
A staple of the Buccaneer bullpen over the past few seasons, McCarley has stepped up in 2025. McCarley is 3-1 with a 2.95 ERA in 39.2 innings pitched this season. McCarley, who has also started a couple of games for ETSU this season, is holding opposing hitters to a .187 batting average and has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of nearly two to one (35 to 18).
 
Miller has been a key part of ETSU's offense and defense during his junior campaign. The Rocky Point, New York native is hitting .319 with 15 home runs and 53 RBI on the season to go with a team-high 23 stolen bases. Defensively, Miller has played and started every game at shortstop for ETSU this spring and has a .957 fielding percentage and has played a role in 30 double plays for the Bucs. ETSU enters the postseason leading the SoCon in double plays turned with 45.
 
Gallagher has made an immediate impact on the field for the Bucs in 2025. In his first season in Johnson City, Gallagher has hit .291 with 20 home runs and 45 RBI. The Tallahassee native has also been one of the most patient hitters in the nation drawing 57 walks, which ranks sixth nationally. Furthermore, Gallagher's walk total broke ETSU's single season record of 51. Gallagher also is second among SoCon sluggers with a .703 slugging percentage in 2025.
 
Montesano landed All-SoCon Second Team honors as a designated hitter after hitting .333 with nine home runs and 28 RBI. Over half of Montesano's hits in 2025 (21 of 37) have gone for extra bases and the New York native ranks third on the team with a .694 slugging percentage entering postseason play.
 
Curless has been a key part of ETSU's defense in 2025. The Amarillo, Texas native, who has split time between first base and pitcher this spring, has committed just one error in 312 fielding chances in 2025. Curless has a .997 fielding percentage this season and has been a part of 23 double plays on his way to landing a spot on the league's All-Defensive Team.
 
The Bucs will begin play at the SoCon Tournament on Friday morning. ETSU, which will be the tournament's No. 1 seed, will face either No. 4 seed Mercer, No. 5 seed Western Carolina or No. 8 seed VMI at 9 a.m. on Friday morning from Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.
 
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