Chapel Hill’s Brian Holberton and Guilford’s Lou Trosch Named Tournament MVP’s
CHARLOTTE, August. 3, 2012 – Smokies catcher Brian Holberton and Pitcher Lou Trosch have been named Most Valuable Player and Pitcher respectively. The Ballantyne Smokies (25-16) defeated the Carolina Chaos (21-19) 12-2 in Game 3 of the Southern Collegiate Baseball League’s Championship Series to take the SCBL title.
Holberton, a rising junior helped the Smokies outscore their opponents 38-19 while scoring in 22 of 34 playoff innings. A reigning second team All-ACC selection as a designated hitter, Holberton finished with a team leading .402 average while driving in 31 runs and hitting 6 homers. Defensively Holberton shut down running games and was a consistent backstop for the Smokies’ pitching staff. In four playoff games, Holberton was 11-18 with 8 RBI and 8 runs scored. The biggest blow came in his first at bat of deciding Game 3 where he blasted a pitch on the road over the outfield wall. This put the Smokies up 2-0 in the first inning and they would never look back.
Holberton started the playoffs in familiar fashion going 3-4 against the Asheville Redbirds and driving in five. In each of his four playoff games, the Smokies’ backstop had no less than two hits in a game with three in the first and four in the last.
Trosch on the other hand played a different role in winning the title. While Holberton was banging away, Trosch’s 6th start of the season held the Chaos at bay with a meticulous plan. Trosch was able to slow the hot swinging bats of the Chaos by quietly putting them to sleep. The Chaos were at the hands of a master as Lou threw 7 innings of five hit baseball while only giving up two runs and allowing one walk.
Trosch finished his year with a 3.82 ERA while going 2-2. In his last two starts against the Chaos, the leagues top hitting team, Lou threw a combined 14 innings giving up three runs, allowing one walk and striking out five.
Lou will be entering his sophomore season atGuilfordCollegeunder the tutelage of Charlottean and head coach, Nick Black.
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