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by Pierce Yarberry

Waters Earns Spot on All-Sun Belt Second Team

The junior outfielder leads the team in batting average (.320), slugging percentage (.522), and hits (65) and is also ODU’s second-best home run hitter with 10 on the year.

Waters 2nd TeamWaters 2nd Team

NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference’s 2024 Baseball postseason honors were announced on Monday afternoon and Luke Waters was named to the All-Conference Second Team. The awards and All-Conference Teams were voted upon by the league's 14 head coaches.

A junior from Laurel, Delaware who started all 53 games in right field for the Monarchs (29-24, 15-15 Sun Belt) this season, Waters leads the team in batting average (.320), slugging percentage (.522), and hits (65). He’s also ODU’s second-best home run hitter with 10 on the year. His other 2024 totals include one triple, nine doubles, 32 runs, 39 RBIs, 21 walks and 18 stolen bases on 23 attempts. Defensively, he owns a .968 fielding percentage with 89 putouts and two assists and helped turn one double play. Heading into the conference tournament, Waters has tallied 20 multi-hit games and eight multi-RBI games, had a seven-game hit streak and a nine-game reached-base streak.

On Feb. 18 against George Washington, Waters finished 4-for-4 with a solo home run, a stolen base and four RBIs to help complete the series sweep of the Revolutionaries. With ODU trailing Rutgers 5-0 on Feb. 25, his two-run home run sparked a 6-0 response by the Monarchs as they went on to a 9-5 victory. He hit 2-for-3 on the day, drove in four runs, scored twice and walked twice. In the series opener against Georgia Southern on March 15, he turned in a 3-for-4 effort with a two-run homer, two runs, four RBIs and a stolen base as the Monarchs bested the Eagles, 11-1. Waters’ other top outing was at VCU on May 7 when he went 5-for-6 with three RBIs in a 14-8 win over the Rams.

Regular-season champion Louisiana captured a number of the major awards as Kyle DeBarge was voted Player of the Year, LP Langevin the Pitcher of the Year, Chase Morgan the Freshman of the Year and Matt Deggs the Ron Maestri Coach of the Year. App State’s Banks Tolley was named Newcomer of the Year while Georgia Southern’s Sam Blancato earned the Tony Robichaux Leadership Award.

2024 Sun Belt Baseball Postseason Awards

Player of the Year – Kyle DeBarge, Louisiana

Pitcher of the Year – LP Langevin, Louisiana

Newcomer of the Year – Banks Tolley, App State

Freshman of the Year – Chase Morgan, Louisiana

Tony Robichaux Leadership Award – Sam Blancato, Georgia Southern

Ron Maestri Coach of the Year – Matt Deggs, Louisiana 

All-Sun Belt First Team

P – Chase Morgan, Louisiana (Fr., LHP – Cypress, Texas)

P – Bryce Blevins, Marshall (So., LHP – Louisa, Ky.)

P – Billy Oldham, Southern Miss (Sr., RHP – Brookfield, Conn.)

RP – LP Langevin, Louisiana (Jr., RHP – Quebec City, Quebec, Canada)

C – Brooks Bryan, Troy (So., C – Opelika, Ala.)

1B – Trey LaFleur, Louisiana (Sr., 1B – Pensacola, Fla.)

2B – Blake Barthol, Coastal Carolina (So., 2B – Allentown, Pa.)

SS – Kyle DeBarge, Louisiana (Jr., SS – Kinder, La.)

3B – Sam Antonacci, Coastal Carolina (Jr., 3B – Springfield, Ill.)

OF – Banks Tolley, App State (Sr., OF – Madison, Miss.)

OF – Graham Brown, Coastal Carolina (Super Sr., OF – Middletown, Md.)

OF – Fenwick Trimble, James Madison (Jr., OF – Virginia Beach, Va.)

DH – Slade Wilks, Southern Miss (Sr., DH – Columbia, Miss.)

UT – Austin St. Laurent, App State (RS Jr., UT – Elon, N.C.)

All-Sun Belt Second Team

P – Andrew Herrmann, Louisiana (Jr., LHP – Kennesaw, Ga.)

P – Niko Mazza, Southern Miss (Jr., RHP – Madison, Miss.)

P – Luke Lyon, Troy (Jr., RHP – Hattiesburg, Miss.)

RP – Grant Wood, South Alabama (RS Jr., RHP – Georgetown, Texas)

C – Caden Bodine, Coastal Carolina (So., C – Haddon Heights, N.J.)

1B – Will Butcher, Troy (Sr., 1B – Arden, N.C.)

2B – Ethan Kavanagh, Troy (Sr., 2B – Cincinnati, Ohio)

SS – Ozzie Pratt, Southern Miss (Jr., SS – Oxford, Miss.)

3B – Will Mize, Georgia State (Sr., 3B – Snellville, Ga.)

OF – Luke Waters, Old Dominion (Jr., OF – Laurel, Del.)

OF – Dalton McIntyre, Southern Miss (Jr., OF – Jackson, Tenn.)

OF – Kole Myers, Troy (Sr., OF – Lafayette, La.)

DH – Kyle Mock, Troy (Sr., DH – Orlando, Fla.)

UT – Josh Tate, Georgia Southern (So., UT – Peachtree City, Ga.)