June 18, 2013
THE FLATS – The American Baseball Coaches Association has released its 2013 All-America and All-Region teams, with multiple Georgia Tech players earning mention. Junior OF Daniel Palka led the way, getting the nod as a first-team ABCA All-Region pick and a second-team ABCA/Rawlings All-America selection.
Junior C Zane Evans was named first-team All-Region and third-team All-America, while senior RHP Buck Farmer was honored on the All-Region second team.
Palka, a third-round draft pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks that signed with the club last week, has also earned first-team All-America honors this year from both Baseball America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Palka was a third-team All-America selection by Louisville Slugger. The Lyman, S.C., native leads the ACC with a career best 17 homers, and hit .342 this season with 13 doubles, three triples and tied for the team lead with 66 RBI.
Evans was drafted in the fourth round by Kansas City and has signed with the Royals. The Roswell, Ga., native is one of three national finalists for the 2013 Johnny Bench Award, which is presented annually to the top catcher in college baseball and has also earned All-America honors this year from the NCBWA (second team), Baseball America (third team) and Louisville Slugger (third team). He paced the Jackets offensively and finished three home runs shy of winning Tech’s first team Triple Crown since Mark Teixeira in 1999. The junior led Tech in batting average (.361), was tied for the team lead in RBI (66), led the team with 10 game-winning RBI, was second in homes (14).
Farmer went in the fifth round of the MLB draft and inked his contract with the Detroit Tigers. The righty was among the nation’s best senior starting pitchers, earning first-team All-ACC honors (along with Palka and Evans) and finishing among the semifinalists for the National Pitcher of the Year Award. Farmer went 9-5 with a 2.78 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 113.1 innings – the ERA, innings and strikeouts were all career bests for Farmer and he was second in the ACC in strikeouts. He lost just once in five starts against top-five ranked teams, beating then-No. 5 Virginia and then-No. 5 Florida State. The righty from Conyers, Ga., pitched two complete games, was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week twice this year and earned National Pitcher of the Week honors in February.
Tech was one of 11 schools nationally to have multiple ABCA/Rawlings All-America picks, and joined North Carolina and NC State as the only ACC schools with multiple selections.
