Jan. 19, 2007
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech juniors Matt Wieters and Danny Payne continue to collect preseason honors as the start date for 2007 nears for the Yellow Jacket baseball team.
Wieters, a first-team All-America selection by Baseball America at the end of 2006, has been named a first-team preseason All-America by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and Rivals.com and a second team preseason All-America by the NCBWA in 2007. The Goose Creek, S.C. native hit .355 as a sophomore and led the team in home runs (15), RBI (71), doubles (20) and total bases (154).
Payne, Tech’s only first-team all-ACC selection in 2006, has earned second-team preseason All-America honors from the NCBWA, Rivals.com and Collegiate Baseball and third-team preseason accolades by Baseball America. A Chattahoochee High School graduate from Woodstock, Ga., Payne returns to the Yellow Jackets after missing the last 25 games of 2006 with a shoulder injury. At the time of his injury, he was leading the team in hits, runs, triples, home runs, total bases and stolen bases and ranked among the top-10 in the ACC in nine different statistical categories.
Both Wieters and Payne have also been tabbed to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List.
The 2007 team has been ranked as high as No. 10 in the country in preseason polls, and stand in the top-15 in all four polls. Tech has been picked to finish fourth in the Coastal Division in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Listed below are the preseason rankings and honors for Georgia Tech.
Yellow Jackets in the Preseason Polls:
NCBWA – No. 10 Collegiate Baseball – No. 11 Baseball America – No. 12 Rivals.com – No. 13
Individual Honors:
Junior Catcher Matt Wieters –
Brooks Wallace Award Watch List First Team Preseason All-America, Rivals.com First Team Preseason All-America, Baseball America First Team Preseason All-America, Louisville Slugger/TPX (Collegiate Baseball) Second Team Preseason All-America, NCBWA
Junior Center Fielder Danny Payne –
Brooks Wallace Award Watch List Second Team Preseason All-America, NCBWA Second Team Preseason All-America, Rivals.com Second Team Preseason All-America, Louisville Slugger/TPX (Collegiate Baseball) Third Team Preseason All-America, Baseball America
