AUGUSTA, GA -- The Peach Belt Conference has announced the 2023 baseball All-Conference team. Young Harris College's Jeremy Begora was named the PBC Player of the Year with Georgia Southwestern State University's Nick McCollum the Pitcher of the Year and Augusta's Kyle Lodise the Freshman of the Year. The major player awards are presented by College Ave Student Loans.

GSW's Josh McDonald was named the Coach of the Year with North Georgia's Jacob Lassiat the winner of the Elite 16 Award presented by Barnes & Noble College.

Begora is ranked the PBC's top five in seven different categories and leads the league in RBIs (60), slugging percentage (.699) and OPS (1.169). A sophomore first baseman from Cartersville, Ga., he is second in the league in batting average (.380) and home runs (13). A four-time PBC Player of the Week this season, he hit safely in 37 of 47 games for the Mountain Lions with 18 multi-hit games. Begora becomes the second Young Harris player to be named the PBC Player of the Year, joining Tucker Greer who won in 2021.

Nick McCollum enters the postseason with an 8-2 overall record and 2.57 ERA. A sophomore from Richmond Hill, Ga., he started 12 games with 91 innings pitched, 94 strikeouts and a PBC-best four complete-game shutouts. Against conference opponents, he was 8-1 with a 2.54 ERA. He is leads the conference in ERA, is second in strikeouts and wins and fifth in opponent batting average. He hasn't allowed a earned run in 19 consecutive innings heading into the PBC Tournament. McCollum becomes the third straight Hurricane to win the Pitcher of the Year Award, keeping the honor in Americus for fourth year in a row.

Kyle Lodise started in all 47 games for the Jaguars in his first college season. An infielder from Brunswick, Ga., he hit .325 with seven home runs and 34 RBIs. He leads the Peach Belt with 71 total hits on the season and is second in the league in runs scored, is tied for seventh in home runs and tied for ninth in RBIs. He also led the team and was tied for fifth with 21 stolen bases. Lodise becomes the third Jaguar to be named the Freshman of the Year, the first since Cody Williams in 2004.

Josh McDonald led the Hurricanes to the first-ever PBC regular-season championship in 2023 and GSW enters the PBC tournament as the #1 seed, also for the first time. In his fifth season at the helm, McDonald set a program record for conference wins this year with 22. Listed as a team under consideration in the NCAA regional rankings, GSW earned their first Top-25 ranking of the season in the May 1 Collegiate Baseball poll. McDonald becomes the first GSW baseball coach to be named the PBC Coach of the Year.

The All-Conference team is listed below, as selected by the league's head coaches. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.

Peach Belt Conference Baseball
2023 All-Conference Team

First Team

1b - Jeremy Begora, Young Harris
2b - Ethan Underwood, Young Harris
3b - Steven Spell, Young Harris
SS - Drew Bray, Young Harris
C - Will McClellan, Lander
DH - Connor Droze, Lander
UT - Will McClellan, Lander
OF - Derek Wylie, Columbus State
OF - Jackson Hannon, USC Aiken
OF - Pat Galvin, Augusta
OF - Jake Blinstrub, Georgia Southwestern
SP - Rijnaldo Euson, Georgia Southwestern
SP - Jacob Fletcher, USC Aiken
SP - Nate Lamb, Young Harris
SP - Nick McCollum, Georgia Southwestern
RP - Dylan Wilhelm, USC Aiken

Second Team

1b - Joseph Mozingo, USC Aiken
2b - Matthew McDade, Columbus State
3b - Ben Tuten, Georgia College & State University
SS - Kyle Lodise, Augusta
C - Ian King, Columbus State
DH - Jackson Kemp, Young Harris
UT - Miles Hartsfield, Georgia Southwestern
OF - Win Johns, Columbus State
OF - Harrison Aulds, Augusta
OF - Connor Kirley, Columbus State
OF - Brandon Bellflower, Georgia College & State University
SP - Gage Voorhees, Flagler
SP - Luc Scudellari, Georgia College & State University
SP - Noah Windhorst, Columbus State
SP - Colton Joyner, Columbus State
RP - Dylan Beck, Young Harris

Elite 16 Award Presented by Barnes & Noble College
Jacob Lassiat, North Georgia

Freshman of the Year presented by College Ave Student Loans
Kyle Lodise, Augusta

Pitcher of the Year presented by College Ave Student Loans
Nick McCollum, Georgia Southwestern

Player of the Year presented by College Ave Student Loans
Jeremy Begora, Young Harris

Coach of the Year
Josh McDonald, Georgia Southwestern