AUGUSTA, GA -- The Peach Belt Conference has released the 2024 baseball All-Conference team. Lander's Ethan Wilder was named the Player of the Year while Georgia Southwestern's Rijnaldo Euson was named the Pitcher of the Year. Braeden Smith of Georgia College & State University is the Freshman of the Year and Lander's Jason Burke the Coach of the Year.

Wilder leads the PBC with a .418 batting average. The senior infielder from West Palm Beach, Fla., had 82 hits - tied for most in the league - in 196 at-bats with six home runs, four triples, 19 doubles and 65 RBIs. He is fourth in the Peach Belt in slugging percentage at .648, second in on-base percentage, fourth in runs scored and leads the conference with 65 RBIs, which is tied for 14th in NCAA Division II. The PBC Player of the Week on April 8, he had 24 multi-hit games this year including three four-hit games. Wilder becomes the second Bearcat to be named the PBC Player of the Year, the first since Patrick Grady in 2014.

Euson heads into the postseason with a 7-2 record after 13 starts and a 2.66 ERA. A junior lefty from Haines City, Fla., he leads the Peach Belt with a .198 opponent batting average, is second in strikeouts with 98, third in ERA and eighth in innings pitched. In conference games, he lowered that ERA to 2.43 as he was 5-2 with 11.16 strikeouts per nine innings. He reached double-digit strikeouts twice during the season and had nine starts with one or fewer earned runs allowed. Euson continues on the tradition being built at GSW as the Pitcher of the Year award stays with the team for a fifth straight season.

Smith started all 48 games for the Bobcats in his first collegiate season. The outfielder from Statham, Ga., hit .352 with 16 doubles, four home runs and 43 RBIs. He is currently sixth in the PBC in doubles, seventh in on-base percentage and 10th in OPS. The PBC Freshman of the Week on March 4, he hit .376 in conference games with four home runs and 24 RBIs. He had 20 multi-hit games on the year with five three-hit games. Smith becomes the third Bobcat to be named the PBC Freshman of the Year, the first since Cam Hill in 2019.

In his eighth season as the head coach at Lander, Jason Burke has his first PBC regular-season championship and the Bearcats are the #1 seed for the PBC Tournament. Lander finished the regular season with a 37-13 record, 21-6 in conference play, and are ranked #19 in the nation by the ABCA. The best fielding team in the PBC, Lander also has the best team ERA in conference games and were second in the league in home runs in all games. Burke wins his first PBC Coach of the Year honor and becomes the second Lander coach to win the award after Kermit Smith in 2014.

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

2024 Peach Belt Conference
Baseball All-Conference Team

First Team
1b - Braeden Smith, Georgia College & State University
2b - Cory Lee, Georgia Southwestern
3b - Matthew Mebane, Georgia College & State University
SS - Ethan Wilder, Lander
C - Kalvin Alexander, Georgia Southwestern
DH - Connor Droze, Lander
UT - Gabriel Wuerth, Georgia College & State University
OF - Brandon Bellflower, Georgia College & State University
OF - Brant Deerman, Georgia Southwestern
OF - Win Johns, Columbus State
OF - Trey Newland, Flagler
OF - Derek Wylie, Columbus State
SP - Rijnaldo Euson, Georgia Southwestern
SP - John Luke Glanton, Georgia College & State University
SP - Trace Goforth, Columbus State
SP - Nick McCollum, Georgia Southwestern
RP - Leo Giannoni, Columbus State

Second Team
1b - Phillip Ard, North Georgia
2b - Cody Ferguson, Columbus State
3b - George Davis, Georgia Southwestern
SS - Kyle Lodise, Augusta
C - Kyle LaRoche, Augusta
DH - Colby Brabston, Columbus State
OF - Jake Blinstrub, Georgia Southwestern
OF - Gary Garrett, Lander
OF - Josh Sharp, USC Aiken
SP - Daniel Fischer, Flagler
SP - Andrew Geiger, Georgia Southwestern
SP - Anson Merrick, Lander
SP - Bennett Nance, Lander
RP - Lex Kenny, Georgia College & State University
RP - Tyler Overholt, Lander

Elite 18 Award presented by Barnes & Noble College
Jacob Lassiat, North Georgia

Player of the Year, presented by College Ave. Student Loans
Ethan Wilder, Lander

Pitcher of the Year, presented by College Ave. Student Loans
Rijnaldo Euson, Georgia Southwestern

Freshman of the Year, presented by College Ave. Student Loans
Braeden Smith, Georgia College & State University

Coach of the Year, presented by College Ave. Student Loans
Jason Burke, Lander