Greensboro, N.C. - Central Methodist Head Baseball Coach Nate Breland is just one of nine coaches from the NAIA to be named an NAIA Regional Coach of the Year, as announced by the American Baseball Coaches Association Friday.
The ABCA/ATEC Coaches of the Year are selected in all nine divisions: NAIA, NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NJCAA Divisions I, II, and III, the Pacific Association Division, and high school. Coaches of the Year are selected by members of the ABCA All-America and Coach of the Year Committees.
Each of the nine NAIA honorees led their teams to Opening Round Championships and a berth in the Avista NAIA World Series last May. This marks the first Regional Coach of the Year honor for Breland.
Breland led his team to the best season in program history, as the Eagles won the Heart Regular Season and Tournament Titles and the Opening Round Championship in the O'Fallon Bracket. Central punched its ticket to its first-ever NAIA World Series appearance and nearly claimed its first NAIA National Championship, finishing as the runner-up to Georgia Gwinnett, posting a 3-2 run in the Series.
CMU earned a final national ranking of No. 2, completing the year with a 49-8 mark and setting program records in wins (49), winning percentage (.859), team batting average (.341), home runs (87), team earned run average (3.33), and strikeouts (473).
CMU collected three NAIA All-Americans, as shortstop Sergio Macias led the way with a first-team selection, while pitcher Nick Merkel earned second-team honors. Pitcher/utility player Mason Schwellenbach rounded out the honors, as he was tabbed an Honorable Mention All-America selection for the second time in his career. Breland was also tabbed as the Heart Coach of the Year, and 10 Eagles were selected to Heart All-Conference teams, including Merkel as Pitcher of the Year and Macias as Player of the Year.
The ABCA/ATEC National and Regional Coaches of the Year will be honored on Friday, Jan. 7 in the main clinic hall prior to the start of clinics at the 78th annual ABCA Convention, which will be held on Jan. 6-9, 2022, in Chicago, Illinois.
To view the full release from the ABCA/ATEC National and Regional Coaches of the Year, please click here.
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