UNCW Baseball’s Tanner Thach named Co-Player of the Year

WILMINGTON, NC (UNCW SPORTS)– UNCW’s Tanner Thach and Northeastern’s Tyler MacGregor were honored as Co-Players of the Year by the Coastal Athletic Association coaches the league announced on the eve of the 2024 CAA Championship Tournament at Brooks Field.

Thach, who also earned First Team All-CAA honors, became the ninth Seahawk to be named Player of the Year and the second in three seasons, joining Brooks Baldwin in 2022. Since 2016, a UNCW player has earned the honor five times.

Thach exploded his sophomore season, setting UNCW single-season and career home run marks as well as the CAA single-season mark. Thach enters the conference tournament hitting .321 with 26 home runs and 70 runs batted in, also a career-high. In conference play, he is hitting .353 with 13 round trippers and 37 runs batted in. In two seasons, Thach has hit 41 home runs and knocked in 138 runs.

Joining Thach on the First Team were red-shirt seniors Jac Croom and Trevor Marsh, red-shirt sophomore RJ Sales, and red-shirt junior Luke Craig.

Croom earned First Team infielder honors for a second straight season. Croom is hitting .292 with 51 runs scored, nine home runs, and 39 runs batted in, both being career highs. Croom has a 319 batting average and a .440 on-base average in conference play.

Marsh also earned First Team All-CAA honors for a second consecutive season after hitting a team-leading and career-high .357. His 14 home runs are a career high as is his .602 slugging average.

Sales, who carries a league-leading nine wins into the postseason, was voted First Team for a second time, the last being 2022 as a freshman. Sales tossed 82.2 innings throughout 14 starts in 2024. He struck out 8.8 batters per nine innings and limited opponents to a .208 batting average. Sales pitched a minimum of five innings in 13 of his 14 starts on the season. He crafted eight quality starts of at least six innings and allowing three or fewer runs.

Craig stepped into the closer role this season and responded with a 4-1 record and five saves over 23 appearances. The lefthander held hitters to a meager .179 batting average while striking out 12.2 batters per nine innings. In conference play, Craig was 1-1 with four saves and a 1.83 earned runs average.

Junior Zane Taylor was honored as a Second Team All-CAA selection. This season, Taylor fashioned a record of 5-0, 4-0 in CAA play, a 3.54 ERA, and an opponent batting average of .228. As a sophomore, Taylor earned First Team honors.

The Seahawks open their CAA tournament appearance on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Tickets for the tournament, as well as individual games, are available at UNCWSports.com/buytickets.