CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Big South Conference announced the 2026 baseball all-conference award winners on Tuesday afternoon. Of the High Point University baseball team, 10 players were selected to the list as Joey Hammond was named the Big South Coach of the Year. Among the 10 players selected, Seojun Oh was named the Big South Player & Newcomer of the Year, Ty Brachbill was named the Big South Pitcher of the Year and Jake McCarter was named the Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
 
Joey Hammond | Coach of the Year
Head Coach Joey Hammond was named the Big South Coach of the Year after guiding the Panthers to their first-ever Big South Regular-Season title. In Hammond's fifth season at the helm during the 2026 season, High Point finished the regular-season with an overall record of 36-18 and a league record of 17-7 which is the second-most wins in program history (1^st - 2025, 18-6). The Panthers picked up wins over multiple ranked opponents, while winning the series at No. 9 Florida for the programs first series win over a Top 10 opponent. Hammond earns his first Big South Coach of the Year title and enters the Panthers as the No. 1 seed in the Big South Tournament.
 
Seojun Oh – Player of the Year | Newcomer of the Year | First Team All-Conference (Catcher)
Oh has been a staple to the Panthers on both sides of the diamond during his first season in the Purple & White. Oh has played in all 53 games for HPU, either as the designated hitter spot or behind the plate. He led the team with a .361 batting average, 14 doubles, a league leading 17 home runs and 56 rbi in 191 at-bats. He also led the conference in slugging percentage (.702), and OPS (1.161). Oh led the team with 22-multi hit games and has had 17-multi rbi games with the most coming with a four-rbi game against Gardner-Webb on March 28. Behind the dish, Oh holds a .965 fielding percentage, with five runners caught stealing and 13 assists. Oh was named to the NCAA National Lineup of the Week on March 30, as well as Baseball Americas National Team of the Week. Oh was also named a Big South Player of the Week.
 
Ty Brachbill – Pitcher of the Year | First Team All-Conference (Starting Pitcher)
Brachbill became the single season wins leader in the programs Division I history after notching his 10th win of the season on May 2. He currently holds a record of 11-2 on the season with a 3.46 in 88.1 innings pitched. Brachbill tallied 79 strikeouts over his 14 starts while tossing a career-high 11 strikeouts versus VMI and tossing two complete games. Out of his 14 starts he's gone into at the least the sixth inning or more in nine starts, including a 6.2 inning outing and the win at No.9 University of Florida. He has been awarded two Big South Conference Starting Pitcher of the Week awards, as well as earning the nod on D1 Baseball's weekly Top 100 Pitchers list two separate times.
 
Frank Kelly – First Team All-Conference (Infielder)
Kelly stepped up into a massive role in his junior season with HPU. He played in all 54 games, making 51 starts at second base hitting for a .322 average, with 15 doubles, three home runs, 29 rbi, and scored 44 runs in 171 at-bats. Kelly posted a .910 OPS and a .448 on-base percentage. He mastered the sacrifice bunt by being second in the conference in sac bunts with 10. In the field, Kelly has excelled with a .965 fielding percentage, turning 33 double plays and 91 putouts. Kelly broke into the D1 Baseball's Week 12 Top 50 Second Basemen Ranking at No. 41.
 
Landon Johnson – First Team All-Conference (Infielder)
Johnson has been the everyday first basemen for HPU starting all 53 games for the Panthers. He registered a .305 batting average, with 62 hits, team-leading 20 doubles, 10 home runs, 42 rbi in 203 at-bats. He recorded a season-high three hits in three games, and a season-high four runs batted in against Saint Joseph's. At the first base position, Johnson holds a .989 fielding percentage, turning 45 double plays, and 410 put outs. In week seven of the season, Johnson was named to D1 Baseball's Top 100 hitters.
 
Lane Allen – Second Team All-Conference (Outfielder)
Allen has been a key contributor to HPU in his first season playing all 54 games in right field. He held a .289 batting average, with 11 doubles, three triples, seven home runs, and driven in 40 runners in 204 at-bats. Allen had two games this season with four rbi, and totaled 10 multi-rbi games, and 19 multi-hit games. In the field, Allen was featured on ESPN Top 10 for an amazing homerun robbery he made in route to having a .992 fielding percentage on 115 putouts.
 
Jake McCarter – Second Team All-Conference (Outfield) | Scholar-Athlete of the Year | All-Academic Team
McCarter has started 53 games for the Panthers in the left field position. He has a .269 batting average with 57 hits, six doubles, two triples, 15 home runs (second in the league), and 51 rbi in 212 at-bats. He had a season-high five rbi at Gardner-Webb with a three-run home run and a two-rbi single. In the outfield, McCarter has played a lockdown left field with a .988 fielding percentage, making 84 putouts while making just one error.
 
Willie Ponce – Second Team All-Conference (Infielder)
Ponce has started in 53-54 games appeared in the leadoff spot and at the shortstop position. He posted a .322 batting average, with 12 doubles, team-leading three triples, five home runs, and has driven in 36 runners, while leading the team and the conference in runs scored with 56 in 202 at-bats. Ponce at one point held a 28 on-base streak and recorded 21 multi-hit games, and 11 multi-rbi game. He recorded a season-high five rbi when he went 3-3 against VMI and was a single shy of hitting for the cycle. At shortstop Ponce has excelled as he was named a Brooks Wallace Award Semifinalist, while holding a .977 fielding percentage, turning 32 double plays, and only committing four errors.
 
Dylan Story – Second Team All-Conference (Reliever)
Story has been the closer for HPU all season long recording 10 saves – tying the HPU program record – in 19 appearances and 20.2 innings pitched. He has struck out 27 batters in 78 plate appearances, while only surrendering one home run.
 
Tyler Shafer – Honorable Mention (Reliever)
Shafer made 19 appearances out of the bullpen in his first season with the Panthers. He recorded a 2.91 earned run average, with a 1-1 record, four saves, and 31 strikeouts in 34.0 innings pitched. Opposing batters had a .213 batting averaging with 127 plate appearances and only surrendering one home run. Shafer was awarded Big South Relief Pitcher of the Week after his performance at No. 9 University of Florida where he pitched in both game one and two totaling 3.1 innings pitched, allowing just three hits and keeping the Gators scoreless with six strikeouts.
 
High Point will play Thursday, May 21 at 11:00 a.m. at HomeTruist Field in Asheville, N.C. against the winner of the No.4 Charleston versus No. 5 Radford game.