Post by The Cats on Jan 31, 2020 10:12:07 GMT -5
It's only 13 days until the Western Carolina Baseball team takes the field at Hennon Stadium for the first pitch against the Chicago State Cougars to open the 2020 baseball season. Let's take this time to meet this season's Cats with Bats.
We will highlight them by class, starting with the seniors and ending with the brand new freshmen Catamounts.
#18 Justice Bigbie
POSITION Infield / Outfield
HEIGHT 6-3
WEIGHT 200
CLASS Junior
HOMETOWN Chesapeake, Va.
HIGH SCHOOL Grassfield HS
2019 (Sophomore): Started all 53 games on the year including 49 starts at third base, three in left field and one in right field … Finished second on the team with a .355 batting average (third in the SoCon), recording a team-best 75 hits with 11 doubles and 12 home runs – two coming as inside-the-park homers … Recorded hits in 44 of WCU’s 53 games (83%) … Finished the season with 21 multiple-hit games including 10, three-hit games and 12 multiple RBI games … Paced the squad with 51 RBI including a team-best 20, 2-out RBI coming on 30, 2-out hits while batting .423 with two outs … Added 29 walks and seven HBPs for a .446 on-base percentage, second in the SoCon … Enjoyed a season-long 12-game hitting streak in the month of March … Finished 3-for-5 with three runs and five RBI in the road win at UNC Asheville (March 3) … Tallied a career-best six RBI in a 3-for-5 outing with two doubles and a home run at UNCG (March 30) … Named the 2019 Southern Conference Baseball Player of the Year by both the league’s head coaches and the voting members of the SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA) … Was also named to the first-team All-Southern Conference team at third base.
2018 (Freshman): Played in all 58 of the team’s games with 57 starts seeing the bulk of his action in the outfield, making 33 starts in right field … Also had 13 starts at second base, eight at third base and three times as the DH … Finished the regular season ranked second on the team among the regulars with a .324 batting average, collecting a team-best 73 hits in 225 at-bats with 20 hits going for extra bases – 14 doubles, a triple, and five home runs … Led the team in hitting most of the season until a hand/wrist injury slowed his production over the final month … Led the Catamounts with 46 RBI on the season, finishing with 13, two-out RBI … Tallied a team-leading 14 multi-RBI games while also leading the squad with 22 multiple-hit games including 14, two-hit outings and collecting eight, three-hit games … Finished the year ranked third in SoCon-only games with 34 runs driven in during league play … Grounded into 12 double plays – the most on the team and most in the Southern Conference … Garnered SoCon All-Freshman team plaudits … Named Freshman All-America by Collegiate Baseball, WCU’s first since 2014 … Collected his first collegiate base hit on a ninth-inning infield single in game two of the season-opening three-game set at East Carolina (Feb. 17) … His first career extra-base hit came five games into the season with a fourth-inning double against Canisius (Feb. 23) … Hit his first collegiate home run in game two of a doubleheader against Ball State (March 9) as a part of a three-RBI outing … Doubled twice two times on the season – at The Citadel (March 24) and against ETSU (April 29) … Was a part of turning seven double plays in the field. Summer League: Played in 36 games for the Madison Mallards of the Northwoods League … Batted .276 on the summer with 34 hits in 123 at-bats with eight doubles and 23 RBI … Had eight multi-hit games and seven games with multiple RBI … Had a pair of five-game hitting streaks over the summer including one stretch where he went 11-for-21 (.524) with eight RBI.
Prior to Western Carolina: Was a three-time all-conference selection including twice garnering first-team plaudits and twice garnering all-region ... As a senior was a first-team selection on the Virginia 6-A South Region baseball team and a second-team Virginia All-State 6-A selection at shortstop ... Made the North Team All-Star roster in the Tidewater Collegiate Summer League ... Was an all-conference catcher as a sophomore and junior ... Also played football as a prep where he earned all-conference honors, passing for over 3,000 yards with 26 TD passes.
Personal: Full name is Justice Gabriel Bigbie ... Is the son of Sarah Fallon and Scott Bigbie ... Has two younger siblings, Holt and Landry ... His father, Scott, played baseball and football at Elizabeth City State University.
Courtesy WCU Athletics Media Relations
We will highlight them by class, starting with the seniors and ending with the brand new freshmen Catamounts.
#18 Justice Bigbie
POSITION Infield / Outfield
HEIGHT 6-3
WEIGHT 200
CLASS Junior
HOMETOWN Chesapeake, Va.
HIGH SCHOOL Grassfield HS
2019 (Sophomore): Started all 53 games on the year including 49 starts at third base, three in left field and one in right field … Finished second on the team with a .355 batting average (third in the SoCon), recording a team-best 75 hits with 11 doubles and 12 home runs – two coming as inside-the-park homers … Recorded hits in 44 of WCU’s 53 games (83%) … Finished the season with 21 multiple-hit games including 10, three-hit games and 12 multiple RBI games … Paced the squad with 51 RBI including a team-best 20, 2-out RBI coming on 30, 2-out hits while batting .423 with two outs … Added 29 walks and seven HBPs for a .446 on-base percentage, second in the SoCon … Enjoyed a season-long 12-game hitting streak in the month of March … Finished 3-for-5 with three runs and five RBI in the road win at UNC Asheville (March 3) … Tallied a career-best six RBI in a 3-for-5 outing with two doubles and a home run at UNCG (March 30) … Named the 2019 Southern Conference Baseball Player of the Year by both the league’s head coaches and the voting members of the SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA) … Was also named to the first-team All-Southern Conference team at third base.
2018 (Freshman): Played in all 58 of the team’s games with 57 starts seeing the bulk of his action in the outfield, making 33 starts in right field … Also had 13 starts at second base, eight at third base and three times as the DH … Finished the regular season ranked second on the team among the regulars with a .324 batting average, collecting a team-best 73 hits in 225 at-bats with 20 hits going for extra bases – 14 doubles, a triple, and five home runs … Led the team in hitting most of the season until a hand/wrist injury slowed his production over the final month … Led the Catamounts with 46 RBI on the season, finishing with 13, two-out RBI … Tallied a team-leading 14 multi-RBI games while also leading the squad with 22 multiple-hit games including 14, two-hit outings and collecting eight, three-hit games … Finished the year ranked third in SoCon-only games with 34 runs driven in during league play … Grounded into 12 double plays – the most on the team and most in the Southern Conference … Garnered SoCon All-Freshman team plaudits … Named Freshman All-America by Collegiate Baseball, WCU’s first since 2014 … Collected his first collegiate base hit on a ninth-inning infield single in game two of the season-opening three-game set at East Carolina (Feb. 17) … His first career extra-base hit came five games into the season with a fourth-inning double against Canisius (Feb. 23) … Hit his first collegiate home run in game two of a doubleheader against Ball State (March 9) as a part of a three-RBI outing … Doubled twice two times on the season – at The Citadel (March 24) and against ETSU (April 29) … Was a part of turning seven double plays in the field. Summer League: Played in 36 games for the Madison Mallards of the Northwoods League … Batted .276 on the summer with 34 hits in 123 at-bats with eight doubles and 23 RBI … Had eight multi-hit games and seven games with multiple RBI … Had a pair of five-game hitting streaks over the summer including one stretch where he went 11-for-21 (.524) with eight RBI.
Prior to Western Carolina: Was a three-time all-conference selection including twice garnering first-team plaudits and twice garnering all-region ... As a senior was a first-team selection on the Virginia 6-A South Region baseball team and a second-team Virginia All-State 6-A selection at shortstop ... Made the North Team All-Star roster in the Tidewater Collegiate Summer League ... Was an all-conference catcher as a sophomore and junior ... Also played football as a prep where he earned all-conference honors, passing for over 3,000 yards with 26 TD passes.
Personal: Full name is Justice Gabriel Bigbie ... Is the son of Sarah Fallon and Scott Bigbie ... Has two younger siblings, Holt and Landry ... His father, Scott, played baseball and football at Elizabeth City State University.
Courtesy WCU Athletics Media Relations