Baur Caps off Newberry Baseball Career with ABCA All-America Honors

Newberry College first baseman Albert Baur caps off a magnificent career with second team All-America  honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and Rawlings, the publication announced Monday. 

The Philadelphia, Pa., native became Newberry’s first baseball All-American in the institution’s Division II era. With the ABCA award, Baur completes the trifecta of All-America laurels after being named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) second team and the Daktronics first team last week. He becomes the first player in Newberry history to be named an All-American by each of the three publications. 

Baur is the third All-American in the school’s history, following NAIA selections Tim Cook (1977) and Johnny Harbin (1971 and 1972). Both Cook and Harbin were selected in the MLB draft; Cook in the fifth round by the Brewers in 1978 and Harbin in the first round by the Dodgers in 1972.

The first team All-South Atlantic Conference selection was a consensus first team all-region selection from the NCBWA, Daktronics and the ABCA, the only player in school history to be named first team by each publication in a single year. 

Baur led the Wolves to their most prolific season in recent history with 34 wins - the most since 1977 - and 21 wins in South Atlantic Conference action, the first time Newberry has eclipsed the 20-win mark since joining the league since 1997. In his tenure, Baur led the Scarlet and Gray to 113 victories, the most by any player in a four year career dating back through 1982. 

Baur hit .427 (88-for-206) for the season with 24 doubles, 16 home runs, 59 RBIs and 54 runs scored. He slugged .796 while reaching base at a .510 clip en route to setting the single season Newberry records for hits, doubles, total bases, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

 
In the South Atlantic Conference standings, Baur placed in the top six in hits, runs, doubles, home runs, RBIs, total bases, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. His batting average, doubles, hits, home runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and total bases also ranked in the top 20 in all of NCAA Division II. 

Throughout the course of the season, Baur totaled 28 games with multiple hits, including 12 with three or more hits and three with five or more. He blasted two home runs in the same game four times in 2015. He had the longest hitting streak for Newberry this season with 11 games and the second longest streak of reaching base with 29 consecutive contests. Baur also tabbed 14 match ups with two or more RBIs, seven of which came with four or more. 

His best game of the season came against Limestone on February 18 when he went 5-for-5, hitting for the cycle with two home runs, seven RBIs and crossed the plate five times. He tagged five hits in six trips to the plate against Catawba on February 27 with another pair of home runs and four RBIs. In the first game of the series at Lenoir-Rhyne on April 3, he was 5-for-5 with two home runs, just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle for the second time in the season. 

The left-handed hitter caps off an illustrious career and leaves Newberry as the most decorated player in program history. Baur compiled a .353 career batting average (284-for-805) with 66 doubles, 29 home runs, 196 RBIs and scored 150 times. He donned the Wolves uniform 203 times in his tenure, making 200 starts, setting the Newberry standard in nearly every statistical category. 

Baur leaves the program holding the all-time records for games played, games started, at bats, hits, doubles, RBIs, total bases, intentional walks, defensive putouts, defensive chances and double plays turned. His batting average, slugging percentage, runs scored, home runs and walks also rank in the top 10 in Newberry history. 

Baur joins four other players from the South Atlantic Conference on the ABCA All-America team, including the Pitcher of the Year in Catawba’s Craig Brooks and the Position Player of the Year in Catawba catcher Will Albertson. Brooks was also named the 2015 ABCA/Rawlings Gold Bat Award as the National Player of the Year. Baur was joined on the second team by Wingate’s Shane Billings (2B) and Thomas Spitz (OF).