BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Gulf South Conference announced its baseball preseason all-conference honors and top newcomers to watch for the 2024 season. West Florida led the way with six preseason All-GSC honorees (Trent Jeffcoat, Darrien McDowell, Kade Manderscheid, Dalton Neuschwander, Major Posey, Mike Scordo).
Lee (Riley Black and Malachi Cloud) and Shorter (Tanner Folds and Kobe Jones) had two honoree apiece. Alabama Huntsville (Will Hotalen), Delta State (Carson Clowers), Mississippi College (JT Vance), Montevallo (Luke Mitchell), West Alabama (Blake Vineyard) and West Georgia (Sam Ladner) each had one.
This season’s “Newcomers to Watch” included 39 first-year GSC players. The 2024 list featured five freshmen and 34 transfers with 11 student-athletes coming from the Division I ranks.
2024 NEWCOMERS TO WATCH
The preseason team is comprised of the returning student-athletes who earned postseason all-conference accolades the season before. Newcomers highlighted were submitted by their respective teams.
Of the 16 names recognized on the preseason lineup, nine were First Team All-GSC selections last season. UWF’s Neuschwander and Jeffcoat are the only preseason honorees to garner ABCA national accolades last season with Neuschwander being All-American while Jeffcoat was named to the Gold Glove Team.
In addition, Neuschwander and Shorter’s Folds headlined the preseason squad after the two starting pitchers were named the conference’s 2023 Pitcher and Freshman of the Year. Neuschwander finished last season with a 10-0 record and posted a 1.87 ERA and led the GSC in inning pitched (101.1) and opposing batting average (.198). Folds meanwhile went 11-5 and was the conference leader in wins and complete games (6).
The 2024 season begins February 1, with GSC play starting February 17 and concluding on April 28. Teams will play 10 conference teams in three-game series for a total of 30 GSC games. The entire 2024 season can be found here.
The GSC Baseball Championship returns to Choccolocco Park and will be co-hosted by the City of Oxford, Ala., from May 3-7. The top eight teams in the standings will compete in the double-elimination tournament.
2024 Baseball Preseason All-GSC Team
Will Hotalen, RP, Alabama Huntsville*
Carson Clowers, SS, Delta State*
Riley Black, DH, Lee#
Malachi Cloud, OF, Lee*
JT Vance, OF, Mississippi College#
Luke Mitchell, C, Montevallo#
Tanner Folds, SP, Shorter*
Kobe Jones, OF, Shorter#
Blake Vineyard, SS, West Alabama#
Trent Jeffcoat, SS, West Florida#
Darrien McDowell, INF, West Florida*
Kade Manderscheid, SP, West Florida*
Dalton Neuschwander, SP, West Florida*
Major Posey, SP, West Florida#
Mike Scordo, C, West Florida*
Sam Ladner, INF, West Georgia*
* 2023 First Team All-GSC
# 2023 Second Team All-GSC
Players are sorted alphabetically by school