[May 20, 2008]
Daktronics All-South Central Region Team.pdf
Rawlings/ABCA All-South Central Region Team.pdf
May 20, 2008
By: Houston Taylor
MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas outfielder John Long, starting pitcher Cody Jones, and shortstop Pat Robey have been honored on two post-season all-region baseball teams. Long was named Tuesday to the 2008 Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association All-South Central Region First Team, and he and Jones were first team picks on the 2008 Daktronics All-South Central Region Team, while Robey was selected to the second team.
A 5-9, 175-pound senior from Smackover, Long led the Muleriders this season hitting .415 with an .800 slugging percentage. He had team-highs of 18 home runs, 21 doubles, 74 RBI, 164 total bases, and had two triples. An earlier First Team All-Gulf South Conference honoree, Long was twice named the GSC West Division Player of the Week this year. His 164 total bases set the new SAU season record and he tied a single game mark with six runs scored earlier this year. Playing and starting in all 58 games, Long had 85 hits, scored 60 runs, drew 23 walks, and had a .479 on-base percentage and a .978 fielding percentage from his position in left field.
Jones ended his four-year career at Southern Arkansas with a win-loss record of 32-11, 
matching the school’s all-time mark for pitching victories. A 6-2, 180-pound senior out of Springhill, La., he was also a First Team All-GSC selection. Jones had 16 starts, five complete games, and one shutout this season, compiling a 9-3 record and 4.22 ERA. He had 78 strikeouts and just 20 walks in throwing a team-high 106 2/3 innings. Jones’ 269 career strikeouts stands at second on the all-time Mulerider list, while the 115 he had in his sophomore season of 2006 tops the SAU chart. An All-America selection that year, he finished with 12 victories that equaled the second-best win total in school history.
A 5-9, 170-pound senior from Longview, Texas, Robey was a First Team All-GSC pick the past two seasons. Playing and starting in all 58 games, he hit .371 while leading the squad with 86 hits, 45 walks, nine sacrifice flies, and 30 stolen bases. Robey finished with 18 doubles, two triples, two home runs, scored 56 runs, and had 59 RBI from his leadoff position. His 232 at-bats this year stands second all-time at Southern Arkansas, while his 164 assists on the infield matched the second best season total.
The three seniors helped lead the Muleriders to their first-ever national No. 1 ranking in school history earlier in the year, to a 46-12 record, which matches the best season win total at SAU, and to the semi-finals of the NCAA Division II South Central Region tournament.
By virtue of being selected on the all-region first teams, Long and Jones will advance for consideration on the respective All-America teams.
