BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – University of Montevallo baseball's Sam Kuchinski has been named the Gulf South Conference Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and five Falcons have earned All-GSC honors as announced by the league, Thursday.
 

After a phenomenal senior campaign during the regular season in which he led the GSC in eight offensive categories and ranked in the top-five in 17, Kuchinski has repeated as the conference Player of the Year and a First Team All-GSC selection.
 
The Powder Springs, Georgia native is currently batting .439 with 15 doubles, 16 homers and 69 RBI. Additionally, he has walked 38 times, scored 55 runs and leads NCAA Division II with his .568 on base percentage. Throughout the season, Kuchinski has reached base in 47 of 49 games with a current streak of 40 straight games reaching base. He has registered a hit in 45 of 49 games, including 19 multi-hit games, and is currently on a 25-game hit streak. The third baseman also recorded 19 multi-RBI games, including three with five or more. Throughout the season, Kuchinski was named the GSC Player of the Week and South Region Hitter of the Week twice. He became the first player in the GSC to achieve the Triple Crown as the conference leader in batting average, RBI and home runs, for the first time since Zach Shannon of Delta State did so in 2018. 

With the Player of the Year award this season, Kuchinski is just the third person all-time in the GSC to win the award in consecutive seasons and is the first Falcon to do so. 


 
In addition to Kuchinski, Reed Latimer, Luke Mitchell, Ben Teel and Asa Awbrey each earned All-GSC team selections.
 
Latimer, a senior from Scottsboro, Alabama earned a spot on the first team as a second baseman. He finished the regular season with .336 batting average, 63 RBI, 12 doubles and 14 homers. Latimer is second in the league in RBI and home runs, only behind Kuchinski. During the season Latimer turned in a team-high 21 multi-hit games and 20 multi-RBI games. Defensively, he totaled 80 putouts, 59 assists and a .972 fielding percentage.


 
Mitchell, a redshirt freshman from LeHigh Acres, Florida was named to the All-GSC Second Team in the catcher position. In his first year playing, Mitchell played in 44 games with 42 starts. He finished third on the team with a .359 batting average from the plate and drove in 31 runs with 11 doubles and six home runs. Behind the plate, he registered 180 putouts, 18 assists and a .980 fielding percentage. Additionally, Mitchell totaled 12 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games this season. Currently, he is on a 12-game reached-base streak.


 
Teel, a fifth-year senior from Homewood, Alabama, has exploded for the Falcons during his final season in the Purple and Gold and has earned a spot on the All-GSC Second Team. The first baseman has been a driving force in the Falcons' offense this season as he leads the team and is second in the GSC with 58 runs scored on the year. From the plate, he has posted a .382 batting average to go along with 63 RBI, 14 doubles and 12 homers. His 63 RBI is tied for second in the league with Latimer. He also has totaled 14 hit-by-pitch this season and became Montevallo's all-time career leader in that category with 59. This season Teel was named the GSC Player of the Week and South Region Hitter of the Week once while tallying 18 multi-hit games and 15 multi-RBI games. Teel was the only Falcon this season to turn in two six-RBI performances as he did so against Shorter (4-for-5) and Mississippi College (4-for-5). He currently has the second-highest hit streak and reached base streak for UM at eight and 14, respectively. Defensively Teel anchored the Falcons at first base this year with a team-leading 295 putouts and a 1.000 fielding percentage.


 
Rounding out the All-Conference squads is Awbrey, a senior from Carrollton, Georgia. Awbrey turned in a phenomenal capstone season to his Montevallo career as he started all 49 games in center field.  The lefty slugger batted .321 on the year with 55 RBI, 13 home runs, 10 doubles and a team-leading three triples. Early in the year against Walsh, Awbrey recorded his first triple of the season and set the all-time career triples record at Montevallo, passing UM great Greg Key's mark of 12. Later in the year, Awbrey added to that record with his 14^th career triple against Spring Hill. In the field, he posted a 1.000 fielding percentage with 120 putouts. He added 15 multi-hit games and 10 multi-RBI games from the plate.


 
Overall, the Falcons All-Conference quintet combined for 61 homers, 218 RBI, 244 runs and 552 total bases.
 
The Falcons will open the Gulf South Conference Tournament on Friday, May 5, at 1 p.m. against Lee at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama.