Lawrence and Karchner Named USCAA All-Americans
Tanner Lawrence was named to the 2018 USCAA First Team All American Team and teammate Charlie Karchner was named to the Honorable Mention All American Team/
Penn State Hazleton Nittany Lion Tanner Lawrence (Pinellas Park, FL) continued to add to his post season accolaides as he was named to the 2018 United States Collegiate Athletic Conference All-American First Team. His dominance at the plate led both USCAA and the PSUAC in doubles as well as finishing in the top five in both conferences in RBI's, batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. By the end of the season, teams began to employ special defensive shifts and intentionally walked him as ways to keep him from hitting the ball. The sophomore moved behind the plate to handle the catching duties afer starting catcher Wilson Guarnera (Camp Hill, PA) suffered a sever concussion. Serving as one of the team captains, Lawrence led by example catching fire late in the season helping the local lions win eight of their last ten conference games providing the Lions with their first winning conference record in years.
For Lawrence, it was the second consecutive year he collected post-season honors. In 2017, Lawrence was named to the PSUCA Honorable Mention team as an infielder. This year, his 14 doubles led the PSUAC and USCAA during through regular season play. He finished second in the PSUAC in batting average with a .468 mark, adding a .548 on-base percentage and a .646 slugging percentage. While playing in minimally 6 games less than the other leaders, Lawrence ended the year with 37 hits, 22 runs, and 28 rbis.
Lawrence will move on to University Park where he will continue his studies as a Biology with Vertebrate Physiology major.
Junior Charles Karchner (Hazleton, PA) returned to the game with a vengance. As a result of his hustile, grit, determination and disclipline he was named to the 2018 USCAA All-American Honorable Mention Team. After taking a year off from the game, Karchner' play never skipped a beat as he became the ultimate utility player for Hazleton. Playing shortstop and pitching, he collected 31 hits and 27 runs on his way to a .378 batting avg. finishing in the top three on the team as well in the top 20 of the PSUAC. Previously, Karchner has been named to the PSUAC All Academic Team in 2016.
Karchner will return in 2019 to lead the team during his senior year and mahor in Engineering.