Catawba Valley Community College second baseman Chandler Blackwelder was named to the 2020-21 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America® College Division men’s at-large team on Monday.
The sophomore from Salisbury, N.C., who has already signed to continue his academic and athletic careers at North Greenville University, becomes the first Red Hawk student athlete to earn this distinction from CoSIDA.
“I’m very thankful to be recognized for my work in the classroom,” Blackwelder said. “Athletes are constantly praised for their athleticism and our lives tend to be completely focused on our sport, but academic responsibilities still have to be our top priority and can be our biggest challenge. It means a lot to receive an award for being a student before athlete.”
Catawba Valley Community College baseball’s Chandler Blackwelder continued his strong sophomore campaign with three home runs and a .643 batting average to pick up this week’s National Junior College Athletic Association Baseball’s Division 2 Player of the Week honor, his second of the season.
Blackwelder played in three games this past week. Against Caldwell Community College, he went 0-for-4 at the plate. It was over the weekend that he had a career two game series. In game one of the series against Guilford Tech Community College, a 23-11 win, Blackwelder, in the leadoff position, went six-for-six with six runs scored, and 10 RBI.