Crews Taylor named to NCAA Division II Gold Glove team
News July 20, 2022
GREENSBORO, NC. — Before the baseball season gets too far in the rearview mirror, Fetch Your News would like to recognize a University of North Georgia player who received an award in June that only one player in school history has earned.
The American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings Sporting Goods announced the NCAA Division II Gold Glove teams with the University of North Georgia’s Crews Taylor earning a spot on the prestigious nine-player list as an outfielder.
Taylor becomes just the second player in program history to win a Rawlings Gold Glove on the national level joining Devin Gearhart’s distinction in 2016. Four Nighthawks previously won the defensive honor at the region level.
The ABCA’s Southeast Region Position Player of the Year and All-American, anchored down centerfield for the Nighthawks where he collected 184 putouts and gunned down five runners in an errorless 51-game season.
The senior led the Peach Belt in home runs, doubles, runs scored, slugging percentage and total hits and was in the league’s top 10 in batting average and RBI. His 23 home runs this season is tied for ninth-most in a single season in PBC history and is sixth-most in NCAA Division II this season.
He was named PBC Player of the Year and first team All-Conference prior to being named All-Region first team by D2CCA, NCBWA and ABCA.
Taylor added 17 doubles and 56 RBI, scoring 69 times while posting a .758 slugging percentage and stealing 18 bases in as many attempts.
UNG’s Crews Taylor named Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year
Press Release May 17, 2022
AUGUSTA, Ga. – University of North Georgia baseball player Crews Taylor was tabbed as the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year, earning first team honors in the process, the league office announced Thursday. Additionally, Jacob Lassiat was named the Elite 16 Award Winner, while Pierce Williams and Jake Arnold earned second team accolades.
Taylor was an offensive machine for the Nighthawks. The senior outfielder from Lawrenceville, Georgia, led the Peach Belt in home runs, doubles, runs scored, slugging percentage and total hits and was in the league’s top 10 in batting average and RBI. His 23 home runs this season is tied for ninth-most in a single season in PBC history and tied for fourth-most in NCAA Division II this season. He is also ranked 12th in DII in runs and 33rd in slugging percentage. Taylor becomes the second Nighthawk to be named the PBC Player of the Year, joining Brian Lauderdale who won in 2006.
Lassiat becomes the second Nighthawk in a row to win the Elite 16 Award, given to the player with the highest cumulative grade point average who is competing in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament. The league’s award, presented by EAB, models the NCAA’s Elite 90 Award. Nik Levensteins won the award last year, becoming the first baseball player in program history to win the award.
Williams and Arnold each earned second team All-Conference honors as pitchers with Williams a starter and Arnold a reliever.
UNG places 4 on Preseason All-Peach Belt Conference Baseball Team
Press Release January 29, 2022
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The University of North Georgia baseball team was picked to finish second in the Peach Belt Preseason Coaches Poll released Friday by the conference office. Additionally, Tim Conway and Crews Taylor were named to the Preseason All-Conference Team as outfielders, while Cade Heil was named a starting pitcher and Nik Levensteins was named the designated hitter.
Columbus State received six first-place votes and 78 total points to take the top spot in the coaches poll, edging out North Georgia by four. Georgia College and Young Harris were tied for third with 60 each while USC Aiken was fifth and Georgia Southwestern sixth. Flagler, Lander, Augusta and Claflin rounded out the voting. North Georgia finished second in the PBC standings in 2021, winning 30 or more games for the sixth year in a row. The Nighthawks also advanced to the championship round of the PBC Tournament for the first time since 2009. Eight seniors return for 2022 with five position players and two weekend starters on the mound.
Conway, a junior from Decatur, Georgia, hit .324 with 13 doubles, nine home runs and 24 RBI, tying for eighth in the PBC in doubles and ranking 10th in base hits. He had nine multi-RBI games, including four against Francis Marion along with 17 multi-hit games with a 4-for-4 effort against Catawba. Conway was named a PBC Presidential Honor Roll Bronze Scholar.
Heil, asenior from Suwanee, Georgia, was a first-team All-Conference selection who was named a PBC Pitcher of the Week and a NCBWA Southeast Region Pitcher of the Week a year ago. Heil made 14 starts last season with an 8-1 record in 80.2 innings pitched, recording 54 strikeouts, two complete games and one shutout. He was tied for the PBC lead in victories and ranked fourth in the league in innings pitched. Heil earned the recognition of being a PBC Presidential Honor Roll Gold Scholar as well.
Levensteins, a junior from Arvada, Colorado, was named All-American by the ABCA, NCBWA and D2CCA and a first-team All-Conference selection after hitting .338 with 11 doubles, 19 home runs and 62 RBI. He tied for the PBC lead and tied for seventh in NCAA Division II with 62 RBI and also ranked third in the PBC in slugging percentage, seventh in on-base percentage and tied for ninth in runs scored. Levensteins was the winner of the Elite 16 Award in 2021 as well as a PBC Presidential Honor Roll Silver Scholar, PBC Team of Academic Distinction and the D2ADA Academic Achievement Award.
Taylor, a senior from Lawrenceville, Georgia, was a PBC second-team All-Conference selection last season and was also named All-Region by the ABCA and NCBWA as well as an All-Tournament selection. Taylor hit .303 with 15 doubles, 15 home runs and 46 RBI, leading the PBC with 42 walks drawn and was tied for third in doubles, tied for sixth in home runs and ranked 10th in RBI and home runs. Taylor was also named a PBC Presidential Honor Roll Presidential Scholar.
The Nighthawks will open the season one week from today as they play host to No. 16 Lee Friday, February 4, at 4 p.m
Nik Levensteins, Crews Taylor Earn NCBWA All-Region Honors
Business May 21, 2021
PRESS RELEASE
WINGATE, N.C. – University of North Georgia baseball players Nik Levensteins and Crews Taylor earned NCBWA All-Region honors Friday, the association announced. Levensteins was the first team designated hitter, while Taylor was a second team outfielder.
Crews Taylor
Levensteins earns first team All-Region accolades for the first time in his career. The sophomore hit .338 with 19 homers and 62 RBI, adding 11 doubles while posting a .763 slugging percentage. He had 54 hits and 49 runs scored on the season. He was named first team All-Peach Belt and the Elite 16 Award winner.
Taylor was a preseason All-Region honoree in 2020 and earned second team All-Conference honors as well as a spot on the All-Tournament Team in 2021. He hit .303 on the year with 15 doubles and 15 homers and 46 RBI as the centerfielder for UNG. This is his first All-Region honor of his career.
Taylor’s walkoff homer sends UNG to PBC Baseball Championship Series
Press Release May 9, 2021PRESS RELEASE
Crews Taylor
DAHLONEGA, Ga. — After forcing a decisive game three, the No. 25 University of North Georgia baseball team used a pair of long balls, including a Crews Taylor walkoff blast, to advance to the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship Series, presented by Under Armour, Saturday night with a sweep of Young Harris.
GAME ONE – #25 UNG 6, YHC 3
Pierce Williams was perfect through 5.2 innings of work, allowing North Georgia to jump out to an early lead. In the third, Taylor poked a RBI single to right field before Andres Perez had a sacrifice fly that pushed UNG out to a 2-0 lead. The Nighthawks extended the lead in the fourth on a RBI double from Will Hardigree and again in the fifth on a two-run homer from Perez, making the score 5-0.
The Mountain Lions answered in the eighth, plating three runs off a Brett Hawkins RBI double and a Logan Worley RBI single to cut the lead to 5-3 before UNG got an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth off a Taylor homer.
Williams (4-0) went the complete game, fanning five while allowing just a pair of hits and three walks.
GAME TWO – #25 UNG 12, YHC 10
North Georgia again got on the board first on a two-run bomb from Jake Arnold in the third and RBI singles from Arnold and Nik Levensteins in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead. YHC came back in the fifth to tie it up off a Brandon Jolliff two-run homer and RBI singles from Dahlton Cash and Jackson Jones.
UNG retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth on a Brady Eeles sacrifice fly, but the Mountain Lions stormed out in front, plating six runs over the sixth and seventh innings to take a 10-5 lead. North Georgia started to claw back into it after the stretch as Levensteins pushed a RBI single out to right field to trim the lead to 10-6.
In the eighth, Tim Conway hit a one-out solo homer to straight away center to cut into the lead a little further. After a strikeout got the inning to two outs, Bill LeRoy and Eeles reached base ahead of Levensteins who tied the game with a single swing to right center at 10-10.
UNG got Arnold on to leadoff the ninth ahead of Taylor, who pushed UNG to the championship series with a two-run blast to right center.
Beau Jones (3-1) earned the win in relief, allowing just one walk over 2.2 innings, punching out four Mountain Lions.
NOTES
– The Nighthawks will look to win their first PBC Tournament title since 2008 and are now in the championship for the first time since 2009.
– UNG hit six homers on the day, pushing their season total to 86, breaking the single season record at UNG which stood at 80 from the 2017 campaign.
NEXT UP
North Georgia will wait on the other semifinal series between Columbus State and UNC Pembroke to wrap up tomorrow before seeing their opponent in another best-of-three series next weekend. Columbus State won the opener, 7-3, Saturday afternoon. If Columbus State wins once Sunday, UNG would host the Cougars in the championship, while if the Braves sweep Sunday’s twinbill, the Nighthawks would travel to UNCP next weekend.
Arnold first-inning grand slam ignites UNG offense
Business February 23, 2020
Crews Taylor
FLORENCE, S.C. – Jumping out to a 7-0 lead, the University of North Georgia baseball team hit four long balls, including two by Crews Taylor, to beat Francis Marion, 12-5, Saturday afternoon.
The Nighthawks wasted no time getting on the scoreboard with a grand slam from Jake Arnold in the top half of the first. Taylor came around again in the second inning to hit a solo homer on the first pitch he saw to give UNG a 5-0 lead.
Two batters later, it was Bill LeRoy hitting a bomb to left field on a full count pitch, plating Tim Conway in the process to push the lead up to 7-0.
FMU scratched a run across in the fifth, but North Georgia answered with Taylor’s second homer of the day in the eighth inning. After the Patriots found two in the eighth, the Nighthawks book ended the game with another four-run inning, walking in two and using a Jake Howard RBI single to plate the other two.
Francis Marion got two in the final frame of the game to get to the final score.
NOTES
– The 1-5 hitters for UNG went 10-for-20 with 10 runs scored, nine RBI and six walks.
– Steven Bower (3-1) got the win with 7.1 innings of work, fanning eight along the way.
– North Georgia has now won five straight series against FMU.
NEXT UP
The series finale will be Sunday at 1 p.m. as UNG goes for the sweep.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
UNG blanks Francis Marion in PBC season opener
Team FYN Sports, University of North Georgia February 22, 2020
Cade Heil
FLORENCE, S.C. – Crews Taylor homered in the sixth, opening up the offense as the University of North Georgia baseball team shut out Francis Marion Friday evening, 6-0, in the Peach Belt Conference series opener.
After Taylor hit his solo shot, UNG was able to double the lead off a Patriot error in the seventh before putting up a four-spot in the ninth.
The Nighthawks loaded up the bases with one out, setting the stage for Jake Arnold to clear the bases on a double to left center, pushing the lead to 5-0. Two batters later, Jake Howard singled through the left side of the Patriot defense to bring the game to its final score.
NOTES
– Cade Heil (3-0) earned the win, giving up just two hits and two walks across 7.2 innings of work. He fanned eight batters along the way.
– Bill LeRoy had the only multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 at the plate.
– Taylor has reached base in 14 straight games, dating back to last season.
NEXT UP
The two teams will meet again tomorrow with first pitch slated for 2 p.m.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. FYN attracts 300,000+ page views per month, 3.5 million impressions per month and approximately 15,000 viewers per week on FYNTV.com and up to 60,000 Facebook page reach. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com