By CARY TAYLOR

Contributing Writer

Two Lions baseball teammates were awarded for their athletic achievements by the Georgia Dugout Club, on Saturday, Jan. 18. Senior outfielder Josh Bailey earned Division Three Player of the Year, while his fellow freshman teammate,Preston Graham, was named Georgia AAA State Player of the Year. 

Bailey led the Lions last year with 53 hits out of 165 at bats, while adding ten doubles and five home runs. 

Graham, a lefty pitcher, led the North Hall Trojans to the Georgia AAA state championship game during his 2013 high school season. To begin his team’s big playoff run, he struck out 17 of his first 18 batters in a game against Dacula. 

The two have big plans for the upcoming 2014 season.

After finishing the season with a .321 batting average and 34 runs batted in, Bailey was also awarded All Region Honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association. He hopes to achieve even better numbers this year, starting with their opening series against Guilford College. 

“I don’t want to be mediocre. I don’t want to do the same thing. I want to do a lot better,” Bailey said. 

Graham came off a record breaking season at North Hall High School in Gainesville. The lefty tied the all time strikeout record at North Hall with 17 strikeouts versus Dacula back in May 2013. 

Junior pitcher Jacob Brewster, said, “He is definitely going to have a big impact as a freshman.” 

The Lions start their season with a two game series  versus Guilford College. These two award winning athletes, Graham and Bailey, have a lot of faith in the 2014 Piedmont Lions baseball team. 

“I have more confidence in the season and the team more so than me and this award,” said Bailey.