GREENVILLE, N.C. — Catawba Valley Community College pitchers Logan Bender and Blake Dockery were named first team All-Region 10 performers on Thursday night.
Bender was also selected as the Region 10 Pitcher of the Year — joining former Red Hawk hurler Julian Smith as the only players to ever receive the honor. Smith won the award last spring.
"It's a well-deserved accomplishment that reflects their dominance all year," said CVCC head baseball coach Paul Rozzelle of the region honors for Dockery and Bender. "These two have set a mighty high bar for our staff in terms of production, and it's been really fun to watch these guys continue to grow and get better. They haven't just had good years they have had some of the best years ever in terms of our programs history.
Bender and Dockery have been a dominant 1-2 Saturday starting pitching punch instrumental in leading a CVCC pitching staff this spring that currently ranks second in the nation in strikeouts (527).
Both athletes currently rank in the top 25 in the nation in strikeouts — Bender with 102 strikeouts (sixth-most) and Dockery with 77 punch outs (23rd-most).
"I feed off (Bender's) energy from the way he pitches," said Dockery, a freshman from Harrisburg, N.C. "He's been pitching really well, so I feel like I have to match that. I feed off that pretty well."
Beyond just the duo's strikeouts are their impressive ERAs — Bender with a 0.75 ERA and Dockery with a 1.04 ERA. Combined they've given up just 10 earned runs this entire 2019 season, and they both rank nationally in the top five in that category.
"Whenever we go out and perform, we want to beat each other," said Bender, a sophomore from Dunn, N.C., of his teammate Dockery. "We just try to build off it every outing."
Dockery and Bender have also both garnered National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Pitcher of the Week honors this season — Dockery for the Week of April 22-28 and Bender for the Week of April 29 through May
It's the first time in program history that two Red Hawk pitchers have won weekly national honors in back-to-back weeks.